5B Classroom News: Week of March 4th

A note from Mrs. Burke:  Much of this week was devoted to the Iditarod, an amazing dog sled race in Alaska. Be sure to ask your child about it... they have learned a lot! Students formed Fantasy Iditarod teams and have each been following a musher on their team. They also presented what they have learned about the musher they are tracking, as well as information about their fantasy team to the 3rd and 4th graders during our Community meeting on Friday. We were fortunate enough to have sled dogs come and visit OQS on Wednesday and the students were able to interact with the mushers and dogs. Students also spent time during Second Step learning how to manage anxitey and had fun with shaving cream as part of their classroom alphabit celebration for following expected behaviors. Great job 5B!

I've emailed all of you my conference sign up sheet. Please let me know if you have not received it.

Keep reading to see what our classroom reporters wrote about this week.

Alphabit Celebration:  Shaving cream on the tables!

Students voted for a celebration of shaving cream on tables! They loved drawing pictures in the shaving cream and it helped clean the tables during our cold and flu season. Congratulations 5B for following expected behaviors!

Iditarod:  Tracking a musher and the Fantasy Iditarod Teams

Our Iditarod Bulletin Board

This is where students are tracking their musher on the Iditarod trail.

Using the information you’ve researched for your musher data disk, share some things you have learned about your musher.  How is your fantasy Iditarod team doing in the race?

My Iditarod team is doing good we are in third or fourth.

-Zachary

I learned that Nicolas Petit is 38 years old. I also learned that his first dog he adopted was named “Ugly.” Our fantasy team is doing good except for Alison Lifka she is in last place but we are still cheering her on. Go Alison!

-Aubree

Sled dogs visit:

We were fortunate to have 4 mushers from Braeburn Siberian and 28 of their dogs visit OQS on Wednesday! One of the mushers gave an hour presentation about sled dogs, how to care for them, train them, and what it means to be a musher. We then got to go outside and spend another hour interacting with the sled dogs. The students had so much fun! They learned how to approach the dogs, put on different kinds of harnesses, and learn how the sled works. They even got to pretend to be dogs and mushers and pull a sled around the playground field. Finally, they got to see a sled dog team pull one of the visiting mushers around the field. Such a fun day!

 What are some things you enjoyed about the sled dogs that came to visit us on Wednesday?

On Wednesday I enjoyed petting the dogs and putting vests on them.

-Madison

Something I enjoyed was getting to see all the dogs and meet them.

-Lyndsey

Some things I enjoyed when the sled dogs came were petting the dogs. I am normally not a huge dog person, but when I pet the dogs, they were really kind, and they really listened. I also liked mushing the human dog sled.

-Abigail

Some things I enjoyed about the sled dogs that came to visit us is they are very friendly and they licked a lot!

-Jayden

The dogs are very amazing it was very nice.

-Cash

One thing I enjoyed was petting the dogs and then putting a harness on them.

-Maximus

I loved being a dog. I loved petting the dogs.

-Jack

Some things that I enjoyed about the sled dogs are they were really fun to pet and play with. -Madylyn

Some things I enjoyed about the sled dogs that came to visit us on Wednesday, is that I got to be a musher and push on the brake on the bottom of the sled. I really liked doing that! I also liked the dog Braelyn and I were assigned to. Her name was Misty, and she was the Queen Of Kisses! I loved the visit from the Braeburn Siberians, and I want to see them again!

-Flynn

Some things I liked about the sled dogs were getting all the licks from the dogs and petting them as well, being a dog was fun too, but petting them was better.

-Owen

There was so much kissing from Misty and I got double kissed from Misty and Morgan it was so so so weird and it felt weird and Misty tried to put her tongue in my mouth and it felt weird. They were trying to put their tongue in your mouth and Misty put her tongue in my mouth.

-Taylor

I enjoyed getting to learn how to put on a harness. I also enjoyed learning about the sled and I liked being a dog.

-Aubree

Here are some videos from the sled dog visit:

Fantasy Iditarod Teams

Presenting Fantasy Iditarod Teams During Community Meeting

Second Step: Managing Anxiety

During Second Step this week, students learned how to manage anxiety. To help get everyone a little anxious, they first had to work together to untangle a human knot... without talking. They worked in two groups. They demonstrated great teamwork! After this challenge they learned different strategies to help them manage anxiety.