Millipedes, Idioms, and Lots More!

Preparing for the millipedes!  Students met in their science groups to make a hypothesis of what they will need in order to create a millipede habitat. 

Next they created the habitats.

Meet the millipedes!

Students put 3-4 millipedes in the habitats they created for them.  

Yes, YOUR children put a glove on their hand and sifted through a small bucket to retrieve the millipedes.  You didn't actually think I touched them?! :)

I'm sure many of you heard about SEVERAL frogs trying to escape as their habitats were being cleaned.  Perhaps your child came home and told you they witnessed their teacher screaming while jumping up and down and yelling, "Oh my goodness!  I don't know what to do!  I don't know what to do!"  Thankfully many children jumped at the opportunity to safely scoop up the fugitive frogs.  Phew!

I have to say, the best part about this unit is how well the groups work together.  Even if they begin to argue, they resolve their problems on their own and work together to feed the animals and clean all of the habitats. 

Speaking of being one proud and lucky teacher, I was thrilled while I was working with a math group at the carpet, and some students took it upon themselves to assist anyone who needed help with division.  I will never forget being in elementary school and struggling to learn long division!  I still have nightmares!

In Writer's Workshop, students learned about idioms and how they can make your writing more colorful and interesting.  First, I read aloud the hilarious story Even More Parts by Tedd Arnold.  The story is about a boy, who hears adults saying many scary and dangerous things. He writes them all down on paper so is he is prepared to leave his bedroom. 

Students were then given a sheet of frequently used idioms to keep in their Writing Resources section of their binder.  Next, they chose an idiom to illustrate literally, wrote the actually meaning, and finally a sentence to include the idiom.  Hopefully tomorrow I will remember to actually take pictures of the papers they handed in.  They came out really great!

 In reading, the discussion groups had to complete vocabulary activities to introduce them to set a words.  Each group worked together to either unscramble the vocabulary word or figure out which word doesn't belong.  Quite a challenging activity, but they did wonderfully!

Also in writing, students are leaning about independent clauses.  They know that a simple sentence or independent clause is made up of a subject and verb.  After reviewing this, students were to write 10 simple sentences into their notebooks.  We will come back to these sentences as we learn about more types of sentences.

On Monday, Mrs. Bolton taught the class about Chinese New Year. They loved hearing about what animal they are and what it means, especially if they were described as being romantic! 

SNAPSHOT + THOUGHTSHOT + DIALOGUE = SCENE

Meet the crabs!  

In science, students have been observing, notetaking, and taking care of the crabs.  They set up their habitats on Tuesday and the crabs arrived on Wednesday.

This week, students have been learning about Martin Luther King, Jr. through a video and a read aloud.  While watching the video and listening to Martin's Big Words on the carpet they have been taking notes.  Next, as a class we read The Important Book, since their MLK Jr. writing assignment will follow the same format. 

Students then filled in this graphic organizer.  "The most important thing about Martin Luther King Jr. is . . ."  They also filled in three important details about his life.  The ending of this writing assignment is a loop ending.  Therefore the last line repeats itself, "But the most important thing about Martin Luther King Jr. is . . ." 

During Reading Workshop the young detectives met with their literature discussion group.  

Finally in Writer's Workshop, the class began drafting their story based on the speculative prompt they chose. Using the four-square graphic organizer students began drafting several "scenes" to create a story.  

Students know that a scene is created using this formula: SNAPSHOT + THOUGHTSHOT + DIALOGUE = SCENE. 

A snapshot in writing is "show, don't tell" - a snapshot sentence can be in the form of a simile or metaphor, or can focus on a particular detail. It is a sentence that creates a froze image in your readers' minds. 

A thoughtshot in writing is "tell, don't show" - a thoughtshot sentence brings your readers inside a person's head to share a thought or feeling about a situation.  It is a sentence that can be in the form of a statement or question about the situation.

HAVE A TERRIFIC WEEKEND!