Marsen2013-2014: April 2014

Wow! So many interesting things have happened in Room 13 over the last two months!

Biography Bash!

This month our students became researchers and authors. Students chose a person to research. We had so many wonderful people chosen. From artists to presidents and so many amazing people in between, students were challenged to research information about their person and take the information and write a biography about that person. We were truly impressed with their writing ability and insight as to how their person inspires them!

Landforms, Landforms, Landforms

Room 13 has been hard at work, learning about the different types of landforms in our world. We have read books, researched the internet, watched movies, and participated in a variety of activities to immerse ourselves in the different landforms we see or know of. This week, students will start to create a project (which they chose) to demonstrate their knowledge of their researched landform. Project styles include; posters, PowerPoints, word searches, clay model, mystery project (??), and a diarama. We can't wait to see what they create!

Suzy Kline Author Visit

This was an amazing visit by a truly wonderful author! In the weeks leading up to Suzy Kline's visit, we conducted an author study of many Suzy Kline books. The children truly loved reading, listening to, and discussing many Horrible Harry books. The day Suzy came to Cantiague was exciting and interesting. She shared with us her writing process, and what she does as a writer. She shared her inspirations for many of her stories, and we loved hearing how she collected her ideas (the seeds). Some advice she offered was, "Always carry a small notebook in your pocket. You never know when a seed to a story will happen." Suzy then had the teachers perform a play from a part of her Herbie Jones series! Ask your child about our acting skills! Finally, Suzy took the opportunity to give the children and the teachers a couple of writing prompts. She had us share what we wrote, and provided positive feedback to all! Thank you Suzy Kline!

Measurement, time, and Money...

Our mathematician's have been learning so much in the last months. As we continue our math journey together our students continue to learn and grow. We are blown away by all they are learning. We have covered the units of measurement and money (since our last blog), and are currently learning telling time. As always, we focus on real world application and problem solving in all units of study. The students have been challenged to think about how and why they will use these skills, in the real world.

Science Fun!

We have made so many amazing projects in the science lab this year. Most recently, we have planted seeds to observe how they will grow. How is your child's plant doing? An important focus is which direction the plant is going....towards the light, away from the light, etc.

Folktales:
(People/Tales) Old and Retold!!

Room 13 was back at work and ready to launch Round 4 of the writing process! We began by immersing ourselves in different kinds of Folktales. We read Tall Tales, Fairy Tales, and Fables, OH MY!!!! Ask your children about some of the wonderful Fables we read and the lessons they have learned from them! We are so proud of our all the children for actively trying to apply the lessons they are learning to their lives each day! We are looking forward to our trip (after the break) to the Hofstra Playhouse to see Aesops Fables!

Scientist of the Week!
Ask your child the answers to these amazing questions...