Monday, February 13, 2012

Two cool activities in our elementary schools …


I visited Math/Science Night at Westminster Elementary last week (Thursday, February 9).  The school had a great turnout, and even the “mad scientist” was roaming the halls.  I visited in several classrooms where kids were engaged in math and science activities.  I also saw lots of snakes and other creatures in one of the classrooms.  I didn’t venture to taste the freeze dried crickets (they were even in onion and vinegar flavors) based on the advice of one of the young men at the station.  It is always exciting to see students excited about math and science.  I hope we have some future scientists or mathematicians who got their start at the school.

This morning (Monday, February 13) I started my week by seeing Northside Elementary 3rd and 4th grade students demonstrate their reading skills and their understanding of America’s history.  The first group did a wonderful “Readers’ Theater” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  These third grade students did a fantastic job of sharing the play with some of the most important details from King’s life and work for equality and civil rights.  The second group of students, 4th graders, memorized King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”  Students each used the microphone to recite the speech from beginning to end.  They did a wonderful rendition of the speech, and I know they learned a tremendous amount doing this unit.

Great job, and my hat is off to these two schools!