Ask Me About Monday, March 23, 2015

Today we started working on procedural writing, or how-to books.  We practiced together rehearsing a simple book about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Although one of our little friends wanted ham on it, we kept it basic.  Then students had a choice of topics and rehearsed their own booklet they will write tomorrow.  We thought about a title, ingredients or supplies needed, and putting the steps in order. 
In math we have been working on decomposing numbers, as well as learning basic math facts so the children can recall them fluently.  Just like in reading, we want them to just know these when they see them without using fingers, counters or any strategy.  We are doing very well with facts within five.
On our reading trip across the United States, we went to Wyoming, the Cowboy State!  This was quite impressive to many of the students.  We read a book called I Could Do That!  Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote, by Linda Arms White.  What a great book!  Although some of the book may have been embellished a bit, it's about a woman who was persistent, motivated and put forth her best effort in taking on new challenges, even when some people told her she couldn't do it.  Since she ended up in Wyoming, I'll just say she had gumption! This part of the book connects perfectly to our academic success skills!  Since we were in Wyoming, we had to visit Yellowstone National Parks.  We talked about why the National Parks are so special, and how they really preserve the habitats for many animals and plants.  We also were able to review landforms because Yellowstone is so diverse!  But as you might guess, the geysers were the stars of the show.  In fact, during Literacy Stations, I put the Yellowstone National Park webcam on the Promethean Board, and finally, we saw the geyser erupt.  There are other geysers in view on the webcam, and they do seem to focus in on any that are getting ready to erupt.  We were lucky to see it earlier today when it wasn't raining, but here is the web address in case you would like to also do some geyser watching.
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html

Enjoy the evening!
Juliet