Monday, April 12, 2010

The morning got off to a bad start. Even when turned on, the Smartboard looked very dark. After we finished with our morning meeting, Ms. Stern was in the middle of reading us a book when we heard a loud POP. Next thing we knew, the Smartboard was off. The light bulb in the projector went out! Ms. Stern let Mrs. Cornelius know. We are hoping that a new one comes soon so that we can start using it again.

The book that we read was called Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea.It was a true story about a man from the United States who traveled to Pakistan to climb mountains. He got sick and lost and ended up in a town where people made clothes, food, and even toys for themselves. The kids could only go to school three days a week. Their lessons took place outside. The man, named Dr. Greg, made a promise that he would come back with supplies to build a school for the children to go to every day. He thought it was important that children be able to learn more and kept his promise by returning to the village one year later. After lots of hard work, time, and materials, the town had a brand new school for the children to learn. We realized that our lives in New York are very different from the children in but then we did more thinking and feeling (and reread Mem Fox’s book Whoever You Are) before we realized that we are also a lot like the children in Korphe and that education is very important to us all. Ms. Stern told us that Mrs. McBride, a teacher at Cottage Lane and SOMS, started a book club for kids and grown ups based on Dr. Greg’s story. She has a wiki for people to discuss the book and for other resources. This week’s blog challenge is to answer Mrs. McBride’s questions (on the blog…Ms. Stern will take care of putting them on the wiki) and to think about why building schools and providing an education will help people the most.



During Reader’s Workshop, we spent half the time reading from our non-fiction baskets. We worked on recording facts (pieces of information that we learned) and features (parts of the book that helped us to learn the facts). After 15 minutes, we switched to our book bags and continued to read independently.

In Music, we learned about the percussion family in the orchestra. Some of the instruments are: tambourine, piano, drum, and maracas. Percussion instruments have to be shaken or hit. We got to play the maracas and Mrs. Fox played the gong. Stephen thought it sounded like a karate show. Next time we will finish up the music lab.

Ms. Stern shared two stories that she wrote for Writer’s Workshop. They were both about the same topic but one was done and one was a work in progress. Most people guessed that the first story was finished and the second one was not. Most people (except for Dylan A.) were wrong! We reviewed the three parts that every good story should have: a beginning/introduction, a mighty middle, and an interesting ending. The beginning includes when, who, where, and why. The middle describes the events that happen through thoughts, words, and actions (showing, not telling!). The ending finishes the story with a thought, or feeling, and maybe a look to the future. Our job today was to go back and reread our work to make sure that our writing includes all of those things.

**From Ms. Stern: I have seen many Silly Bandz bracelets coming and going over the past few weeks. The children have been given numerous reminders to keep the bracelets on their wrists during the school day but the temptation is proving too great for many to keep from playing with them. Mrs. Fox has also experienced similar problems during specials. To minimize distractions and encourage the children to remain focused on their learning, any bracelets that are not kept on the children’s wrists (or are being played with) will be taken away. I’d rather not, but if necessary, the Silly Bandz will need to be banned. Thanks for your cooperation!