Thursday November 14

We had another wonderful day learning more and more about ants!

Here are ideas from the students:

" I liked watching the documentary:  Planet Ant- Inside the Ant Colony" Becket and many others
(This documentary is free on YouTube...we only watched 25 minutes of a 90 minute program, so some may want to finish watching it at home.)

"I enjoyed the new game we learned during math called 'Cover Up'." Ezra
(Next week you will get to try this game at home)

"I liked learning a new song during music!" Norah

"I really liked making a poster about how ants are important to our world." Miles, Layton, Anders, and others.
(we spent time researching this question and we came up with some great ideas!)

That's all for now!  Have a great day!

Wednesday November 13

Hi everyone!

I will be out this afternoon, but I wanted to post these cool pictures that Alex sent from Australia!

This is a picture of ants taking care of ant larva Alex saw at a wilderness sanctuary.  I'm guessing the ant hill has a clear wall so people can see the action!

Alex and his sister petting a kangaroo!

Tuesday October 12 11-12-13

Hi everyone!  I hope you enjoyed some quality time this weekend with your families.  The weather was beautiful yesterday!

We jumped right into work today, learning the story of the Ants and the Grasshopper, a classic Aesop fable that reminds us "do not put off until tomorrow what you can do today."

I am sure your conversations about school over the past month have included talking about ants.  We had a class meeting, and the students decided that they would like to open the classroom up again for you to visit so you can see all of the interesting learning about ants we have been doing. 

I will send an email as well, but mark your calendars for Thursday, November 21, 2:30-3:00.  The students will show you their final ant projects as well as all of the ant artifacts around the room.  Attendance is completely voluntary and you can visit any part during the 30 minute time frame.  We won't have formal "presentations" of our projects.  The kids are just very excited to show you all of their good work and learning from the past five weeks!

Here are some ideas from today:
"I enjoyed making the ant fact flip book!" Ryder (and others)
"I really like quiet reading because I am reading a chapter book about dragons and I made it to chapter 2!" Cassidy
"I enjoyed using the iPad during math with Jasper."  Beckett
"I enjoyed learning more at the Poetry center during our literacy block." Matthew
"During literacy centers, I learned alot about honeypot ants!" Jasper
"I liked learning about the story The Ants and the Grasshopper." Anders and others...

That's all for today!  See you tomorrow...

Thursday November 7

We had another whirlwind of a day.  We began with independent reading and writing work, then moved into math where we learned a new game.  After lunch, we had choice reading and writing, then completed a small project to show our understanding of ant predators.  We even had an afternoon recess because the clouds parted long enough for the rain to stop! 
During the week, the students created ants out of egg cartons.  They will be bringing these creations home to you, but I thought it would be fun to have a picture of our "ant army".

 

It was fun to watch what they created with no instructions, just pipe cleaners, google eyes and egg cartons!

  I cherish these long weekends because the hurrying and running here and there to errands doesn't seem so urgent, and we just have time in our little to relax and play (and in my case, write a paper or two).  I hope you enjoy some wonderful family time this weekend!  See you Tuesday!

Wednesday November 6

Just a quick post today.  We learned a new math game called "make the sum" this morning. along with our reading and writing work.  This afternoon we had a wonderful guest from the Oregon Humane Society, Barb and Abbie the dog.  We learned about how to act around strange dogs and a little about the Humane Society.

This afternoon, we worked together to research ideas to answer this question:  What are ant predators? and How do ants protect themselves?  The class books gave us many answers and here is the poster we made:

We used the arrows to connect the insects and animals that eat each other AND also eat ants.  We found that these living things are all connected in some way.

That's all for now...see you tomorrow!

Tuesday November 5

Hi Everyone!  I'm sorry there was no blog post yesterday.  On Mondays I rush off to a staff meeting and on Wednesdays I rush off to class, so I am sorry if I can't get a post ready.

We were very busy yesterday and today.  Yesterday we completed a lovely watercolor art project which makes our room look like falling leaves!  Today we were also very busy partially because in addition to our regular work, we are helping with the school Book Drive.  We have made posters and will present speeches to a kindergarten and first grade classroom about why they should donate books!

Here are some ideas from today:

"I liked the two ant projects we made today."  Alex, Matthew, Anders, Cassidy and others.
"I liked the new add & spin game we learned during math." Beckett
"Writing was fun because I finished a story." Anders
"I liked calendar because we sang the 4's song." Olivia
"I enjoyed using the math game on the computer because it was challenging."  Sam
"I enjoyed writing a summary of our story of the week, 'Little Red Ant'." Jasper

It is 3:45 now and almost dark...welcome November!
See you tomorrow!

El Dia de los Muertos- November 1

What a wonderful day we had!  We had reading, writing, and math of course, but at the end of the day, Norah's mom Dawn brought us music, crafts, and treats to celebrate the Day of the Dead!
We had a great time hearing stories about Norah's great-grandpa and celebrating the day together.  Here are the pictures...enjoy!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Norah gave a great report!

What a great mask!

pan de muerto-  YUMMY

I think I can speak for the kids and say it was a GREAT celebration!  Thanks again Dawn and Norah!