More Great Books

On Monday, I brought in some more great books to share with the crew. They are already enjoying them. Check out the pictures below if you are looking for some great titles next time you visit the library.

More in the series are on the way.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Practice basic addition and subtraction facts.

Library
We have library tomorrow. Please help your child gather up all of their books and bring them back to school.

Bees and Pollen

Today we did an experiment with our bees. We wanted to see what it looked like when bees rubbed against the pollen on flowers. So you sent in some flowers and we tried it. (Thanks for the flowers Amy S., Meghan S. and Jen B.) The pollen stuck to the little hairs all over the bee. It was very interesting.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 9.5 Symmetry

Guest Speaker

We had Ms. Louise come and speak to us about bees today. She knew so much and had so much to share with us. We were fascinated. Check out the pictures below and ask your child to tell you all about it.

Mr. Vern, Sloan's grandpa, also came today. He and Ms. Wendy worked with small groups of students to replant our seedlings. Mr. Vern knew so much about plants and talked to each group so patiently to explain what they were doing and why. The plants are growing so fast. Below are a few pictures of the replanting.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 9.4 Solving Problems Two Ways

Important Dates
5/7 3rd Grade Portfolio Showcase (I highly recommend that you volunteer to be on the panels for these - or the 6th grade showcase. It is a wonderful experience. For more information, click here.)

5/14 and 5/21 6th Grade Portfolio Showcase (For more information, click here.)

5/26 No School - Memorial Day

6/4 Last Day of School

Bee Drawings

Today we spent some time drawing a scientific drawings of bees and labeling all of the important parts. It was challenging, detailed work but we all persevered and have some amazing drawings of bees. Check out the photos below.

Be sure to ask your child about the book party that we had this afternoon! It was a huge success! We all have lots of great books to read.


Homework
No homework for the long weekend. Enjoy some good books with your child.

IA
Our IA next week is Art.

Writing Our All About Books

We are deep into writing our All About books about our chosen animals. First we did some research to find out many interesting facts about our animals. Now we are putting all of that research together in our books. We are all feeling so much pride about our writing and it is showing up in the quality of our work. Ask your child to tell you all about his or her book. (Click on the picture to see a larger version.)

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 9.3 Number-Grid Puzzles

Library
We have library tomorrow. Please help your child remember to return his or her library books.

Reading

What does the research say is one of the most important factors in learning to read well? It is time spent actually reading. The more time a child spends reading, the better reader he or she will be. It also just makes sense. You learn a new skill with some beginning instruction from someone who knows how to do that skill and then it is up to you to practice. For example, you can learn a lot about how to swim just by watching other people swim. Then you can take a few lessons and learn even more. But what actually makes you a good swimmer? Time spent actually swimming in the pool. Once you have a basic idea of the things you need to do to swim, you need time to learn how to make your body do those moves. The same can be said of reading. Once you know how to decode words and what to do when you come to a word that you don't know, you just need time to learn how to help your brain become efficient in decoding words and comprehending text. All of this means that the more your child reads, the better he or she will be able to read.

Also, just like there are always new strokes, swimming styles and breathing techniques to continue to learn in swimming, there are also new comprehension strategies to continue to learn in reading. So be sure to help your child find good books that he or she loves and give them lots of time to just read.

If you are looking for resources written for parents about helping your child learn to read, I would suggest these (all of them are available at the Douglas County Public Library):

7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! (Zimmermann, Susan and Hutchins, Chryse)

Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever (Fox, Mem)

The Between the Lions Book for Parents: Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Child Learn to Read (Rath, Linda K. and Kennedy, Louise)

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 9.2 Using the Number Grid

Busy Bees

We moved into the next section of this case study about interdependence in our Down to Earth Expedition. We have learned about how soil and worms are interdependent and today we began to look at how bees and flowers are interdependent. The crew was buzzing with excitement as we looked at our bees. Check out the photos below.

Homework
Reading ~ Read a good book or two.
Math ~ Home Link 9.1 Number Grid Hunt

Important Dates
4/25 No School - Teacher Comp Day

5/7 3rd Grade Portfolio Showcase (I highly recommend that you volunteer to be on the panels for these - or the 6th grade showcase. It is a wonderful experience. For more information, click here.)

5/14 and 5/21 6th Grade Portfolio Showcase (For more information, click here.)

5/26 No School - Memorial Day

6/4 Last Day of School

Moments From Our Day ~ April 18, 2014

Someone found a good book!

Our new Build and Create Station building tools

We went to a market in Ms. Nicole's room. They gave us money and we got to buy some treasures and bring them home. It was part of their financial literacy lessons. We loved it!

Homework
No homework for the weekend. Enjoy some great books with your child.

IA
Our IA next week is PE. Please wear appropriate footwear.