Newsletter: March 2nd

 

Dear Families,

We have baby chicks on the way! In case you haven't heard, this week we are launching an embryology study where we'll be able to care for and observe a dozen chicken eggs. They are currently nestled in the warmth of an incubator where we are keeping a careful watch on the temperature and humidity levels. It will take 21 days for them to begin hatching. As you can imagine, the kids are very excited.

This project is part of a larger animal inquiry we've been deeply invested in over the past three or four weeks. This study has touched on nearly every part of our curricular studies, from researching animals in reading workshop to creating non-fiction books about animals in writing workshop to a study of animal groups in science. Here's a quick recap of some of that work...

Writing Workshop

The kids' non-fiction books are coming right along. After researching all the facts they would need, Ms. Schoenherr and I supported them to begin sorting these facts into groups and then subgroups. Each group and subgroup was labeled and would later become chapters and paragraphs within their books. In this example from my research, I've sorted all my "Habitat" facts into two smaller groups: tunnels and fields. From here I ordered my facts within each subgroup so I knew how best to write about these facts in a way that would make sense to my reader. The kids have done this same work with each of their four larger headings: Bodies, Habitats, Food, and Other Facts.

In addition to organizing and writing their information, the kids are also working to include a variety of non-fiction text features in their writing. This includes a table of contents, bold words, illustrations with labels, maps, fact boxes, pictures with captions, and many more. They're doing such a great job. And learning so much!

Reading Workshop

After finishing up our animal research in reading, we moved  to an inquiry into zoos. The question framing this inquiry is "Are zoos good for animals, bad for animals, or both?" The point of this study isn't to all agree on the merits of zoos but to better understand how people have differing perspectives around  issues. As we study this  question (reading, analyzing and taking notes from a variety of different sources), we'll learn how to engage more deeply with texts while also seeing that authors selectively choose which facts to include when writing to persuade.

Science

And lastly, in science we've been learning how vertebrate animals are split into five different groups: mammals, reptiles, amphibians, lizards and fish. The kids worked in small groups to research and then teach the rest of the class about each of these. 

We've really been enjoying all these explorations into animals. Be sure to ask your child about them!