See you tomorrow morning!
We hope you can join us tomorrow for our first Elementary School Sing. After a brief Morning Meeting at 8:55, we will head down to the gym where the excitement will begin! Students have been practicing 5 songs that we will share with you and sing together with the K, 1, and 2 classes.
See you tomorrow morning!
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Daniel read us Dragons Love Tacos, we played Made Up Monster (a game made up by Daniel), and then Daniel answered all of Willoughby's many questions about illustrating books! It was great!! Today scientists met the animal they will be observing, studying, caring for, and creating habitats for! Before the big reveal we gave them some hints, and we had some very educated (and creative) guesses... It has a tail- IGUANAS! It lives on land- IGUANAS! SNAKES! It doesn't have scales- BIRDS! POLAR BEARS! It isn't fuzzy- BIRDS! It lives in a garden- BUGS! RABBITS! SNAILS! WORMS! It helps us live and helps us get nutritious foods- CHICKENS! It digs tunnels- MOLES! PILL BUGS! It's slimy- SQUID! SLUGS!.......WORMS!! WIlloughby will be studying earthworms! Today we learned how to handle them, and then we observed them using 4 senses (no tasting!). Scientists recorded their observations and questions in their science journals. (Take a look below! More photos coming soon!) Non-fiction texts contain information that is true. They also contain features such as titles, headings and subheadings, photographs, captions, maps, diagrams, labels, charts and graphs, bold and italicized text, glossaries, and indexes. These features are a common part of non-fiction reading that we often use or reference to help gain understanding of what is being read. As experienced readers, we do this without notice. When students read nonfiction material, they will also encounter text features that are different from those they come across when reading fiction. Students who have had experience and know the purpose of text features improve
their comprehension of the text. How can you help your child with this strategy at home? 1. When reading with your child, tune in to these features and think out loud when you use them. For example, when coming across a word in bold print you might say, “I notice this word is darker than the rest of the words. It is in bold print. I bet the author wanted me to notice this word because it stands out. I need to make sure I know what this word means.” 2. Break it down into individual text features to bring awareness to your child about these features in text. Begin by asking your child to look for words in bold. Then, have your child list any words in italics. You can also have your child look for titles, headings, charts, legends, glossaries, and captions. 3. Guide your child in using his/her background knowledge about text features to aid in comprehension. Have your child read a non-fiction selection to you, stopping when a text feature is used. Ask your child to explain his/her thinking about that text feature to you. Thank you for your continued support at home! This unit begins with a study of living and non-living things. Scientists will learn the characteristics of a living thing and what living things need in order to survive. From there, students’ own questions will guide their explorations and they will use the classroom library to research and find answers to their questions. In connection with our CAFE strategies in Reader’s Workshop, students will “Use Text Features” (title, table of contents, heading, diagrams, labels, glossaries, etc.) to assist them as readers and researchers. They will search for answers to their questions by reading nonfiction books, paying close attention to how text features help us in our research. Finally, they will share their findings with the community. Next, our classroom will turn into a laboratory as scientists study a living thing - the earthworm! They will make observations, record findings and ideas in their science journals, develop questions, hypotheses, and experiments, conduct research, and draw conclusions. From there, our young scientists will use their knowledge to create a healthy habitat for their earthworms to thrive and grow. We will celebrate their hard work and discoveries at the end of the unit with a community share, where scientists will share their journals, lab reports, experiments, habitats, and writing and art projects with you! Check out the slideshow below of our scientists examining and recording their observations of their non-living things with magnifying glasses! On Monday, February 25th the BioBus is visiting Arts & Letters.
The bus will be parked out front, and all six K-2 will have a chance to visit on the BioBus! The cost of this visit will be $10. Please return the permission slip (which went home today in homework folders) as well as $10 cash in a sealed envelope clearly labeled with your child's name. We are also accepting donations to go towards scholarships for any K-2 students who may not be able to afford the $10 cost. If you would like to donate, check the box on the permission slip so that we know to look for the extra money in your envelope. Read more about the BioBus here: http://biobus.org/category/press_room/ |