In Kim's math class we continued to work on microfinancing. We created a spreadsheet for one group's monthly sales. We found the sum and average for all the Mondays in the month. Two of the Kiva groups we are lending money to have reached their monetary goal. You call follow them on www.kiva.org. The three groups are Yine Ecuador Villacres Castro, Marly Maria Miranda Mercado, and Dalias Lindas Group.

In Art we finished our Arts Festival piece and are starting a fun, new project. We continue to rehearse for "Cinderella" in Drama and Music.

We continue to research our states and create a brochure. We are also making State Word Searches using Excel in Computers.

During buddies with Ruth Ann we flew kites. During buddies with Beth we read "The Important Book" and then created a quilt of the important thing about buddies.

Strawberry Festival is almost here.

We continue to prepare for Arts Festival in Art, Drama, and Music. In Computers we are working on Excel and battleship spreadsheets. You can watch a video of the class on Lelia's Purple Puter Lady blog. In Spanish, we continue to work on clothing vocabulary.

In Kim's math we are doing a microfinancing unit. We sent loan money to people in Bolivia and Colombia. We are looking at how quickly a small amount can make a difference. The consultants of Cornerstone Consultants (www.cornerstoneconsultantspa.com) gave us enough money to give loans to three different people through Kiva. We also looked at Beads for Life. A Ugandan microfinance project that makes jewelry from recycled paper beads. Aimee Mowles came into class to help us and talk about this project and her experience with microenterprise in Morocco. In Betsy's math we are working on area, perimeter and pre-algebra.

We continue to work on poems for Poetry Month. We also work on researching our states. Remember to mark your calendars for our State Museum on Friday, May 21st.

This has been a busy week. In Betsy's math class we have been working on perimeter and area of 2-dimensional shapes. In Kim's math class we have been working on microfinancing. The students have picked three different people to make loans to. We are using Kiva.

In Spanish we have been learning clothing vocabulary. In Computers we finished our Arts Festival invitations and are learning to use Excel and spreadsheets. We continue to work on "Cinderella" in Drama and Music. In Art we finished the first part of our Arts Festival piece.

We have a new poem on the board every day. We wrote a response to one about the differences between our "Inside Self, Outside Self."

In buddies this week we talked about kindness with our buddies in Beth's and learned about NASA in Ruth Ann's. We even shot off a rocket.

We will go to Emilie's farm tomorrow. Please remember to bring shoes for walking.

The Sounds of the Mountains was wonderful. We had a great time. The song most repeated was "Is Not, Is Too." We are ready for conferences on Monday.

Next Friday we will go on another field trip. We are going to Emilie's farm. After visiting the farms at the Frontier Museum we hoped to also provide a modern day look at a farm and we have finally found a convenient time.

Have a nice weekend. Please check out Betsy's blog for some wonderful pictures of our classes' plays and the pizza party. (http://www.betzbuzz.blogspot.com/)

I haven't had a chance to talk to the kids to help me blog. Since Spring Break, we have been working hard on preparing for conferences. We talked about the state independent projects and Poetry Month.

Today's bake sale went very well. Thank you to all who brought in food and a special thank you to all who helped serve the shortcakes. Thanks also to Lynn for the strawberry shortcake supplies. We raised almost $50 which went to animal protection programs.

We are going on a field trip on Friday to Camp Bethel to see Sounds of the Mountains. It is a wonderful time. The event is on Saturday also, if you would like to go as a family. Please look at http://www.campbethelvirginia.org/sotm.htm for more information.

Remember there is no school tomorrow. Enjoy your spring break!

We have done some amazing work in Computers this year. You can find some videos on http://www.aboutnewsmaker.com/, Carnegie Mellon Cyber Academy, and Lelia's blog.

Today we chose our state. Each student will become an expert on one state. They will curate their state exhibit on Friday, May 21st.

In Betsy's math, we worked on Cinderella math. In Kim's math, we worked on mental math, math minutes, and wrote about rounding. In Science, we played science bingo and studied the body. In Social Studies, we made Virginemon geography cards. We worked on homophone editing and went to music.

Remember "The Pied Piper" is tomorrow at 1:35. You are welcome to come and watch your child perform.