GPS Scouts have been coming into the Learning Commons for an iPad Orientation to start our year in the Learning Commons. Ms. Byars, our new TIS, is leading the lesson and Ms. Stepp, Ms. Taylor and the teachers are all taking small groups as we practice using the home button, sleep button, volume button and learning how to open apps and force close them. We are becoming iPad experts!

Ms. Jennifer Duke was working with an orphanage in Honduras last week and wanted to Skype with her kindergarten students. Connections from there was not very strong so we had to try several days in a row but we were finally successful on Thursday. She showed the children some of the trees, houses and mountains. Once we finished the call, we went to Google Earth and saw where Honduras was in relation to Gilbert. We then zoomed in to see the terrain of the mountains and forests where Ms. Duke was working. We can’t wait for her to return with pictures! 

Ms. Duke and Ms. Gross’s classes today continued our addition practice using the Wii with the game Perfect 10. Students had to bump the numbers that added to 10. Check out this short video to see it in action!  IMG_2494 (1)  Students wrote the number sentences for the numbers they used to make 10.

These second graders came in to the maker space to try out the new marble building structure. Using their problem solving skills they built a maze for the marble to travel through.  Check out this short video to see it in action! IMG_2497

The Multi-age kindergarten students were treated to a puppet show this morning by the learning commons leaders. Pete the Cat, and His Magic Sunglasses was preformed by Wilson and Kyle. That is Not a Good Idea was preformed by Angel, Maggie, and Kaylie S. The Gingerbread Man was preformed by Warren and Morgan. Fun was had by all! 

We have many wonderful books on math in the Learning Commons. Ms. Stepp shared some of these wonderful books with Ms. Gross and Ms. Duke’s kindergarten classes. We then worked on 10 frames by playing the bowling game on the Wii. Scouts would bowl then we would mark the number of pins knocked down on our tens frame and write out the number sentence that would make the pins equal 10. For instance, if a child knocked down 6 our number sentence would be 6+4=10. When the child finished his chance, we would also write the number sentence to show his score. For instance, 6+3=9. What a fun way to practice our math! 

Kindergarten is studying insects and also writing in the genre of opinion writing. When they visited the learning commons last week we read, Hey Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose. (It is also a song which tied into Poetry month as well). After the story we took a class poll on the smart board to see who would squish the ant, who wouldn’t and why. Ms Allen and Ms. Johnson’s kindergarten classes went back to class and wrote their opinions of whether the little boy should squish or not squish the ant. They did a wonderful job! Very Persuasive! Check them out below! 

Goddard Space Center had its birthday today! To celebrate they held a virtual field trip to showcase the space missions currently going on. Ms. Ridenhour’s and Ms. Davidson’s classes came in to the Learning Commons to participate. Did you know that the space ship traveling to the drawf planet Pluto has been traveling for 9 years? It will reach its destination this July! That is longer than these first graders have been alive! They decided it would be a VERY long trip! Then they wondered if a person is on that space ship?  Hmmm… more research is needed. We heard about the James Web Space telescope, the Curiosity robot on Mars and the New Horizon Project. Ms. Stepp shared a brand new book to our Learning Commons about how it was decided that Pluto was not a planet. A biography about Michael Brown, The Planet Hunter. Ms. Davidson and Ms. Ridenhour’s classes will get to read it first!

Our second grade library leaders are sharing their love of reading by doing puppet shows with the kindergarten students. Each Wednesday morning different kindergarten homerooms come to the learning commons to watch a puppet show preformed by different groups of library leaders. The books they have preformed so far are Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, The Three Little Pigs, and The Gingerbread Man. The library leaders come in during the morning and their recess time to practice and get their props ready.

Blowie the Blowfish visited GPS today to remind all of our students to read, read, read!

He hopes to see them all at our GPS game on June 25th at the new stadium in Lexington. Be sure to fill out your “gold” reading log with the name of four books you have read, have your parents sign it and then turn it in to Ms. Stepp in the Learning Commons. If you read 4 books you get two tickets to the game, a chance to march in the parade on game night and a free hot dog and coke! You don’t want to miss it! If we are the school with the highest percentage of students participating, we also could win $500! So get reading Scouts!!!