Last Friday, Mr. Belser volunteered his time to speak to the kindergarten and first grade students. Mr. Belser is a pilot for United Airlines. He brought in a poster of what it looks like in the cockpit. He also brought in his pilot briefcase and showed the children all the maps he has to carry on a daily basis. He explained many features of the airplane, as well as places that he travels to. Mr. Belser was able to explain the information in ways that the children could easily understand. The students were also able to ask questions throughout the presentation.

This Wednesday, we had a special visitor from NASA. Mr. Bill is a retired NASA employee and dedicated his time to speaking at schools. He brought in many science experiments to explain rockets, air pressure, and air travel. He brought in many objects, such as a rocket ship model, real astronaut space suit, astronaut food, and astronaut sleeping bag. He let each child try on the space suit if they wanted to. The children were given many chances throughout the presentation to ask questions. The children did a wonderful job staying engaged and participating. Mr. Bill really helped expand on the children’s current level of knowledge regarding air travel and astronauts.

With volunteers such as pilots and NASA employees, the children were able to expand on their knowledge of air travel and outer space!
In math workshops this week, we worked with number concepts in many different ways. One game we played was called “Toss the Chips.” The student selects how many chips they will use for the game. While some children selected 7 chips, others picked 20 depending on their learning level. The chips are 2 sided, with white on one side and red on the other. They repeatedly dump the chips out of their cup and record the results in the grid.

This week we also played a math facts relay race with math flashcards. The children were divided into two teams. The flashcards were on the floor in front of their lines. A number line was placed at the other end of the hallway. One person from each team picked up a flashcard, ran down the hallway, and put the flashcard on the correct answer. When they ran back down the hallway, they gave the next person on their team a high five and the whole process repeated. The children had such a great time playing this game, we had to play until we used all the flashcards. Who says flashcards can’t be fun!!