Motivated! Motivated! Motivated!

The Happy Hounds are excited about learning! We have many Hounds who are taking more than one AR test a week and many who are moving up more than one sight word list a week. In the slideshow, are pics of the Hounds doing their daily motivation dance and enjoying popcorn at the AR Popcorn Party. Also pictured are the Lexia, Sight Words, and AR charts outside our room. The Hounds love placing stickers on the charts to track their progress.

Thanks so much for your help at home.

Together we will make sure your child is more than prepared for first grade.

Science Fun

Soap Cotton Candy

First, we tested different brands of soap to see which ones sank and which ones floated. Ivory was the only one that floated. Now to find out why..........

We "cooked" the Ivory soap in the microwave for a couple of minutes. It puffed up like cotton candy, had a very unique texture, and smelled wonderful.

The answer behind all the fun: Ivory soap has air bubbles in it. When the moisture in the air bubbles heats up, it turns to steam which takes up more space and causes the soap to expand. They do this by "mixing" the liquid soap for a longer period to allow the air to get trapped in the mixture. This was discovered on accident in the 1800's by an employee who took a lunch break and forgot to turn off the mixer! At one time, Ivory was advertised as the

"soap that floats".




Burning Money



What did that just say???

First we soaked a dollar bill in a solution of alcohol and water. They recommended we use a $20 bill, but I didn't feel confident enough in my science ability.



Anxiously awaiting their teacher to torch the money.

Awesome!!! Check out Tori and Ashton's faces.

Not even a black mark on the money. Way cool!! To find out how, you can go to Steve Spanger's website and search

"burning money".

We did have a lesson on fire safety after doing this experiment!!!!

Scales and Slimy Skin

On January 7th, Elachee Nature Center's, Ms. Michelle, came to our school to teach us about reptiles and amphibians. We learned some cool facts and got to touch several of the animals.

She taught us some differences between frogs and toads, but we couldn't touch this guy

because he breathes through his skin.

Up close with a corn snake.

Talia touching the snake with the help of Mrs. Martin.

Talia, Audrie, and the turtle.

Lots of cool things to look at and touch.

Caroling at Chamber of Commerce Meeting

The Happy Hounds and our friends the Spunky Monkeys were chosen by Mr. West to sing at this years Chamber of Commerce meeting. Both classes practiced, practiced, practiced for several weeks to learn all the songs. A big thanks to Mr. West for working so hard with our classes. We love music with Mr. West!!!

Talia sporting her new bow (and Christmas shirt). Thanks to Mrs. Lisa for making our Happy Hounds look beautiful (and handsome).

Marshall, Carter, Carley, Logan and Bryson enjoying the bus ride.

Alanna, Delayne, Shelby, Melanie, and Tor,i "Oh what fun it is to ride in big 'ole yellow bus!"



Trying to keep our excitment down as we wait in the stairwell.

Finally! Singing our first song, Five Little Snowmen.

It was difficult for me to get pictures without butting in front of the people attending the meeting. I figured that would be rude, so here's a few of the shots I got.

WOW!! What a great job they did! You can't tell it by Landis' face, but everyone had a great time.

Funtastic Friday!!

Friday December 3rd was packed with fun! We made gingerbread houses for our Funky Food activity. Thanks to Carley's family for providing the ingredients. Next we saw magician, David Ginn, perform. None of the Hounds got called up to help, but we all enjoyed watcing his tricks. Mrs. Hood got a new camera and we enjoyed posing for pictures on the playground. (Maybe now she can do a better job taking pictures of us and updating our blog.

Halloween Fun

We had lots fun getting ready for Halloween. We carved a pumpkin and everyone got a chance to "scoop the goop". Most Hounds thought it was fun, but some weren't too thrilled with the feel or the smell. Check out all the faces they made! Our science experiment for the week involved dry ice. We learned more about solids, liquids, and gases. There wasn't any hands on parts for the Hounds, but there were lots of "oohhs and aahhs"!

Farm Day

The Happy Hounds had a blast at farm day. We really enjoyed petting all the animals. Even Mrs. Lisa had her picture made with a baby goat! Thanks to Alanna's grandmother for bringing their goats and miniature horse. Thanks to Bryson's grandpa for bringing his really big tractor.