Pine Class News Update
March 13th, 2015
Learning and Planting.
A watched bulb doesn't root?
Sharing the blooms!
Outreach Projects and Expert Interviews
Today the students working on writing letters to the government and books about how to make a worm bin interviewed Compost Expert Kim and Compost Bin Building Expert Stephan. The rest of us got to look on and learned a whole lot!
Here are some of the great questions they asked:
(Check-in with your Pine and see if they remember Kim's response or have their own thoughts on the matter)
-Does compost do something for us?
-Why do we put worms in compost?
-Why is there steam in outside compost?
-How did people figure out compost?
-What types of food can go in an outdoor compost?
-Can the dirt/soil made of compost make food?
-How can you build a compost bin outside?
-What materials do you need to build a compost bin?
How-to-build a worm bin books.
Nonfiction "Question books".
Letters to Mayor DeBlasio asking for compost pick-up for all.
Pine Fashion!
Reading to friends and decoys.
Pine Bakery.
Mending the wooden lid.
Getting to know characters and creating characters.
Telling and retelling.
Fiction and realistic fiction Characters in reading and writing.
Patterns
See if your child can find some patterns around in the world. The main thing that we need to remember is that "patterns repeat". It's also helpful to identify what the repeating "unit" is. For example, the rug in Shawn's kitchen has some dots around the edge - red, blue, yellow, red, blue, yellow. The unit that repeats is red, blue, yellow!
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race Comes to Brooklyn
There sled dog makers and sled makers.
There are even sled dog fan makers.
And then there's the race course.
Recycling and Composting During Lunch
Some Pine Class Requests
Math Materials set-up for next week:
We could use some help cutting out some shapes to continue our pattern making. If you are interested in helping, come see us, we'll show you the ropes and the work could be done at home.
Conference time sign-up:
We're excited to conference with you! Please click on the link below and sign-up for a slot. If nothing works there email us and we'll make it happen.
http://doodle.com/ey92fb4qz5ah7y7d
Spare change - Next week we're going to be working with some money in math:
Please send in some spare change for us to work with! Thanks!
Exploration time visitors:
We'd love to have some more family members join us during Exploration time to lead an activity or to join in on some things already going on in the room. It's an exciting part of our day! Please see the volunteer sign-up link below:
Reading Bag Reminder
Please remember that the bags need to come back to school EVERYDAY! They are a major part of our reading instruction each day both for full class reading time and small group instruction. Help to make this part of your child's daily routine. It's not your responsibility - it's theirs! :-)