I would like to thank everyone for coming to Open House night.  Twenty-eight families out of thirty-two were represented on our guest list.  I hope you all enjoyed it.

After taking some pictures that night, I realized I had left the camera's memory card in my computer.  I wanted to show how the room looked in preparation for parents, but that, regretfully, did not happen.  Here are some pictures I took prior to or after the event:

Open House

Tonight is open house.  I hope all parents will be able to attend.  There is a good deal of artwork displayed in the cafeteria.  The winners for each grade level will be announced this morning.  If you would like to listen to the fourth grade chorus, they will be performing at 5:00 PM in the cafeteria.  At 5:30 PM, you may view the art in the cafeteria and visit classrooms.  Several students from our room have work on display in the cafeteria.  We took first and third place for our grade level.  I'll post some pictures soon.

When you come to class, ask your child to tell you what they learned about the plant life cycle, butterfly life cycle, and birds of prey.  They can show you their work in the classroom.  Anything on the top of their desks may be taken home (plant, plant observation writing, birds of prey folder).

There is one writing that tells about the adult butterflies we observed.  Each student was able to have a butterfly sit on their fingers.  They all agreed that it tickled.  When we released the butterflies, the first one was immediately snatched up by a bird.  Most did not want to write about that.  So, I told them they could add it if they wanted to.  While it was sad, it was a good example of the food chain as one of our students pointed out  (we have a food chain project hanging in our room). You can also view a slideshow I put together of the field trip to F.A.C.T. and the kids at work in class.

On the eastern wall is a writing that tells what each child wants to be when they grow up and how they will help our community.  This is done in preparation for our next field trip to the Lori Brock Museum.  There we will discover our community as it was in the past.  We will be able to compare the past to the present.

Hope to see you at school tonight!

F.A.C.T Field Trip

Our field trip to the Facility for Animal Care and Treatment ( F.A.C.T.)  was a success!  The students loved seeing the birds of prey that we had read, talked, and written about.  Before seeing the raptors, students gathered around a pond to view the life there at the facility.  We had reviewed facts about frogs and ponds beforehand, and the kids were able to connect what they had learned with what they observed.

After experiencing the pond habitat, the students were treated to an up close view of a baby great horned owl.  You can describe and look at pictures of down feathers, but it is not the same as seeing the fluffy stuff right in front of you.  This part of the tour was many of the students' favorite.

During open house you will be able to see the writing we made to tell about our trip.  I was very happy with how much the children remembered and wanted to share.  One interesting fact they recalled was that the baby owl fell from its nest, so the staff at F.A.C.T. will take care of it for the next four months until it is ready to be on its own.  Our guide told us that its squeaking was its "happy" sound.  Apparently, it was a hungry little owlet.

This is the owl pellet that was passed around:

Too cool.  The kids had mixed reactions.  I liked it, because it contained a gorgeous specimen of a rodent's skull.  You can see it towards the bottom of the picture.

The kestrels moved around too much for this inexperienced photographer to snap a decent photo of, but below you will find pictures of female and male barn owls, red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and a golden eagle.  The golden eagle was the top favorite of the class.  When it flew across its cage and back to its perch, our guide told the students that it was the eagle's way of saying hello.  That was their favorite fact of the day.

As we were leaving, we visited the cacti garden:

It was a great day, and you will be able to read about it in your child's booklet when you come to open house.  Perhaps you would like to take your child to visit this wonderful facility again.  Here is a link to the website:   http://www.csub.edu/fact/ 


Also on display for open house will be the butterfly life cycle.  We have some special visitors in our classroom that came straight from http://www.insectlore.com/ to help us understand the life cycle in a more meaningful way.  We have been watching caterpillars grow and grow.  They are now chrysalids.  They must have been eating miracle grow butterfly food, because they changed into pupae within a week of receiving them.  It should take another seven to ten days for them to make the complete change into the adult painted lady butterflies.  So, they will probably be set free prior to open house, but here are some pictures:

Monday, April 30, 2012

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Friday, May 4, 2012

Art will be on display in the cafeteria on the evening of open house.  I will be submitting some of our class artwork and will post some pictures once they are up, but I hope you will be able to attend and see it in person. I will leave you now with links to some of the books that we have shared in class to help us study bugs, plants, and birds of prey:



From Seed to Plant

Planting a Rainbow

Soaring with the WInd: The Bald Eagle

California Condors (True Books: Animals)

Owls (Animal Predators)


Painted Lady Butterflies (Life Cycles)

The Ladybug and Other Insects

Pigeon

Pigeon stories by Mo Willems are a big hit in the classroom.  Here's a link to the author reading his story,
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy.  What child can't relate to this subject matter?  Enjoy.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/storytime/index.asp

Review Week

During the week we took benchmark tests, so no new material was introduced.   One activity we completed helped us review graphing by using the process to answer a question.  We set it up like a very simplified science project.  We decided to find out what flavor of ice cream was the class favorite.  The children recorded their hypothesis or best guess.  Then, we collected our data, came up with the results and drew our conclusion.  It turns out that the class favored chocolate ice cream.  I thought for sure it was going to be lime.  The great thing about science is that you don't have to be right.  You just need to ask questions.

We continued our work on the animal kingdom with amphibians. This study of animals falls under science standards and is also a continuation of work started with theme six of the reading curriculum.  I like to stress the environment or habitat of the animals, because it works into reading and story elements.

One of my favorite books is a book on frogs and toads.  We use it to create a Venn diagram.  Then, we write sentences using the word "but" to show what is different between frogs and toads.  We use the word "both" to show what is the same.  Understanding those similarities and differences help the students relate to the delightful stories of Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel.  In the picture below you will see a collection of these books and work:

We also read a fun book by Ellen Stoll Walsh entitled Hop, Jump.  The illustrations are enough to spark any imagination, and the story is a an excellent way to reinforce the idea of respect for the rights and opinions of others (a social studies standard).  After reading and discussing the story, the students created book reports including the title and author of the story and a retelling using the words first next, then, and finally.

There is one last item.  It also deals with animals and habitats.  We were able to finish our project on camels as mammals in the desert:

This coming week we are back to the regular routine and will be finishing theme 7, We Can Do It.  There will be new high frequency words and word patterns.  Stories from the curriculum include Grasshopper and Ant and If You Give a Pig a Pancake.   I will continue some testing and will soon be ready to complete report cards due out the first week of March.

Valentine's Day Thanks

I just wanted to thank parents and students for making my Valentine's Day a day I felt very appreciated.

There were gifts of candy and chocolates, notes, and hugs--all things I treasure.  I was even lucky enough to be stickered with hearts on my cheek.  There was a lot of chocolate that did not make it to pictures, but below is a sample of goods.

Chocolate and nut covered marshmallows:

Delightful cards and notes:

I hope you had a very special day with your amazing kids.  Thanks again for sharing them with me.