End of Year Goodies

It's been 3 weeks since our last day of school and my "To-Do" list is getting smaller...kind of..hehe :). I think every time I cross off 2 things, I add 1 more! On my list was to blog about the last 2 weeks of school. End of the school year is such a busy time and emotional as well. You see, contrary to belief, teachers continue to think about their class and students even when we are on break or summer vacation. I miss seeing the families and I really MISS MY STUDENTS!!!

I've received a few emails from some of the students and this has brought a smile to my heart :). I reply back right away with questions to keep our conversation going. I have also seen Josh and his family at Target. Jessica and Joan at The Corner Bakery, and Chase and his family at a local restaurant. The summer is not over yet so I am sure I will see many more of you out and about in Natomas.  On that note, I still plan on sending out an invitation for us all to gather towards the end of July. I know this will be a busy time as families may be on vacation, but as soon as I find out about jury duty, I will let you know.

So back to the last 2 weeks of school...the students were working on animal presentations. After getting into groups, each group selected an animal to research. Students used non fiction books, the web, and my symbaloo. Each group was given specific criteria to guide them with the research. After students completed their research, they created a Google Presentation. I gave them very little guidance with this process. I really wanted to allow them to show their creativity and they did exactly that. Take a look at each presentation by clicking on the links below. I believe they all did an amazing job!!

Animal Presentations

Dolphins

Penguins

Wolves

Snakes

Tigers

Sharks

Here are pictures of when they presented to our class-

Now onto the balloon countdown. I'm sure that most of you heard about the balloon countdown because each day, the kids were so excited!!! So, as I was perusing my favorite blogs that I follow, I came across this awesome idea of a balloon countdown to keep track of the number of days left in school. After making a few tweaks, I was ready to introduce the countdown to the class with 10 days left. I tried to get pictures of each day, but I may have missed a few. I do however, have several pictures to share with you so I thought it would be easier to share in Photopeach.
Balloon Countdown
Balloon Countdown in Mrs. Torres' Class! on PhotoPeach


 

Lastly, I really wanted my kids to read over the summer. Although they have many books at home, I wanted them to go home with a new book on the last day of school. I also wanted them to select a book to read instead of me choosing for them.

Well, our school year started off with popping popcorn (thanks for popping in treats) and our year went out with popping balloons....It's been an exciting and memorable school year. Thank you for allowing me to educate, care for and love your children!

That's a wrap!

From your child's "director",

Mrs. Torres

Celebrity of the Week-Diego

Hello my name is Diego and I always have adventures. When I have adventures I always have fun or see my schoolmates. I was recently in my Aunt’s wedding and I was an awesome break dancer. I was the ring-bearer, my brother was a sign holder and my friend was the flower girl.

This is a picture of me and my friend walking down the isle.

I have been doing a special thing with The Avengers. Take a look it’s awesome.

Thank you for reading my blog bye.

Celebrity of the week-Maya

Hi my name is Maya. I live in North Park Drive. My favorite fruit is watermelon and strawberries.

Some of my friends are: Quinn, Angela, Peyton, Ashlyn, Oceana, Chase, Mimis, Abby, Zoey, Jessica, Miya, Emily J, Maya G, Sophia, Miss Klozcko, Señor Pico, Lolo, Miss Torres and Miss. H.

I like puppies because they are cute. I am 8 years old and I am going to be 9. I can speak 2 languages; Spanish and English. I am hoping to learn Chinese. I have loved books since I was little. I still use my baby blanket. I am in second grade and I love reading English and Spanish books.

I love taking family photos. My sister has a toy camera that can take pictures and then you can edit the picture and add bonuses. Here is one of the family photos we took with my sister’s camera.

I love doing things with other people and working together.

Last year with Miss. Kloczko we drew whales on the sidewalks with chalk we worked with our team groups. Here is a picture of me and Chase drawing the whale head.

I also love gymnastics this is me on the balance beam.  

 I love swimming in the pool. I mostly like doing cannonballs, my swimming pool’s water is mostly cold so you have to get used to the water first, and we also have a Jacuzzi so we can go in it when we get cold. This is me in the pool. Since the water in my pool is cold my mom doesn't like it, but I do. My sister usually just jumps in I just get used to it by putting one foot in then the other, we have a floating giraffe but one day my Dad, Sarah and me jumped on the giraffe and we popped it, then we got a floating doughnut this one did not pop.

I learned to ride my bike without training wheels, it was fun. After a few days later I learned how to turn. I went like a motorcycle then I taught myself some tricks, one of my friends that live in my neighborhood taught me how to jump off the edge, when I tried it out I bumped my butt .They told me that I had to lift my butt when I do it.

I like to go to the beach, sometimes the water is cold. I always go look for rocks on the beach this is a picture of me with some rocks I found.

My sister and I got a car from “The Three Wise Men” this is a picture of us on the car with an umbrella.

P.S. the umbrella did not came with the car.

One day I was at some place and there were a lot of things to do, it was really fun this is a picture of me on a canoe.                                 

I love being with my family on adventures.

Well that’s the end of my blog. Bye!

Celebrity of the week-Haleigh

Hi My name is Haleigh. I would like to talk about my Spring break vacation. I went to Legoland in Carlsbad Ca.I was so excited because its my first time to visit.In Legoland you can go to watch 4d cinema,lego rides, Miniland & more. First we went to Miniland which they called heart of Legoland. In here you can view all lego models constructed with 20 millions lego bricks. Its amazing to see all the historical figures & pop icons made entirely out of lego bricks. I saw some Star Wars characters including Yoda, Wicket, Anakin & Princess Leia. After Miniland I went to Castle Hill where you can experience to pan for royal treasure and be awarded with gold medallion if you get 6 golds or more. Next I went to ride at Aqua Zone Wave Racer. Its really fun because water blasts triggered when you pass a certain area. The last thing we visited was the Fun Town. I was able to drive their own lego car. I feel like I’m driving a real car with the stop light & signs. It was fun experience.

The next day we visited my cousins. We went to Mountasia, a family fun Golf center. I rode on the Bumper boats,go Kart riding & Golfing. At the end of the day we are so tired but the fun was not over yet. Me & my cousin Aryssa went in the hot tub to relax & enjoy. I also played with their new dog. Her name is Princess & she is Maltese.

I really enjoyed this vacation because I had fun & spent time with my family.

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Celebrity of the week-Oceana

Hi, I am Oceana. I am going to share what I know about Violin . Violin is an instrument and is very hard to play. Also, there are very few people who play it. I started Violin about 6 or 5 months ago. I have 4 songs I know well. The first song took me 2 weeks to learn. The second song took me about two months! I didn’t practice a lot. the third song only took me 2 weeks to learn. At home when I practice violin, some of the things I practice ( well, are called exercises) are: rolling finger, A 123 E123 then, backwards, and EADG then backwards. If you don’t know what that means, you should play Violin!

Here is a picture of what the strings are called and where the strings are on the Violin.

Here’s a picture of a bow.

Here’s a picture of a shoulder rest. It makes it so when you play your Violin, your chin is not uncomfortable.

Last, here is a simple photo of a Violin.