Thursday, April 17, 2008

We had another assembly today! Our class went to the pick up room with Mr. Gunther’s class to see a bunch of different animals from Animal Encounters. We were allowed to touch them using our pointer fingers. The first one we saw was a chinchilla. It was very soft. It was grayish with some white on its fur. Jackie was really excited because chinchillas are her favorite animals. The next animal we saw was a box turtle named Becky. Its shell is shaped like a box. Her shell had been injured after she got run over by a truck. Kelsey asked what the difference was between a turtle and a tortoise. She learned that all tortoises are turtles but all turtles aren’t tortoises. The third animal that we were shown was an alligator. It was a baby that someone kept as a pet in their bathtub. The police took Allie (the alligator) away because people can’t keep them as pets. Her skin felt hard and bumpy. Julia thought that it felt like scales from a dinosaur or a dragon. Most people wanted to touch it. Everyone in our class took a chance and gave her a pet. Next, we saw a hedgehog named Spike. We had to pet her gently and pushing back because of her spikes. Next, we saw a blue-tongued lizard named George. Sometimes he’s called George of the Jungle. He looked sort of like a snake because it face and pattern reminded us of a snake. It was a whitish color. It felt almost like an alligator. The last animal we saw was a milk snake. Her name was Hannah. Milk snakes get their name because they can be found in milk cow barns, looking for mice to eat and not because they drink the milk! We had a great time learning about lots of new animals.

We made report cards for Ms. Stern today. Since she made report cards for us, it was only fair that we got to write one for her too! Yesterday, we thought of ideas telling about things that teachers should do well. Ms. Stern asked us to be honest and fair, just as she tries to be. Overall, got positive comments and grades from her students. Phew!

In the afternoon, we worked on our writing. We were concentrating on finishing up old pieces and reviewing to make sure that we told internal stories, explaining our feelings. We are working on including phrases like: “I thought…” “I felt…” “I wondered…” “I wished…” “I wanted to say…” and “I remembered…”

Finally, Ms. Stern told us yesterday that we are going to be getting a new student in our class after vacation. His name is Christopher. We are looking forward to meeting him!