October Fun

October was a busy month!  We started with Disaster Preparedness Week, then moved to Red Ribbon Week, and of course, Halloween!  During Disaster Preparedness Week, students practiced a variety of emergency drills.  We were very proud of how calm and attentive they were during the drills.  Not only did we practice drills, we also got a special visit from our local fire fighters.  These local heroes reminded of fire safety skills and gave us a tour of their fire engine.  Students had a lot to say afterwards.  Here are some examples of their Step Up To Writing about what they learned.

Next, was Red Ribbon Week.  This is an annual drug and violence prevention campaign that is observed nationally in October.  In Room 10, we focused primarily on positive self-image and self-respect.  We read Jamie Lee Curtis' I'm Gonna Like Me and brainstormed all the things we like about ourselves.  Students then chose one to write about.


We also got a visit from BMX bikers Rob and Justin.  They emphasized how important it is to protect our body with safety gear.  The also motivated students to follow their dreams and say "no" to people who try to get them to make poor choices.  They also showed us some really cool tricks!

Of course, we also celebrated Halloween.  We read How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin, a story about a class that estimates how many seeds are in a pumpkin, and then counts them.  We then did the same thing in class.  On  day one, we pulled out all the insides of the pumpkin.  We were left with 48 very messy hands!  We then estimated how many we thought were in each pumpkin.  The next day, we tried our best to count all the seeds.  Students worked in groups and decided how to best count the seeds.  Some groups counted by 1's, 2's, and some counted by 10's.  Students had to work together and persevere.  It was difficult work!  We learned that skip counting is faster and that groups work best when each member listens and has a job.

Finally, we had the Halloween party and parade.  Thank you to all the parents to volunteered their time and donated to the party.  A big thank you to Avni's mom for organizing the party.  Students enjoyed making ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, flying bats, monsters, and sticking their hands into some mystery goop!  It was so much fun to see everyone in their costumes.

We hope you had as much fun this October as we did.