Today was our first hangout with our Global Read Aloud partners in Canada!  The Global Read Aloud is a program "meant to make the world a little smaller, to open our eyes to the rest of the world and look at all of our shared experiences.  How phenomenal for a child to know that the same book they are reading is being read in classrooms across the globe". 

For more information please visit the the official website at:  http://www.globalreadaloud.com/

We are reading and sharing our thoughts about the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  Even if your child has heard this book as a read aloud before, they can still find new and exciting things in it during this read aloud.  It is so wonderful to be able to share great books with others.  How lucky we are to share with each other and another class in a different country!

Challenge

Students were challenged to make a  finger rocket that actually worked.  They were given a straw, rubber band, paper clip, and cardstock.  I did not give them any directions and they were to do it at home if they wanted to participate.  Some students went online to figure out how to make their rockets and others winged it.  They came in on Monday and Tuesday last week with some wonderful rockets.  Then we discussed how to make them even better and some design flaws they found when making them.  It was a lot of fun for everyone (even Ms. Igoe!).

"That is so awesome!"

"I can't believe it hit the target!"

"Woa....did you see that?"

"I wonder why the paperclip fell off."










"That is sooooo cool!"

"How long did it take you to make?"

"Why did you make the tail pieces so big?  Does it fly farther that way?"

Planning and Design

  After learning about space we decided to show off our knowledge.  Students worked in teams to create scripts and props as if they were visitors to their planet.  They learned many speaking and listening skills and the fine art of compromise.  Love the final products!

Still more to come :-)

Skype with Mr. Campbell

  We had the pleasure of Skyping with Mr. Campbell at NASA.  He answered many of our questions about space and told us about a project he is working on right now.  Can't wait to read about the launch of the new satellite that will gather information about soil from around the world!  Thank you so much Mr. Campbell and to Mrs. Schaefer who made the connection for us!

Planets in Science

     Since we started out with our planet/space unit we decided to ask many questions we wanted to find answers for.  Then we chose some of the questions to begin researching.  Students quickly learned how to use their tablets and laptops to find useful information from credible sources.  We learned some of our questions do not have answers and that is okay.  Maybe we will learn more as space exploration continues. (Some of the students may even be the people to find those answers when they grow up!)

So it has sure been a busy start to the new school year! I wanted to share some of the great things we've been doing already.

We started the year just getting to know each other.  What a wonderful class!  We found out we all have a lot in common and are close to being experts in many different areas.