Mini Relay for Life

Oakland Elementary students celebrated Relay for Life on Friday, May 16th.

          Cancer survivors visited Oakland and walked the Survivor's Lap

Students held banners of encouragement and cheered for the survivors.

Fourth Grade Teacher, Mrs. Stacey Johnson, spoke about her personal journey with cancer and how her friends and family were by her side through it all. 

Oakland faculty and staff raised money through various projects to donate to the American Cancer Society. 

At the end of the day OES students ended the celebration with a Balloon Release. The balloons represented those who have fought cancer and won and those who have passed on. 

The balloons were a beautiful site in the bright blue sky. 

 

Wonderopolis

Guess who came to visit Oakland Elementary School..... Wonderopolis!!
If you haven't heard about this site, please check it out by clicking on the question below.


Third Graders Wonder: Do Earthworms prefer light or dark?

Students in Mrs. Jones' Third Grade class asked many questions about Earthworms after discovering several earthworms in our flower garden (see Earth Day blog).
After completing a gallery walk which included Earthworm poems, images of earthworms, nonfiction text and a Wonderopolis video Why are earthworms good for gardens?  , students gathered information about earthworms. The question that we could easily investigate "Do earthworms prefer light or darkness?" became our inquiry lesson.
 Several students commented that earthworms seem to stay underground most of the time, but would they move away from light?
Look at the photos from our inquiry lesson. These pictures do not capture the thrill of the students as their worms wiggle away from the light of their flashlights but you can see they were definitely engaged in this activity.

 

 

Worms do not like light and will move away from it.
Now, students are very curious about composting and what worms can do to help in the decomposing process.