The Slowest Spring EVER !

March- April
 It was a very slow move into spring; we had every type of weather possible, so we spent time learning about adaptations as we tried to adapt to an ever changing climate. In art we created our own animal mask that had some "pretend" adaptations to help it stay safe and find food in its habitat.

Back in the classroom we had a "mini-play" where each student spoke about their animal. We also talked about the beaks and feet of birds and how they use them in their habitats with our 5th grade earning buddies; we created our own bird and plan on writing stories about these birds soon.

In the meantime we have been reading and researching about the desert. Because April was Poetry Month, we wrote a desert poem as a class and then each child wrote their own poem about their favorite desert animal.

Filling bird cascarones with bird seed

Next we read about our same animal- and wrote a few facts about our animal to share with the school. Check out our Mexican folks and their patterns/ shapes on their serape.

Now it is travel time!   Mexico fun...

Making and sending postcards

Making Spanish Mexican Flag Counting Books

Once we finished our study of Mexico 
we celebrated with a "trip to Mexico". 
Here are some busy students making flag counting books to practice Spanish 
numbers 1-10.

Sending postcards, making nachos, drinking hot chocolate as well as making our own yellow paper mache egg cascarones were among the activities we tackled while listening to sweet Mexican guitar music.

Visiting the Cactus cafe wouldn't be possible without our great volunteers!

"The Legend of Pointsettia" was read and we all made a poinsettia to take home to remind ourselves that " it is the gift of the heart that contains the most magic."

And speaking of magic- we could never accomplish any of this without the help of parent volunteers- both at home and those who could come in. Thank you! 

  Rainforests, ponds and seeds...as well as the various folktales of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jenny and the Cornstalk, Jim and the Beanstalk and... Katie and the Beanstalk are all coming soon.  The act of comparing and contrasting is a skill needed in every subject matter, so we spend a great deal of time honing that skill through literature experiences that require students to think and respond to various versions of a given folktale. 

So...stay tuned for more in May-June! 

Penguin Partners and Winter Wonders

As you know, January is full of tests- or "Test Fest" as I like to think of it. But in between our assessments to check on student progress, we have been very busy studying polar habitats as well as working with our 5th grade partners in Mr. Choate's class. Because the entire school is reading"Mr. Popper's Penguins," we got together with our big buddy learning partners to devote our 20 minute sessions to activities that celebrate penguin facts.

Working with partners requires practicing 
skills needed for communication, collaboration, problem solving and flexibility.

Students added tens to determine what color to cover the square on the graph. Example: 20 + 30

Student pairs had to research a fact and then create a penguin fact poster together that would allow others who see the poster to learn a new fact about penguins.

Customs, Cultures and Celebrations !

 

After reading several folktales from Russia, we spent some time learning how to read an atlas and then used it to find out about habitats in Russia. This led to exploring books about polar bears, reindeer and walrus facts as well as attempting to learn how to count in Russian. (We were very lucky this year to have Leo, a 5th grader, come down to help us on our Travel Day and assist with counting to 10 as Leo speaks fluent Russian.) One of our centers on Travel Day was a Russian counting book activity; students made matching flag amounts to a given page with a Russian number word.

After all of that counting, a trip to the Russian Polar Bear Cafe was needed to refuel with a blini pancake !   Many thanks to all of the parent volunteers who contributed their time and supplies to make all of this happen- we could not have done any of this without them!

Next it was on to making a puppet to go along with the folktale...

As students rotated to the centers, they stopped off at the postcard center to draw and record facts they learned about this country, their customs and a little bit about Russian culture.

Last but not least, all students made their own version of a gold Faberge egg- studded with the jewels of their choice. It is hoped this small Travel Day will spark reading and writing activities as we explore polar regions throughout January!