Last Blog!

Well this is the last blog. I really didn't want this year to come to an end because we have had such a great year. This is a fabulous group of children. Hats off to all of the families because you are doing a great job raising happy, confident, wonderful kids! We had such a fun year! Thank you for all of your support this year, the gifts and kind words. It is greatly appreciated. Enjoy the video:)

100 Nights of Reading!

Congratulations 9s!

The Butterflies Are Free!

Today was the big day! As soon as we got to school we realized it was a perfect day to let our butterflies free! As soon as we opened the top of the home about 10 butterflies flew out. The rest had to be coaxed out. After the first ten or so butterflies were out the boys started to chase them all over. The girls took turns gently helping the other ones out of the container. After the butterflies were all out, the kids really enjoyed seeing them fly all around-and the boys enjoyed chasing them! As we were walking home we stopped to enjoy all the new little ducklings on the lake. That was a perfect ending for our unit on life cycles. Well we actually aren't finished yet.

  And the boys go crazy!

 I love how the girls on the left are ducking back from the butterfly!

 The ducklings were perfect timing.

Proud Teacher and Classmates

Mrs. H. and the rest of the class are so very proud of 7b!  About a month or so ago we had some great class discussions about community problems and what we could about them. 7b took it upon herself to write a letter to the Mayor about our poor roads and the potholes. She just received a letter back from the Mayor! I couldn't be more proud of her for her community involvement. That is the kind of citizenship we are trying to encourage. Congratulations 7b!

100 Nights of Reading!

Congratulations to these two guys for continuing on with nightly reading. Keep it up!

Science Stations

We are working our way through the animal groups. This week we are learning about reptiles. We have four stations to visit. In each station we try to use a different way to learn about reptiles. Here are a few pictures of us at the stations.

Waiting For Butterflies!// Deep Thinkers While Reading

Well all the larvae are in the chrysalis stage now. They have attached themselves to the little plastic lids of the containers they were in. I had to tape the lids holding the chrysalis' into the top of the butterfly home. Now we wait for the painted lady butterflies to emerge! It will be exciting!

We are finishing up our unit on using "deep thinking" comprehension strategies. In this unit we have really focussed and practiced how to really think about what we are reading. Instead of concentrating on literal questions such as who, what, where, and when, we are trying to make connections that may help our understanding, make inferences to further our learning, ask questions to deepen understanding and fuel our curiosity, and determine importance in order to help us organize our learning into main ideas and details. These types of comprehension skills really get children thinking about what they are reading. As we practice these strategies together, I am always amazed by what the students can do at this level. I have seen such a huge improvement in their reading skills. The children no longer think that fastest reading is best! They know now that sometimes a great reader needs to read slowly, reread or even pause for thought-especially when reading non-fiction.