Our Battle of the Books teams have been getting together weekly to battle other teams by answering questions about the books they have read. Students earn points by answering questions with the appropriate book title and author - and it must be spelled correctly! The top 5 GMS teams will advance to the final tournament and have the chance to battle other schools within our community. The final battle will be held at Gladys McDonald on March 18th, after school. Stay tuned for more information closer to the tournament date. I LOVE seeing students engage in conversations about reading!
We continue to learn about the properties of light. Students discovered that white light is made up of all of the colors of a rainbow and experimented with creating their own rainbows using a white light, reflective mirror and water.
Did You Know...
A banana appears the color yellow because all colors from white light are absorbed into the banana, except for the color yellow which is reflected back to our eyes! Just as the skin of a cherry absorbs all of the colors from white light into the cherry except for red, giving the cherry it's red color. The students were fascinated by the science behind this concept. Learning is so much fun!
A Visit with Elder Betty
On Wednesday afternoon we welcomed Elder Betty back into our classroom for some storytelling!
Writing About Our Reading
I have recently added a new piece to our balanced literacy instruction by introducing our class to "Reader's Notebooks". Our Reader's Notebooks are a place to write about our reading and put our thoughts down onto paper. Good readers think about their reading! Students have been introduced to a variety of "thinking stems" that can help them get started.
Some examples of thinking stems include:
- This reminds me of...
- I wonder...
- I felt...
- I predict...
- If I were (Character's name) I would...
- At first I thought _______, but now I think...
- Something I don't understand...
- Something new I learned...
Here is our first Reading Response letter example. Throughout the week students looked for examples of thinking within the letter (green sticky notes) and identified key things that make up a friendly letter (pink sticky notes).
Big shout out to those who met their January home reading goal. Here our readers are enjoying a surprise celebration treat - rootbeer floats! They have been dreaming of rootbeer floats in our classroom for awhile now! I'm very proud of everyone who participated in the home reading program and encourage everyone to participate by writing down their reading minutes for the month of February!
Sneak Peek of the Week: A Special Visit with Mrs. Daelick!
Tuesday, February 24: GMS Achiever's Assembly 10:45-11:45
Monday, February 16 - 20: February Break - No School
Friday, February 27: Boston Pizza Special Lunch
Monday, March 2: February Reading Logs are Due
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