Storyline:
RESEARCH PAPERS:
Our research papers are ready for the kiddos to do a final edit. They are very good and filled with a great deal of information. Thank you for working with you children on this assignment. I have told the children they can choose how they want to present their information at our culmination. I have given them two options (call me crazy). The first option is to read their research paper and the second option is to make a tri-fold presentation board or poster using the information from their research papers. I have the boards at school. If they pick the later, they may want to bring in some pictures of their animals. I know many children have pictures already. We will be working on our reports next week. Please talk with your children about how they want to present their information.
OIL SPILL:
We completed our last Scientific Inquiry on Wednesday. The children found that fur works the best at soaking up oil and cotton balls works second best. On Thursday they each wrote a conclusion to the experiment. You can find the process, data and conclusions in the hall across from our room.
MISTREATMENT OF MANATEES:
On Friday, we received a message from Biscayne that manatees were being mistreated by Tour Guide companies. A tour guide separated a calf from its mother and then the mother got hit by the rudder of a boat as she was trying to get to her calf. The Jr. Park Rangers watched a video clip of the incident. We talked about the mistreatment of animals as well as other dangers posed to animals by humans. We decided that we need to create some rules for visitors to the park to follow.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
The children were also concerned about visitors to our park not knowing English. We discussed the problem and several students suggested that we learn how to say hello in different languages. I told the children to go home and see if their parents know a foreign language and to see if they could write it down and learn them how to say hello. The children can then come back to class and teach the word or phrase to the rest of us.
MATH: This week we measured out and compared lengths. We discussed the difference between tall and long. Next week we will put the results in rank order from shortest to longest.
WRITING: We were able to sneak in one free write last week and worked on our research papers.
TOYS at SCHOOL:
I have asked the children to refrain from bringing toys to school. It is becoming an issue with sharing, losing, misplacing and accusing others of stealing. If you have any questions about this please contact me.
THIS WEEK:
This week we are really going to be focusing on our storyline. We have a great deal to finish up before culmination. We may have one more problem at the park, we will see how the first few days go!
