Friday

**Have a safe and fun weekend!
* We had a great Fall Celebration Party!  There was food, games and prizes!  We also had a surprise guest, Mrs. Burton came in for a quick visit.  It was great to see her.  She will be bringing Harper on another visit.

Science - We unearthed our fossils today.  They turned out really well.  We journaled about how to make them and characteristics of the final product.  Following is the recipe for the dough and directions to make them.  I will post some pictures as soon as I get them uploaded.

Make your own Fossils

Purpose: To introduce students to mold and cast fossils by having them create their own trace fossils

                                   

Materials:

• Items to create fossils of (twigs, sturdy leaves, ferns, shells, small plastic insects, bones or figures)
• fossil dough (recipe below)
• shallow paper cups
• oil (mineral or vegetable)
• plaster of paris (and water to mix it with)

For the activity leader:

• large disposable container to mix plaster in (a beaker lined with heavy plastic bags works well)
• stirring stick (something disposable to mix the plaster)
• old ladle (to scoop the plaster into the cups)

Procedure:

1. have the students label their paper cups with their names
2. press approximately 2 cm of prepared dough into the bottom of each cup (do this beforehand for small kids or to save time).  Make sure the surface is very smooth!!
3. lightly coat the object to be fossilized in oil
4. press the object into the clay to make a mold.
5. mix the plaster of paris (adding some salt speeds drying time)
6. quickly cover the clay impressions with approximately 2 cm of plaster
7. leave in a warm place and allow to harden for approximately one hour.
8. carefully peel away the paper cup and remove the plaster cast.

DO NOT DISPOSE OF EXCESS PLASTER IN THE SINK, it will permanently clog the drain.  Put any excess or waste into the garbage can.

Linda’s Fossil Dough Recipe

5 cups flour

2 ½ cup salt

¼ cup cream of tartar (this is sold cheap in the baking section of the bulk food dept.)

5 cups cold coffee

2 cups fairly dry used coffee grounds (if they are really wet reduce the amount of water)

1/3 cup oil

Mix all ingredients and cook on medium heat stirring continuously.  Continue stirring until the dough is too thick to stir (several minutes).  Remove from heat and kneed dough when cool enough to handle.  Keep in an airtight container until ready to use.

HW: None

Reading - We had guidance today. 
HW: None


Math - We had small groups and played multiplication War, worked on multiplication and division and played multiplication Bingo. 
HW: None

Writing - We had our Celebration Party.
HW: None


Mrs. Brady