We welcomed in March with a few special events last week.
 On Wednesday, we celebrated World Read Aloud Day! We met Author and Illustrator Margaret Chodos-Irvine, who read us one of her books, "Ella Sarah Gets Dressed". Then students traveled around in mixed-grade level groups to listen to different staff members read them some great books. It was a lot of fun. Ms. Colondo put this video together that summarizes what this day is all about. | |
On Thursday, we ventured out on our first field trip. We rode yellow school buses to the Woodland Park Zoo where we spent the day learning about the weather and organisms of the African Savanna! We made sure to visit all of our favorite african animals ~ giraffes, lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, and monkeys ~ as these will be the animals that we will become experts on in our upcoming PBL All About Animals project. The kids did an amazing job, as did the many grown up family members that joined us. Thank you, chaperones! Your generous support made this a fabulous experience for all of us! If any of you took photos that you would be willing to share, I would love to see them!
 |  On Friday, Cooper's mom and dad came to talk to us about the Iditarod! Earlier in the week, we had read the book about Balto and Gunnar and how they braved a blizzard to get some much needed medicine from Ancorage to Nome in 1925. Kurt and Michele showed us photos and videos of sled dogs and mushers that have done the Iditarod and told us stories about their experiences with the race. They even showed us a photo of a young Cooper in a sled with a famous musher! |
Coming up this week!
| Our Opinion Writing Unit has been so fun to teach! The students have been completely engaged in using their writing to make the world better, and have come up with so many creative requests for people they think can help them do this. You have probably noticed that writing is coming home more frequently than it did in other units. this is because the students are insisting that they are send their letters or post their posters immediately. I am in the process of posting their latest opinion pieces on their e-folios and will be done soon. This week, we will wrap up our opinion writing and prepare to dive into our next PBL project ~ All About Animals. This project begins with a Animals 2x2 Science unit. We will learn about animal body parts and functions with the help of some goldfish, snails, and isopods that will arrive in our classroom on the 17th. This unit is always a big hit with the kids, and allows them lots of opportunities to use their newly acquired writing skills to record their science thinking and learning. We will also be diving back into Zambia, learning how to use non-fiction reading strategies to learn more about what it is like for kids growing up on the African Savanna. Building this background knowledge about Zambia and animals will prepare the students for the Animal expert groups they will be a part of later this spring. These groups will be working collaboratively to become experts on their focus animal and to share their expertise with others. |  |
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