Jumping Into Community December

We were excited to continue community month into December. We have so much to offer all of our communities. It is amazing to see how excited my students get when they can share their talents with others. We began December by watching Lex’s community video again and reflecting on what we accomplished in November. We continued to brainstorm all the activities we would complete in December. Some students decided they wanted to keep doing what they were doing and we all agreed that was just fine.

Lex's Challenge: Part 2

Lex challenged us to create a positive plan for one of our communities and put the plan into action. Last month for our class project we wrote “Thank You” cards to all the staff members at our school right before Thanksgiving. Our class project this month was to make holiday cards and crafts for the Lee County Sheriff’s Department. Every student had a ton of fun making their crafts. The buzz of excitement was contagious and I’m so proud of how happy they were to complete this project. They do not even know who the people are that will be receiving their gifts of kindness. That makes this project that more special.

 

 

 

 

Individual Acts of Kindness

Students used our bulletin board to display their acts of kindness from our school and home communities. We are proud to share our love with the community. It is, after all, part of our school’s mission statement “To Love, To Learn, To Lead”.

“I sang in the Christmas parade.” -Tamiya

“I helped my neighbor cut wood.” -Mikey

“I helped cut my neighbors grass.” -Jose

“I picked up trash in my neighborhood.” -Leon’tay

“I helped a first grader.” -Jayden

“I helped someone on the bus.” -Alonso

“We help Kindergarten students each day during recess.” -Akira, Monse, Nataly, Racheal, Nataly

Behind the Scenes

We LOVED watching Lex’s “Behind the Scenes” video. We had fun taking a peek into his life in the OTC community. We are jealous of the cafeteria. Students want to have all those options in our cafeteria. If we are ever in Chula Vista, we want to have lunch with Lex at the OTC. We enjoyed seeing the track and gym where Lex trains to be a Paralympic athlete. Students were shocked when he sat down to the play the piano. They thought that was so cool! We even looked up the OTC on Google Maps to see the satellite image.After watching Lex’s video, we became inspired to film our own “Behind the Scenes” videos of our school, B.T. Bullock Elementary.

Behind the Scenes of BTB

Our Classroom

BTB Cafeteria

BTB Playground

Live Chat with Lex

We welcomed Lex into our classroom community this month through our live chat. He graciously answered all our questions and left us anticipating for the next time we’ll chat. Students were all a buzz for the rest of the day (and the week and month). It was truly an inspiring morning. “It was the best day ever!”

 

 

Communities in our Curriculum

Once again, community month for Classroom Champions aligned with our units on the Thirteen Colonies and Ecosystems. These are the two largest community topics we study in our curriculums. We spent time reading and comparing the Thirteen Colonies to one another. We explored what life would have been like during the time of the colonies. Students would really miss their technology. In science, we made foldables to compare the characteristics of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems (communities). We thought about “If you were an animal, where would you live?” and we discovered we would end up in different communities. Can animals participate in Classroom Champions too?

Standards

ELA: W.5.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

Social Studies: 5.H.1.2 Summarize the aspects of colonial life in the thirteen colonies.

Science: 5.L.2 Understand the interdependence of plants and animals with their ecosystem.