Dragons and Vikings

Friday, April 8, 2011

Creating Our Terrain Maps of China

Swim Lessons

The Dragons and Vikings will have swim lessons next week! Please make sure you child wears his or her suit to school under their clothes, and to pack an extra pair of underwear, a towel, goggles, and flip flops. We would also like to encourage you to pack an extra snack for your child for when we return to school. We will be eating lunch at 10:30 and leaving school a little after 11:00 for the first lesson, as you can imagine, your child will be hungry when we return. Thank you, and an extra thank you to those volunteering to help out with the lessons!

SCIENCE!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

http://www.amnh.org/ology/index.php?channel=anthropology

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/silkroad/journey.php

Here they are!

Ancient China Websites...

We went on these websites, played the games, watched the videos, listened to the fables, and made our own music. Check them out at home and have your students share what they've learned. Enjoy!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

During our Ancient China study we have learned that paper was first invented during the Han Dynasty. We have recreated the process as best we could and made our own paper! They all did such a beautiful job! Check it out.

Ice Skating and Such

Tuesday was our last day of ice skating lessons and we have to say that the Dragons and Vikings have all improved over the past six weeks. We had a great time and had wonderful instructors who made the lessons a lot of fun!

We had our Valentine's celebration on Monday. Everyone was really excited to open their Valentines and it was sweet to watch the students thank one another.

A few reminders;

There will be no school on Monday the 21st--staff inservice day, and this month's maintenance day is on Saturday the 19th from 9-1:00.

Science Fair: The science fair is sneaking up on us and is only three weeks away. As some of you may know science boards are available in the office area. Make sure your child picks one up and to cross their name off when they do.

Curriculum

Dragon and Viking Math: Spiral Math Review, Hands on math, right brain activities, math games Dragons are currently working on adding and subtracting hundreds, multiplying 2 and 3 digits, beginning fractions, geometric shapes, measurement such as liters and gallons along with inches and centimeters, feet and meters. Time is an important aspect of math and we are currently practicing elapsed time. Dragon Reading: We have reviewed many reading strategies such as character maps, story maps, stopping and thinking, connecting to own experiences, and many more. Ask your students about these! We're also working on their fluency skills. We read aloud a lot and are beginning to practice a play together. We are starting a new, nonfiction book! Ask your students about it. Vikings Reading: We are working on comprehension and fluency by working in our comprehension journals, SRA's, memory recall worksheets, and reading aloud. The Vikings will begin reading biographies as nightly homework and in class work. Science: The Dragons and Vikings are currently learning about parts of plants, how they function, and how plants meet their needs. We will be looking at ways to classify plants by their parts; such as, leaves, stems, and roots. Some of the other concepts we will be discussing are photosynthesis, how plants make their own food, and germination. Vikings Writing: The Vikings are currently researching states. Each student has chosen a state to research to create a state report.