I am really excited to attend nErD camp this coming weekend at Western Washington University. This "unconference" focuses on literacy in learning and appeals to the book nerds we are proud to be. I have my books lined up and ready to get signed by...drum roll please.... KATE DiCAMILLO!! We have read some of DiCamillo's books in class such as The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn-Dixie and Merci Watson. I am writing you this post (not only to let you in on my nerdiness) to let you know that Kate DiCamillo will be at the Seattle Public Library (central location), this Wednesday, February 25th. The multi-award winning author will talk about her work from 7-8 pm and it's free (no registration required). 

What a production! The students worked so hard researching and creating floats to represent their cultures! I am impressed by such a great turn-out and by the contribution of food, supplies and helping hands of our community. I must say, aside from the excitement that filled the class all week, my favorite part was seeing the kids in their outfits-ADORABLE! Thank you for lining the school and cheering on our second grade celebrities. Additionally, the students created culture presentations on their iPads using Book Creator. Again, gracias, danke, dziekuje, obrigado, kamsa hamnida, salamat, kawp-kun krap!!

Who says that learning is all work and no play? Well, I don't think anyone really does. We certainly played this week. As we are continuing our work of measuring precisely to the nearest centimeter, our classroom turned into the outback as we transformed into kangaroos. Starting on both feet, we jumped as far as we could and measured the distance of our jumps. We found the average distance of our three jumps and graphed our results on a line plot. Our class jumped anywhere between 62 cm to 163 cm.! 

I'd say that this was a big hit! We put down our pencils and devices and without much guidance other than "have fun," the kids initiated play. They also wrote a blog about their experience, visit our KIDBLOG page here. 

Math you can eat- but only after you show your work! The students measured a gummy worm to the nearest centimeter then stretched it as far as they could and measured the stretched gummy worm. After that they found the difference between the unstretched and stretched worm. They were to show their work and must always remember to label the units of measurement along with the numeral. 

"It's the self-directed aspect of play that gives it its educative power." 
–Peter Gray, The Decline of Play, TED

Our class, along with many other classes at QAE will be participating in the 1st Annual Global School Play Day this Wednesday, February 4th. The idea behind this day is raising awareness of the importance of unstructured play in the lives of young people. For a couple hours we will put down our pencils, our books and our devices and PLAY. 

Students are invited to bring in toys from home. These toys must not require batteries or electricity or contain any type of computer chip. No devices. They may bring in things like board games, Legos, blocks, trucks, cars, racetracks, playing cards, empty cardboard boxes, dolls, puzzles, blankets (for forts), social games (charades, Pictionary, etc.) If they don't bring anything in, no problem. We have lots of games to share. I know this is short notice, but I did talk with the class about this and they are full of excitement. If they mentioned to you that they're allowed to bring toys and games to school-it's true! 

Adults will not be leading or facilitating any of the play. The play will all be self directed. The teachers will be making sure this time is safe and will be taking pictures and observing. Who knows, we hope to be playing too! One of the things that Peter Gray says about this event is that it will "signify to children that we recognize the importance of play in their lives." As a mother and teacher, there's nothing like observing free & natural play! 

Did you miss me? I finally got around to trouble-shooting my home computer and now I can access Weebly! We have been mighty busy these past few weeks and I'll try to give a brief synopsis.

First and foremost, we want to extend loving arms to Madeline and Mr. Jeffrey. This is a time of coming together as a classroom and school community to reach out and comfort those we care about. Our kids had discussions and wrote cards expressing feelings they have for our dear classmate and librarian. You continue to be in our thoughts...

We have been fortunate to have Ms. Heike take on her student teaching role and we have been team-teaching the past few weeks. It has been so nice to meet with small groups daily and have two teachers supporting student growth. If only this is how it were all the time! We have launched our social studies unit "The Parade" and have big plans ahead. This week your child decided on a cultural heritage and created a character around that culture. In the upcoming weeks, each student will research more about this culture and create a float for the parade and provide a food dish to share at our celebration on February 20th. Please mark this day on your calendars as we would love for you to join us and help by bringing a food dish to this event. 

In other areas:
Reading: Characters go on Journeys-we are doing a whole-class book study on Shiloh, by Phillis Reynolds Naylor.  
Writing: Persuasive writing-watch out parents, some kids are writing with you in mind! Some current writing topics: Why I should play more Mindcraft (Tate), Why dogs are better pets than cats (Zoe), Why kids shouldn't have to go to school (Julius), Why Magic is Real (Kostya), Why sushi is the best food to eat (Asa), and it goes on...
Math: Measurement-centimeters & meters (for now)
Black History:  Guided Reading groups have been reading books about Ruby Bridges, Martin Luther King Jr., and Thurgood Marshall. We will continue our studies into February. 
Class Meeting: Win/Win situations
Technology: Establishing iPad agreements, responding to prompts on KidBlog. You can access and blog using Kidblog from home. 
http://kidblog.org/MsLeckiesLearners-2

Ask your child to enlighten you:

• What does segregation mean?
• Play the continent game: Give your child a country and see if they know what continent it's in.
• Ask them, How does a double-stuffed OREO help you with your opinion/persuasion writing?
• Tell me about Kangaroo jumps!
• How big is a millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer?

AND, what all the hype has been about... The QAE/Perseverance video lead by Ms. Stone. What a fun and collective production this turned out to be! 
As a HUGE Seahawks fan, I am thrilled by all this buzz. Shortly after it was released, Pete Carroll retweeted it and posted it on his Facebook page. Then Fox Sports and CBS picked it up. It was on Good Morning America on Thursday and Ms. Stone and some QAE students will be interviewed on King 5 News this Saturday morning in the 8:00-9:00 hour. Our very own Sage and Josiah will be among those interviewed so be on the look out this Saturday! Even the Arizona Iced Tea company called the school wanting to send us cases of iced tea (they must be appreciative for the free advertising!). Only three more sleeps until Super Bowl, but who can really sleep anyway?

I realized that I started writing this blog post on December 19th and now it's nearly a month later. 

We came, we coded, we can change the world! The students at QAE joined about 70 million others worldwide in an hour of code. The kids helped Anna and Elsa create a winter wonderland and then some. We also learned a thing or two about left/right and degrees (angles and turning). I found myself frustrated trying to code at first, but after watching your kids and learning from them, I started to catch on and found myself coaching others! Coding is about breaking down a problem or task and what an empowering skill to learn! My guess is that your child came home excited to tell you about their experience. I'd love to get your comments about what they reported. 

On Monday Mr. Elliott and Ms. Ward launched Dwankhozi week at our Monday Morning Meeting. Throughout the week we read stories, watched videos and went to a Dwankhozi gallery walk that featured different aspects of Zambian life. At the gallery walk Ms. Ward shared about Fabric Uses that included how they use one piece of fabric for a variety of purposes (such as carrying a baby). Ms. Amsel shared a Print Making and other African Crafts station and the printed fabric is hanging in the cafeteria. There was a Maize Table where most kids sampled nshima, one of Zambia's staple foods made of corn and eaten with the hands. Ms. Stone ran a Drum Circle, Ms. Marks lead the Zambia Futbool station where she showed kids how to make soccer balls out of plastic bags. Mr. Bailey had a Story Telling area and I ran the Water Awareness station and got to share my experience of what I observed first hand while in Zambia.

It was fun to be part of this connecting experience and watch kindergartners-fifth graders' (and adults) fascination at work. The Dwankhozi partnership brings our school together and connects us to new friends and the way of life of those halfway around the globe. 

We had a closing assembly on Friday and had a chance to meet Charles Masala, who grew up in Zambia and was the originator of the Seattle-Dwankhozi connection. Mrs. Stone and the 4th graders sang a special African song and the older students taught us about the Hungry Season and how it impacted the students at our partner school. They introduced the Raise for Maize Campaign our school will be participating in for the next two weeks.  


In rural southern Africa, subsistence farmers experience a Hungry Season (January-March) when their stored food grown is depleted as they wait for the rainy season to end and the March harvest to be ready. That means their children are coming to school hungry, which makes learning very difficult for them. The school day has to be shortened during this period as the students have no energy to learn. About half of the students don't make it to school as their focus is on finding food. 

They told us that some women in the Dwankhozi Primary School community are willing to make the students a school lunch during this Hungry Season. They just need us to help buy some maize. Then they invited us to participate in a Raise for Maize Campaign that will start on Monday. They encouraged students to ask friends and family if they could do chores, or service projects, for a Raise for Maize donation. They suggested things like raking leaves or cleaning extra parts of the house or caring for a pet. 


Dwankhozi is a community of people who care deeply about their school and want to help. When the students are provided with a nutritious meal during the school day for the duration of this tough season, school attendance remains high and the students’ and teachers' momentum for learning is sustained. 

$10 feeds 60 students for one day.
$50 feeds 300 students for one day.


$100 feeds the entire school for one day.


They only need to be fed for 6 weeks  
   (30 school days.)

That's $3,000. ~ which is our fundraising goal.
To keep 600 students learning!


Here are some videos that highlight our partnership.
2014 Dwankhozi Week
2014 Zambia Trip
2013 Zambia Trip
"The Martin" Video, this was also a video that helped launched our Water PBL unit 
"The Martha" Video captures the day-in-the-life of a female student from Dwankhozi

Dashing through the rain, in an almost single-file line, over to the other side of the hill we go, caroling all the way, ha ha ha. Did you do it? Did you sing that line to the Jingle Bells melody? The kids had fun caroling in fron of the Trader Joes Plaza on Friday. Eventhough it drizzled on us on our walk to the Ave., we were all smiles as we caroled to some of our favorite holiday songs. Thank you to Ms. Sara, Ms. Karen and Ms. Chris for joining us and a big thank-you to Ms. Stone for organizing the trip. 
Photo credit: Ms. Sara

Connecting to the QAE monthly theme of GRATITUDE, I'd like to thank you all for meeting with me for conferences. While collecting student work, scoring and writing reports can be a demanding, the outcome and time spent talking with you all is so rewarding. It is refreshing to meet with parents committed to their child's well-being and understanding of the partnership we have. I am thankful for countless things in my life and I want to let you know that I'm thankful for our kids and all of you!