Friday November 21

We were very busy today creating ant books to showcase all that we have learned about ants.  Here are some pictures of our hard work...

The students were in agreement that this was a really fun project!
Here are some more ideas from the students about their day:
"Using the computer lab was fun" Jenner & Others
"It was kind when Emily played with me at recess." Brooke
"I liked that Ayana helped me decorate my ant book." Emily
"Library was fun because I foudn a book of poetry!" Mia

See you Monday for our short week!

Thursday November 20

We had another busy day learning more about ants, trying to wrap up some projects so we are ready for our ant museum party.  Here are some idea about today:

"I liked seeing all of the posters I have designed up around the school." Finn
"I liked making a model of an ant!" Sammy
"The coin problem during math was interesting." Zach
"Making the poster about why we need ants." Maddie
" I liked the bird/ant project!" Bernadette and Emily
"It was nice to see the straight line art up in the hall." Mia
"The new math game Shake Reach and Record is fun." Peter
"Peter helped me with some work today - that was nice of him." Kelley
"I;m enjoying creating my ant non-fiction book." Audrey
"Jenner helped me when I fell playing soccer." Cash
"I enjoyed watching Planet Ant today" Brooke
"We got to play the bells at music!" Ayana

Remember, homework and library books tomorrow!  See you then!

Wednesday November 19

Hi again!

We had another busy day working hard reading, writing, and talking about ants.

Today we researched and created posters with this question:  Why does the world need ants?  Here are some pictures of their creative process...

Here are ideas about the day from the students:

"Everyone got to make up a new game during PE...it was really fun! "  Finn & Zach
"I liked making about poster about why the world needs ants." Maddie & others...
"Watching the movie "Planet Ant" teaches us new information." Mia & Bernadette
"The new 5's song was fun to sing." Sammy
"I enjoyed playing 5-in-a Row with Elisabeth." Brooke
"When Jackson was feeling bad about his poster, Everett and I reminded him about how great it was!" Thomas

See you tomorrow!

Tuesday November 18

Hi everyone!
Today our big news was our first visit with Mrs. Calvillo's 5th grade class! The older students interviewed their younger buddy so they could write a personal narrative about them...we are excited to see how the stories turn out!  EVERYBODY enjoyed this time!

Here are some more ideas from the students:
"I really enjoyed the stamp art time upstairs today." Mia
"I enjoyed making the ant book today." Emily
"I learned that fire ants can float on water!" Peter
"I liked writing in my number corner book and singing number songs." Sammy/ Finn/Brooke

Have a great day!  See you tomorrow!

Monday November 17

Hi everyone!

We finished counting our UNICEF money today.  Brooke raised $230 online, and our class raised $161.55 with pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters!!! WOW!! Almost $400 to help students in other countries.

We began our morning creating "straight line art" out of tissue paper!  Can't wait for you to see!

Then we read the book "12 ways to make 11" and the students wrote twelve equations that equaled 11.

We had a nice time writing our ant reports.  After lunch, we learned our story of the week "The Ant and the Grasshopper" (Aesop Fable) and a poem about army ants.  We finished our day with a funny book called "Antics".

Here is what the kids said about today:

" I really liked the ant fact project I started today." Noel
"We got a 5 in gym today!" Bernadette & Asa & Zach
"I liked looking at the ant farm today." Ayana
"Reading more books about ants is fun." Thomas
"I liked the time we had to plan our art projects." Jenner & Calvin
"The straight line art was fun." Cash
"I enjoyed the book The Grasshopper and the Ants"  Bernadette & Everett
"I liked choice time because I like to draw." Emily
"Watching the Grasshopper and the Ants was fun!" Maddie
"When I was writing the ant project, Everett helped me out!"  Kelley

Thanks everyone!  See you tomorrow!

Wenesday November 5

Hi everyone!

Today we continued working on individual literacy assignments related to our study of ants.  This week during literacy block, your child will:
1.  Retell the story of "Two Bad Ants"
2.  Read a non-fiction selection about ants and complete comprehension questions
3.  Draw and label and diagram of an ant.
4.  Read and answer questions about the poem "Harvester Ants."

Today we began writing story problems about ants...we will be working on writing and then solving these story problems over the next few weeks.  Here are a few pictures:

Later in the day we shared an ant read-aloud, saw clips about ants doing amazing things, made a flip book about a year the life of an anthill, and a spinner showing the life cycle of an ant.  This has been a fANTastic day of ant learning!
See you tomorrow!

Tuesday November 4

Here we are, in November!  We have been in school for 42 days.
Thank you to all parents for attending conferences.  It was wonderful to meet everybody.
This week we heard a story called "Two Bad Ants" about two ants who stay behind while foraging and have some scary adventures! 

We also learned about poem about harvester ants.  It looks as though the harvester ants on one of the anthills have left this earthly plane...we are wondering how much longer the others will last!
Today we made two little books about the jobs of ants and the ways ants communicate. Tomorrow we will begin designing out own story problems featuring our friends, the ants!
See you tomorrow!