Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school for Madison and Jonathan.  On the last day there is always an awards day for the elementary and middle school kids.  Andrew and I attended the Reinbeck Elementary awards day this morning.  Madison was recognized for earning a spot on the battle of the books team that got to go to the AEA 267 battle of the books and represent G-R.  She was given a list with 40 books on it in the fall and they read as many as a team as they can.  They then have to take a test and the team with the highest score got to go.  She also received an award for knowing all 50 states and capitals.  This is something that the 4th grade have to learn every year and out of 46 kids only 10 received the award.  She also received a language arts award for reading and writing and an AR award for earning more than 200 points.

Sorry for the dark pictures, I was far away and when I tried to zoom in something happens with the exposure or something.  Greg has tried to explain it before and I can never remember.  But she was happy to receive her awards.

Jonathan had his awards day this afternoon.  He received an award for attendance.  He missed four or less days of school meaning he was there 97% of the time.  He also received an award from his teacher for having the most growth in reading on the STAR test (a computerized test they do several times a year to check reading levels).  He grew 3.1 years in his reading this year.  This was more than anyone else in his class.  He also read 102 books and passed tests over them this year.  Way to go!!!!!

I finished my last day yesterday so I am now done for the year as far as working.  I still have classes that I am taking over the summer and getting ready to student teach next fall.  Andrew finished his year yesterday as well.  He is so excited to be a kindergartener.  

Summer will be busy between swim lessons, day camps, basketball camp, OPPTAG, corn carnival, and trips to visit grandma and grandpa (Thankfully my mom is going to take the kids for me while I get my licensing exams taken. I have four hours worth of testing to do in July and one of the nearest test centers in in Davenport so I can test while we visit this summer.

Graduation Night

Last night Andrew graduated from Preschool.  His teacher does a nice job with the ceremony.  They sing and she reviews their year.  Then they each get a chance to stand on a platform and receive their diplomas.  Andrew looked so good in cap and gown.  He is very excited to be going to kindergarten next year.

His teacher Mrs. Rose

Receiving his diploma from Mrs. Grey

EAGLE Presentation

Today was Madison's EAGLE presentation (EAGLE is what our school calls it's TAG program).  Andrew, Greg and I were there to hear her talk about her backyard and the fun things she put in it.  She had 1 acre of land and no budget so she could put anything in it she wanted.  It had to have a recreation area, a relaxation area, a garden and a water feature.  They had to write poems, do research, learn to convert measurements to make a scaled map of their backyard, write a fictional story, paint a watercolor and make a diorama of an area.  It was a rather involved project.  Here are pictures of her presentation board and diorama.  They were displayed for everyone during the Reinbeck Elementary concert that was held last week and then they presented today.

Display at the concert

Today's presentation day

When I figure out how to shrink the video file I will post the video of her presentation so that you can see it.

TAG Project

For most of the year Madison has been working on a project for her EAGLE class.  It is a backyard project.  They were each given a one acre plot of land to use to design their ultimate backyard.  There were requirements as to what needed to be included in the backyard.  One area that she had to have a was a relaxation area.  One of the requirements of the project was to make a diorama of an area in their backyard.  She did her relaxation area complete with her water feature.  Greg worked on the diorama with her.  They started last Saturday and I was gone taking one of the three licensing exams I need to take.  In order to help Madison he had the two boys make one as well. They started out with pink foam insulation and cut and sculpted it.  They then added plaster to make hills and stuff. They then painted the plaster and added rocks and grass. They looked pretty cool when I got home.  She added water to the water feature and rocks to the walking path.  She then added trees and even a hammock.  It has turned out pretty cool.

Madison and the start of her diorama

Jonathan and his Diorama

A very happy boy

Andrew and his diorama

Reeds and water were added

A bridge over the water was added

Flowers were added

The Finished Project

They have all had fun working on them.  The boys have now added track to theirs and finished with putting ballast on the track.  It was a big project and I am glad it is done.  I was able to safely transport the finished project to school on Friday since we didn't think the bus ride would be good for it.  They will be displayed at the music concert on Tuesday so she is excited for everyone to see her hard work.

Our Honorary Forester

On Monday the soil and water conservation people did a presentation to the fourth graders at Reinbeck Elementary.  Each fourth grader received a tree to plant.  Madison was sick that day and I got an e-mail from her teacher letting me know she had a tree for Madison and that she would put in the workroom with her homework.  I was thinking it would be just a small scrawny thing like what you get in the mail.  What I found was a pot with a small evergreen in it.  We finally found a place to plant it.

We will now have the fun of watching it grow into a full sized tree providing it survives.