Faith Poetry

The Jungle Crew was challenged to compose original poems about their FAITH this week. The only rule was that the topic of the poem had to be about faith. The students were allowed to use any type of poem that we have studied during the month of November. I chose two of my favorites to publish on our blog. Congratulations to Andrew and Rae Lynn on their beautifully written poems!

Faith: An Acrostic Poem

By: Rae Lynn

Forgiveness

Amazing

In your heart

Trust

Hope

Faith

By: Andrew Hedinger

When I see the morning dew,

My first thoughts are of You.

The day begins with the morning sun,

Reminding me of all the hearts You won.

Those days the sky turns to rain,

I feel Your tears ease my pain.

When the day comes to an end,

I know You are always my friend.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift you did give,

That gives us the grace to eternally live.

Build-A-Poem

Hey, Jungle Crew! Here is a great website involving all kinds of poetry. You can build your own poems! Check it out...I would love to see some of the finished pieces you create! Bring them to school if you want!

http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm

Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-SIERS!

As a great hands-on way to learn Indiana's geography, the Jungle Crew created salt maps of our great state! Students molded and painted their maps at school before taking them home to put their own creative touches on the design and labeling process. I was thoroughly impressed with the finished maps. Check them out for yourself!

Some of my favorite maps had "themes" to add to their uniqueness.

This map was titled, "Shining Stars of Indiana" and was decorated with glow in the dark stars.

How cool is that?!

I loved this map's theme of "Holy Holy Indiana", as well! The rivers are actual blue rosary beads! How creative!

This ultra-cool map was titled, "Indiana with a Dash of Design"

I definitely see the creative and artistic abilities of this student shining through!

Super cute!

Calling All Saints!

Lucas carried the cross as the students dressed as saints "marched" out of mass for the All Saints Day celebration. The Jungle Crew was honored with planning the mass and participating in all of the mass parts for the morning. I am so proud of the great job they did reading, singing, and praising God! It was a special mass!

Millie, Reece, and Max presented Fr. John with the bread/wine. Don't they look so nice?!

Second graders joined the fun and dressed as saints, too! Fr. John 'interviewed' each saint during his homily. Check out the wonderful costumes!

Gavin, Kailyn, Raife, Catherine, Eli, and Lucas pose for a pre-mass photo. I was so proud of their efforts and performances at mass! Nice job, Jungle Crew!

Jungle Business Day and Halloween Celebration

Wednesday was a CRAZY day in the Jungle! We held our 2nd Business Day and celebrated Halloween with some fun activities. Fun was definitely had by all! Students played multiplication BINGO with candy corn while they enjoyed some Halloween munchies after lunch! After we wrapped up the festivities in the classroom, we headed to the basement (affectionately called "the dungeon") for some scary story telling! The students spent the past two weeks writing scary Halloween stories, and our trip to the basement allowed them to share their stories with their classmates. We made the trek to the dungeon with nothing but our stories and a couple flashlights! It was so much fun! Thanks to a fellow staff member for keeping things 'interesting' for us by scratching on doors, making scary noises and whispers! I have to admit, even I was a little scared. So much fun, though!!!

Our awesome spider web GIANT cookies! Thank you, Room Mothers!

Each month, students have the opportunity to open their own business as an extra source of income for our classroom economy system. Each month, I am thoroughly impressed at the delicious and creative treats/goods that my students bring to Business Day! We have had 'scrumdiddlyumptious' desserts, handmade jewelry, crosses, magnets, and other various crafts. Shoppers pay with Jungle Bucks or write Jungle checks to purchase items. Real-life money skills are learned and Mrs. H always satisfies her sweet tooth...along with other students, parents, and faculty members.
Jade's mom stopped by Business Day this month to shop and browse the awesome inventory! Many students sold Halloween themed treats this month.

Many staff members look forward to our Business Days for the sweet treats and awesome homemade goodies that the Jungle Crew sells each month.

Madison sells her trendy 'duct tape belts' each month...what a creative idea!

Millie's customers try on her awesome handmade bracelets...definitely a popular item!

Reece surprised his classmates with handmade pencil pouches this month! All decorated with jungle animals, of course! Loved this idea!

Tuesday's Trivia:10/26

Good Evening! I hope you all are having a wonderful night and are excited about tomorrow's festivities! I can't wait to hear your scary stories! Did you eat all of your snozzcumbers at dinner? You don't want the Fleshlumpeater or Gizzardgulper knocking down your door tonight!

For an extra 'treat' tomorrow, write down Father John's nickname.
For an extra extra 'treat' tomorrow, write down the names of the two saints Father John talked about at this morning's mass!

Record your answers on a piece of paper titled, Tuesday's Trivia: 10/26 along with your name and hand it to Mrs. H first thing tomorrow morning! Remember: Don't discuss your answers with anyone else!

Here's to wonderful phizzwizards and no trogglehumpers! Sweet dreams, Jungle Crew!

-Mrs. H

Hoosier Native American Study

To wrap up our study of the earliest people to live in Indiana, students had the option to earn some extra credit by building a wigwam or longhouse. The finished dwellings were awesome! Good Job, Jungle Crew!

These students are proud of their creations!
I LOVE all of the different interpretations and creative ideas!

How authentic!

A HUGE thank you to Kylie's grandpa for visiting The Jungle with his collection of Native American artifacts! We had the opportunity to view arrowheads and other artifacts from our great state...all found by Kylie's grandfather! He has been collecting artifacts since he has been around 10 years old!

Pumpkins-A-Plenty

One of October's genre project options was to create a pumpkin character from a fantasy/sci-fi novel of the student's choice. These pumpkins were to depict the main character from the book, and the student was also required to write an "Important Person" poem about his/her pumpkin character. As you will see from the pictures above, the pumpkins were nothing short of fabulous! Happy Halloween to all! I love this time of year, don't you? -Mrs. H

"Being a Christian is a lot like being a pumpkin...God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff- including the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then he carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for the entire world to see!" -unknown

2010-2011 Jungle Crew

21 of the coolest kids I know!

The Jungle

Take a tour of our Jungle!

Better Late Than Never...

On this chilly Fall morning, I've finally sat down to post my first entry of the school year, and it's only October! I am NOT proud of myself for my lack of time I've had to devote to our classroom blog, as it is something that I enjoy creating for my students and parents. My goal is to be a better blogger this quarter!

With our school year well underway, the Jungle Crew has been busy with all sorts of fun and exciting learning experiences. In Reading, I have added a new element to our curriculum, the monthly genre study. Students study a different genre each month and complete a self-selected project to complete on a chosen novel from that specific genre. I usually give 2-3 project options for the students to choose from. In September, we studied biography. Students read a self-selected biography on a person of their choice and could choose from creating a time capsule, dressing up as their person and delivering a speech, or creating a presidential poster about their 'candidate'. Projects were AWESOME! I was thoroughly impressed with my students' efforts. This month, with the genre being sci-fi or fantasy, many 4th graders chose to create a pumpkin character about the main character from their sci-fi/fantasy novel. A couple students chose to create a newspaper about their novel, as well. Again, the projects were nothing short of FABULOUS! Keep up the good work, Jungle-ites!

Indiana salt maps are well underway, and I am anxiously awaiting the finished products to make their way back to The Jungle on November 2! Pictures to come...

As a teacher, each year brings new experiences and challenges to better yourself personally and professionally. I am certain that I do what I do because God knew the classroom was where I could best use the talents He gave me to 'make a difference'. What a difference my students make in my life! I have grown to love this group just like I have my classes in years past. Twenty-one children, each with their own unique talents, greet me each morning...for that alone, I feel truly blessed.

God's Blessings,
Mrs. H

Objects in the Rearview Mirror Are Closer than They Appear...

It will be a bittersweet day in The Jungle tomorrow as 16 amazing kids leave my classroom to embark upon fun-filled summers and the 5th grade. I have been blessed in so many ways this year...to share a few of my personal greatest blessings of the 2009-2010 year:

1. I was blessed to have 16 AWESOME kids greet me each morning. This class will definitely be remembered as one of my all-time favorites. The many talents they possess are true gifts from God that I know will take them far in life. Each one of them brought so many attributes to our classroom and will leave me with many fond memories of our time together as a Jungle Crew.

2. LAUGHTER is the closest thing to the grace of God, and we had plenty of it this year! I have many funny funny students in my classroom this year! They make me laugh every day.

3. PRAYER. One of my favorite things in the world is praying with my students. Listening to their most sincere prayers for their loved ones and people in our community is remarkable. As a child, we remember laying in bed at night with our prayer "lists"..."Dear God, please let me make the basketball team, get that toy I've been wanting, help me get an A on my test." The typical "me" prayers are part of every child's prayer routine. What fascinates me is the sincere empathy for OTHERS that I witnessed as my students' prayer requests mainly consisted of their concern for others, not themselves. Listening to them talk about their personal "God Moments" on an average Tuesday always left me feeling proud and profoundly moved spiritually.

3. The EFFORT put forth by my students this year was admirable. The growth I witnessed in each one of them was awe-inspiring. We had many trials and errors, but their willingness to try and sometimes fail was what made them the awesome students that they are today. I encouraged risks and they embraced challenges to became better investigators and students through their undying efforts and creativity.

4. Watching my students become teachers themselves...WOW! Talk about a proud moment when I could sit back and watch 10 year olds instruct each other and work as a team. I have many natural born leaders in this group, and through a few "interventions", they learned to accept each others' differences and work as a unit. As one of my good friends told me, "We are more alike than we are different."

5. Being my first year at HFS, I am so thankful that the transition has been an easy one for me. I left a school that I loved, and was very apprehensive about making the change. I left a teaching partner that will be a life-long friend...kids and a community that I miss dearly. However, when God closes one door, He often opens another, and it is up to us to embrace the changes in our life and make them all they are capable of becoming. I know that the change of schools was a positive one for my family; I am happy to say that I now know it was a positive change for me professionally, as well. I am grateful for my co-workers and the supportive community that I teach in every day. I look forward to what lies ahead for our school! I am hopeful. I am blessed.

Mrs. H

Fun Times at Fun Day

The Fierce Finlandian Fighters had a great day competing at Fun Day 2010! We won the jumproping contest with flying colors. HFS was blessed with a gorgeous day, too! Fun was had by all!

They Say it's Your...Almost Birthday

Since people with summer birthdays don't always get to celebrate during the school year (even though it is way cooler to have a summer birthday), I thought we would spend the afternoon celebrating those of us who have June, July, or early August birthdays! We played board games and snacked on many sweet treats. Fun was had by all! If you can't read the giant cookie, it says, "Happy Kinda, Sorta, Maybe Your Birthdays!"
Happy early birthday, boys and girls of summer!

"God danced the day you were born."

Thought for the Day

“A classroom you can hear laughter coming from on a daily basis is a healthy classroom. Laughter and the noise of learning is different from classroom chaos." -unknown

Art Miles Mural Project

After a school year of communicating via email with our friends in Narni, Italy, the mural finally arrived to Holy Family School! The Jungle Crew spent an afternoon painting and talking with a reporter and photographer from The Herald about the amazing experience that this project turned out to be. The mural will be traveling to Canada this summer before making its way to Egypt for the International Day of Peace in September. How blessed we are to be a part of such an amazing cause!

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

The Final Countdown!

It is so hard to believe that our school year is coming to a close! What a great year we've had together. I feel like it was just yesterday that 16 brand new 4th graders were unpacking their backpacks for the first day of school! Wow! Time does fly when you're having fun. Each one of them brought their own piece of "awesomeness" to my classroom and heart.

We have many fun activities planned for the last two weeks of school. I will be hosting a Scrabble tournament next week! Bring in those extra Scrabble boards! We will be putting our acting and fluency skills to good use while performing the reader's theater script of A Bad Case of the Stripes. The last two weeks will allow us math time to review fraction and decimal concepts, as well.

I'm sure all the kids are looking forward to the Summer Birthday Bash on May 18th. 4 Jungle Crew members, along with myself, will be pre-celebrating our birthdays with some sweet treats and outdoor fun time. Fun Day is rapidly approaching, and even though I'm confident that my team will outshine the rest in the form of team spirit, I am looking forward to a day full of fun for all involved! The Jungle Store experience will take place on the morning of May 20 with the afternoon being devoted to AR rewards for my top readers!

Summer is approaching quickly! I want to thank all of the amazing parents of the Jungle Crew! Without you, the projects, activities, parties would not have been possible. I truly value the love and support my students receive at home.

Blessings for a safe and FUN-FILLED Summer,
Mrs. H