Sneaky Turkeys

This week the students listened to the book 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving with their Reading Buddies.  This is a cute story about students who take a field trip to Farmer Mack Nuggett's farm.  When they realize that his turkeys were going to be killed for Thanksgiving, they smuggle the turkeys home and decided to have vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners for the year! :) After listening to the book, the students and their reading buddies had to figure out how they would disguise their turkey so it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving.  I was impressed with how cute and original some of their ideas were.  The disguises ranged from a school bus to a nerd.  Check out these sneaky turkeys!!

Pic Collages of Non-Fiction Text Features

The students worked collaboratively in groups on the iPad this week using an app called Pic Collage to show their knowledge of non-fiction text features.  Knowing non-fiction text features allows a reader to distinguish between fiction and non-fiction text and it helps them find the information that they need in non-fiction text.  If you are reading a non-fiction book with your child at home, have them point out some of the non-fiction text features for you and have them explain why it is an important feature.  Great job on your collages!!

Perfect Attendance Awards!

Congratulations to the four students in our class who had perfect attendance for the first quarter of school!  WAY TO GO!

Geologist Visit

This past week we had John Link, a local geologist, come in to speak to our students about being a geologist and the local soils of our area.  He explained to the students the importance of knowing which type(s) of soils, rocks, or minerals are in an area and how these elements impact what is built and grown in an area.  He even brought in a drill to show the students how they collect soil, rock, and mineral samples.  The students loved watching the drill in action and were amazed with how far down a drill can go to collect samples.  This visit tied in wonderfully with what we learned in our Soils Unit from earlier in the year.  A huge THANK YOU to John Link for taking the time to teach us all about being a geologist!!

Non-Fiction Text Features

Last week our class started to talk about the text features of non-fiction texts and the importance of each text feature.   Good readers use these features to help them better understand what they are reading.  So far we have looked at captions, photographs, illustrations, headings, subheadings, diagrams, and labels.  The students are working in small groups using the iPad to take pictures of these text features in non-fiction books. They will use these pictures with an app on the iPad called Pic Collage to create a collage of non-fiction text features.  This is another great opportunity to work collaboratively in small groups while developing a product that shows their learning! :)

Writer's Chair

During free writing time students were once again very excited to write about whatever they wanted.  Each student chose to write something that was interesting to them.  Their writing included letters, comics, lists, fictional narratives, personal narratives, and informational writing. Many students were  anxious to share their writing with the class so we spent some time having Writer's Chair, which is a special time for the students to share their writing.  There are some very creative writers in our class!

Halloween Party!

Our class had a great time dressing up and spending time celebrating Halloween together last Friday!  I loved seeing the kids' costumes and buzzing around all day as a bee! :)  We started the morning by making a witch hand with our reading buddy and reading some Halloween books.  We ended the day with the Halloween party along with some fun Halloween centers.  Thank you to Kaitlyn's mom and Zach's dad for coming in to help out with the Halloween centers!!

Drum Roll!!! Presenting.......our final Powtoon presentations!

The students have been working hard over the last few weeks on their Powtoon presentation for the soils unit that we just wrapped up last week for science.  Their Powtoon shows you how they figured out what was in the soil that was found on their planet and what their planet could use the soil for. The students did an awesome job collaborating and working together to present you their Powtoon!

Planet Soils and Squirrels Powtoon Presentation

Planet Gold Powtoon Presentation

Planet Squid Powtoon Presentation

Planet Awesome Kids P.O.M. Powtoon Presentation

Planet Cat Powtoon Presentation

Planet Super Starfish Powtoon Presentation

Planet Mansion Powtoon Presentation