The Oakwood Chocolate Shop

Awhile back, the primary students began their Social Studies unit about goods and services. Wanting something hands-on (of course) they were thinking of what they could do to show goods being made--the students wanted it to involve something they could eat. The tricky part was figuring out what we could make in school and remain Kosher. With Miss Rochel's help, we decided on chocolate! 

Not surprisingly, the students were ready to get elbow deep in chocolate almost immediately, but the boss in charge (Mrs. Hoy) made sure they went through the proper steps for creating a product in the most economical way possible. A block of chocolate, mix-ins, chocolate molds, and measuring tools were purchased. The mix-ins were decided by what could be purchased locally to help keep costs low. 

Knowing the variety of mix-ins available, each student decided on a tasty combination for his/her chocolates and got to work! First, the mix-ins went into the mold. Then, melted chocolate was poured over and spread into all the nooks and crannies.

After the chocolates hardened in the refrigerator, they were popped out and three were put into each baggy and tied with ribbon. Each student came up with a name and created labels that included the name, price, and ingredients. 

 

Of course, quality control is an important part of selling goods as well! All of their chocolates passed the taste test!

With their goods made, students began advertising around the school and sent home order forms.

As the day approached, the students set up The Oakwood Chocolate Shop and began filling the orders that had come in from parents. 

After filling orders, the rest of the baggies of chocolate were ready for purchase by students and parents (and even some former students stopped by!) during lunchtime. 

After all the orders were filled and bags of chocolates sold, the students completed their business endeavor by figuring out their profit. They counted the money earned, subtracted the expenses to determine how much profit would be donated. In the end, they were able to donate $51.00 to OD YOSEF CHAI, INC. in Israel! In addition, they used this real-life opportunity to practice multiplication and division to determine how many pieces of chocolate they made. 

Finally, to round out the unit, students wrote out (then typed) a paragraph explaining why their chocolates were the best. 

The students had a blast and learned so much real-life business lessons during this unit! 

Be sure to take a look at their display in the primary hallway!

Birds of Prey

Through our partnership with Aullwood Audubon Center, naturalist Miss Nicole came to teach us about birds of prey.

She even brought in a Peregrine falcon to the visit!

As part of the presentation, she brought owl pellets for the students to dissect! To clear up any confusion, 'owl pellets' are the undigested parts of food (mostly bones and fur) that are coughed up by the bird. They are not droppings or poo and they do not smell!

Since owls swallow their prey whole, the bones found within the pellet can tell you what the owl had to eat! All of our pellets contained the bones from mice. After extracting them, we used a chart to help us identify each bone and where they came from in the mice. Then, we pressed the bones into playdough to create the body of the mammal.

 

To continue our study of birds of prey, Miss Jacqui from the Wright Memorial Library came to read us some awesome books about birds of prey and brought us a huge bag of books on birds of prey. We love when Miss Jacqui comes to visit!

Each child chose a bird of prey and searched through books and online to find the wing span and height of the bird. They each got bulletin board paper and measuring sticks and measured out the height and wing span on their paper. This real-life measuring application was great practice for the students. They drew the body of the bird, folded it in half and drew one wing and cut it out---to make the birds symmetrical. Students used oil pastels to show the feathers and the bird's unique markings. 

Some students also had an opportunity to create a portrait of their bird using acrylic paint with Mrs. Martin, the art teacher. 

Using books from the library and online resources, they conducted research and wrote a paragraph using facts they found. 

After students hand-wrote and edited their reports, they used the iPads to type them. 

These research reports, along with their life-sized birds, can be found outside Mrs. Hoy's primary classroom!