Seth Paine School
Fifth Grade Taft Trip

Getting ready for Taft

The 5th grade begin to prepare for Taft long before they actually pack their gear and climb on the bus.

One of the educational classes at Taft is Birding. Before going to Taft the 5th graders spend some time learning about birds, their characteristics and their calls.  As an extension to the in class activities, the students were able to see and learn about some Illinois raptors, as Mrs. Grode our music/band teacher works with the Northern Illinois Raptor Center and was able to bring to Seth Paine several birds including a Red Tailed Hawk.  To view pictures of this in - school field trip please click here. 

On Monday February 16, the students began to practice orienteering skills in the snowy field behind the school.  Wayne Wagner, (Ms. Wagner's father), together with his friends Eryle Hilton and Jeff Huebner, and Scott Bonk ( former Seth Paine student and Mrs. Bonk's son) set up an orienteering course in the back field and have been teaching the  5th graders compass skills.    For pictures of the 5th graders practicing these skills click here. 

The Fifth Grade has also  been busy researching animals, spending time with the laptops, and taking notes from books and internet sites. The students will take on the role of their animal as an omnivore, herbivore, or carnivore for an activity they will participate in at Taft.

The Fifth Grade has also been studying weather. Within the weather unit, they studied water as a solid, liquid, and gas, weather instruments, dynamic weather events, clouds, and the greenhouse effect.  Each day at Taft, the students take turns predicting, reporting and recording the weather.

Along with all the educational preparation, the students have also participated in several fund raisers. The 5th graders, with the help of parent volunteers sold Frozen Fruit pops at lunch on Fridays, contributed and ran a bake sale on parent teacher conference day. Other fund raises include several Jewel shop-n-share days, movie night, taffy apple sale, and some special Market day sales. The profits from these sales are put in the Lorado Taft fund to offset the cost of the trip. Many thanks to Mrs. Zoibe for heading up these fund raising activities. 

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Web Sponsor: Cameron. Shapiro
Webmaster: Diana Christ
Author: Diana Christ
Created: March 24, 2008
Updated: February 20, 2010