Ask Me About Monday, March 16, 2015

Busy news day today!
Today we learned about animal coverings.  We studied this picture and talked about what we noticed.  We zoomed in on just animal coverings and noticed the different animal coverings.  Interesting picture, isn't it!  Ask me about what I notice!

Then we sorted animal cards, and read on the back to learn more about the coverings of some animals that were a surprise to us!  We read a great book today about a very unusual animal called a pangolin.  The book is called Roly Poly Pangolin, by Anne Dewdney, and it illustrates some of the unique behaviors of the pangolin.  We looked at a pangolin in the San Diego Zoo and learned more about these interesting critters!  Ask me to tell you what I learned about the covering on a pangolin. You can read Roly Poly Pangolin by following this link: http://www.wegivebooks.org/books/roly-poly-pangolin/reader
This site is free, but you have to register to read the books.  I also included this quick video of the pangolin the San Diego Zoo.

We visited Illinois today our on reading adventure across the United States.  Today we visited Illinois.  We knew this would be a sentimental trip for our friend Daniel who moved to Maryland from Illinois, but we were so glad he was here to share more about the city we visited.  We went to Chicago with Larry and Pete. We read Larry Gets Lost in Chicago, by Michael Mullin.  Do not read this book unless you want to end up wanting to go to Chicago!  The story is about a family visiting Chicago.  They take their dog Larry who gets lost after leaping off a train to grab a famous Chicago hot dog.  Larry and the family have great adventures around town looking for each other, but also visiting so many wonderful places in that great city. 
We also read a book today called My Brother Charlie, by Holly Robinson Peete.  This story is told by a girl whose brother has autism.  It was a great introduction to learning about autism.  Then, this afternoon before we went home, we had a visit from Mrs. Kanter and a former Bells Mill student whose brother also has autism was used to be in our classes for students with autism.  He talked about his brother and what it is like to have a brother with autism.  The children asked some really thoughtful questions, and I think they have a better idea of what autism is and how we really are more alike than we are different. 
Have a nice evening!
Juliet