Category Archives: Elementary

The second and third grade students worked for several weeks researching Christmas celebrations around the world. Each student took a different country and learned when the holiday is celebrated and about foods and decorations connected with the holiday. They spent one class period learning how to search Flickr for a picture to use with their report and how to give credit to the person who took the picture. Then each student made a three page slideshow. The finished slideshows were put together so everyone can enjoy them.

Students learned many skills in the process of creating their slideshow. They learned about researching on the internet, giving credit to others by citing their sources, taking notes, writing a report from their notes, how to insert text and pictures into the PowerPoint program, and how to adjust the size of pictures correctly.

Monday October 31, the Hay Springs first graders performed The Great Pumpkin Investigation. The Investigation was from 2:00-3:00 o’clock. There were three groups of little “investigators” with three kids to a group. Mrs. Anderson led one group and two parents led the other groups. Each group had their own pumpkin. The little investigators conducted a number of different experiments to do on their pumpkins. The tasks consisted of how many lines their pumpkins had, how big around they were, how tall they were, how heavy they were and many other fun tasks. They also counted how many seeds there pumpkins had. The smallest pumpkin had 491 seeds. The next biggest pumpkin had 461 seeds. And the biggest pumpkin had 432. The class found it funny and interesting that the smallest pumpkin had the most seeds and the largest pumpkin had the fewest seeds. After counting the seeds the kids carved faces on their pumpkins. Mrs. Anderson said, “I think the kids had a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.”

Yum yum! For three years Donna has been the head of the fruits and veggies program. The program is for grades K through 5. Daily at three o’clock in the cafeteria, Donna serves the kids an assortment of different fruits and vegetables. The point of the program is for the kids to try new things and find out what they do and do not like. The fruits and vegetables cannot be frozen or canned and must be grown in the United States. Before Donna serves the kids their snack she tells them some interesting facts about what they are about to eat. She tells them what the fruit or vegetable is, where it’s from, and the nutritional value that it has.

Donna says, “The kids seem to really enjoy it.”