Thank you, Carole Nelms!

IMG_2555IMG_2553The 5th grade G/T class was treated to a special presentation last week. Mrs. Carole Nelms came to speak to the class about her experience working at Johnson Space Center in Houston during several Apollo missions. She was in Mission Control when Apollo 13 landed, and shared with the students how it felt to hold her breath, praying that the astronauts would survive the return to Earth! She had a photo of herself sitting in Mission Control, and showed the scene in Ron Howard’s film, “Apollo 13” in which an actress is staged to look like her! She said that Ron Howard was very careful to be as accurate as possible in the creation of the film, and she felt it was very close to what happened.

The students had read about, and were familiar with the Apollo 13 Mission. A lesson in 10 Things All Future Mathematicians and Scientists Should Know (But Are Rarely Taught) details the three major mistakes that led to the oxygen tank explosion which endangered the lives of astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise. The students had also viewed scenes from the movie depicting one example after another of creative problem solving, such as when a team of experts build a carbon-dioxide filter out of duct tape and miscellaneous materials available to them.

Screen Shot 2016-04-10 at 2.51.47 PMWe loved hearing Mrs. Nelms share her “inside knowledge” and the students also benefited from her wise advice to never limit themselves and value working collaboratively with others, no matter how small a part you may play on a team. We also had a good time discussing how technology has changed our lives and what the future may hold.

You can click here to see some of the thank-you notes written to Mrs. Nelms by the students. Thank you, again, Carole Nelms! We loved having you!

Welcome, Mr. Easton and Students of Australia!

The river and Riverwalk that runs through downtown San Antonio is a great tourist attraction in our city.

The river and Riverwalk that runs through downtown San Antonio is a great tourist attraction in our city.

Welcome to our new friends, the students of class 4E from Kellyville Ridge, a suburb of Sydney, Australia! Mrs. Lasher’s 4th grade students are so excited about connecting with you in Edmodo! We hope you enjoyed reading our introductions!

We thought you might like to see some postcards of our city!

San Antonio is located in the south-central part of Texas and is the seventh largest city in the U.S. Over a million people live in the city limits, though it is very widespread. San Antonio is the home of the Alamo, a landmark in our American history with a remarkable story of heroism. Our school is located in a suburb about 20 miles from downtown San Antonio.

We are looking forward to getting to learn all about you, and to learn with you!

Engineering “Mystery Bag” Challenge: Pom-Pom Launchers

The 2nd grade G/T students had a lot of fun responding to a “build-it” challenge. Pairs of students were given a “mystery bag” with several items inside including paper cups, string, tape, craft sticks and more. Using only the materials in the “mystery bag,” the students were asked to create a device that would launch a pom-pom over a distance. You can read more about the challenge here. Here is a quick video of a few of our LAUNCH TESTS!

Party Puzzler- by Gatlin G.

Check out this original logic puzzle created by Gatlin! You can download it and try it out. If you reply with the answers, we’ll let you know if you are correct!

THANK YOU! – from Mrs. Lasher

flowersI was overwhelmed by the lovely flowers, goodies, gifts, and sweet notes from students during Teacher Appreciation Week! You are too kind, too generous, and I thank you! I am still working on individual thank-you’s!

The year has flown by, and my mind is already spinning with things I’d like to do next year! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe summer! I will be sending an email to parents with a link to some summer ideas. Because I am a fan of WONDEROPOLIS, I will mention their “Camp Wonderopolis,” which is an online summer camp you might like to check out. Click here to learn more about it.

Evil Spy School – a Book Review- by RIley G.

Source of Photo: http://stuartgibbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/unnamed.jpg

Source of Photo: http://stuartgibbs.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/
unnamed.jpg


I just finished a great book recently. As you can see, the title is Evil Spy School.This book is focused on a first year spy,“Smokescreen,” aka Benjamin Ripley. During his SACSA exams [Survival and Combat Skills Assessment] he accidentally fires a mortar and demolishes the principals office and is expelled. Right after he is reinstated in his old middle school, an old enemy comes and gives him a job proposition to work for an evil organization named SPYDER and he accepts the job. When he enrolls in evil spy school, they don’t know he is a double agent for the C.I.A. Will he figure out what they are planning and thwart their plans…for the third time in a row? Or will they find out and will he be terminated? Read this book to find out!

I liked this book because it had a lot of action,thrills,and plots that will blow your mind! Literally! I think if you are a person who likes spies, weapons, and organizations, this book is the right for you!