Our Elf, Ben

For the past two weeks we have had an Elf on the Shelf watching over our classroom. In the afternoon when we all go home for the day our elf, Ben, travels to the North Pole to report to Santa on our behavior. So far all reports have been good!

Every morning when we come back to school Ben is hiding in a new spot. Some mornings we find that he has been mischievous, like the time he moved our behavior magnets into a smiley face and another time he switched everyone's STAR cards, which created some confusion. A few times he left us treats like candy canes and gelt (chocolate Hanukkah coins). He even gave us a dreidel to play with. Here are pictures of Ben around our classroom.

Can you find Ben in this picture of our classroom library?

Hint: He's in a very red area of the photograph.

In four more days when we go home for winter break Ben will return to the North Pole to live with Santa until next year. We'll miss Ben!

Reflex Math

Hey Lipsky Team!

Here's a fun website that will help you improve your math fluency. Fluency, just like in reading, means doing something with ease. So in math it means that you can add and subtract numbers easily, without using your fingers, drawing pictures, or really having to think about it. Just like when you were little and learned to walk, now you don't even have to think about how to put one foot in front of the other!

Go to Reflex Math and click on the launch button in the upper right corner. Type in the username: lipsky and then click on your name. Everyone's password is abc123. Here's an example of when it is teaching you about addition and subtraction fact families.

Practice at home to get faster at adding and subtracting. Later in the year we'll practice our multiplication facts.

What are you thankful for?

Thanksgiving is the time of year when we should reflect on what we are thankful for in our lives. I am very grateful for my family who have always supported and loved me. What are you thankful for and why?

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your families and friends. Get some rest, do some reading, and come back next week ready to work. :)

Life Science

Hello Scientists!

We've been studying life science since school started. Soon, we'll begin Earth Science, but before that let's review the science topics we've learned about so far. Click on a topic to watch the Brain POP Jr. video. Then come back here and comment with something important that we all need to remember about life science!

username: alachuacounty

password: brainpop

Parts of a Plant

Classifying Animals

Frogs

Hibernation

Migration

Making Observations

Fall

Amber Brown is Not a Crayon

We began reading "Amber Brown is Not a Crayon" last week. Amber is a third grader (just like us!) who lives in New Jersey. Her best friend is Justin Daniels. She is very messy, do you see her messy desk on the cover?

Click here to play a matching game with the vocabulary words from the book.

Help people and practice your multiplication!

Lipsky Team, did you know that there are people in this world that do not have enough food to eat? These people are always hungry. You can help them and help yourself practice multiplication!

Click here to practice your multiplication facts. For every correct answer 10 grains of rice are donated to people in need. The more problems you solve correctly the more rice you donate to starving people. Go get practicing! Let us know how many grains of rice you donate!

Vertebrates and Invertebrates

Watch the BrainPOP on classifying animals. Then take the online quiz. Come back to the blog and let us know if you learned anything new!

Username: alachuacounty

password: brainpop