Quest Odyssey

Monday
No School

Tuesday
Rainforest – Understory – Sloths – We worked our way down to the understory this week to learn about the slow-moving sloth.  Sloths carry a whole world of insects and algae on their backs.
Math – Creating Shapes on Geoboards – Students stretched rubber bands on the small geo boards to create the different shapes we are learning
Read-Aloud – Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth by Eric Carle 

Wednesday
Literacy – Guided Reading – I read with students from their book bags and updated new books.  The waiting students used literacy apps on the iPads
Math – Assembled Hundred Chart – Missing Number Game – Preparing for the upcoming 100th day of school, students reassembled a deconstructed hundred chart.  We then played a game where one student covered a number on the hundred chart with a post-it and then the other students guessed the missing number.
Researcher – Rainforest Shaman – Believing in Yourself – We read the story The Shaman’s Apprentice by Lynne Cherry.  We learned about the shaman in the rainforest who researched the medicinal uses of plants for generations.  As we read the story, we steeped some mint leaves to make a tea to enjoy afterwards.

Thursday
Rainforest – Understory – Green Tree Python – We learned about the different stages of the tree python.  An interesting snake that hatches from an egg.
Read-Aloud – Verdi by Janell Cannon –  Great book about point of view.  The tree python shares his experiences as both a young snake and an adult snake…we have different perspectives from different stages of our lives.
Rainforest – Understory – Chameleons – Chameleons change color by reflecting different light waves from their crystalized scales.  They change not to camouflage, but to attract females or scare off predators.

Friday
Math – Intro to Place Value – Using super-sized 10 base blocks, we formed double-digit numbers on the floor.
Literacy – Whiteboard Letters and Words – We worked on writing letters and forming cvc words.
Indoor Recess Video- Wild Kratts – Rainforest Stew –  It was too cold for recess!  We cuddled up on the bean bags and watched an episode of the Kratt brothers rescuing animals in the rainforest.  During Center time that followed, I saw many students using their “creature powers” in our rainforest. 🙂

Monday
Math – Clear the Board – First place 10 cubes anywhere on the Clear the Board mat.  Then roll the dice, add the number, and if you have a cube on that spot, you can take the cube off.  The first person to clear the board wins.
Rainforest – Canopy Layer – Capuchin Howler monkey – It is a monkey party in the rainforest’s canopy.  We learned about the most intelligent swinging monkey, the capuchin and the loudest monkey, the howler.

Tuesday
Math – Intro to Greater Than and Less Than –  pretending the greater than > and less than < signs were open chimp mouths looking for the most food, students practiced writing a number sentence.
Researcher – Intro to the inventions and explorations of Jacques Cousteau – We watched part of the Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau Secrets of the Sunken Cave.  We looked at some of the incredible inventions of Cousteau.  He was a true innovator!
Dr. Martin Luther King – To prepare for the MLK assemble, we talked about the life of MLK and thought about ways that we could make a positive contribution to the world.

Wednesday
Math – Station Swap – We played 3 different math games in rotation.
Literacy – Guided Reading – I sat with students one on one and listened to them read at individual levels.
Jacques Cousteau Challenge – Using materials found in our classroom, students were challenged to create a container for a tissue that would keep the tissue dry after being submerged in water.

Thursday
Math – Ant  Addition – Our table was covered in ants (plastic ones)!  Students worked togather to group the ants into rows of ten and count how many ants there were all together.
Rainforest – Canopy Layer – Emporer Tamarin Monkey – We learned about this curious moustached monkey who uses it’s tongue to communicate.

Friday
MLK Assembly – The whole school gathered to learn about and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther KIng Jr. 
Rainforest – the Drip Tip – We did an experiment running water off of a leaf to show how the leaf’s “drip tip” funnels water from the top layers of the rainforest to the lower layers.
Math – Starfall Number Recommendation –

Challenge: Construct a container that will keep a tissue dry when submerged under water.

Design

Build

Test

We began a new unit this week on rainforest ecosystems, animal life, and the attributes of good researchers.  Among the researchers we will learn about are Jane Goodall, Jacque Cousteau, the Wright brothers, and a rainforest shaman.  They all possessed the 4 researcher skills we strive for: patience, careful observation, persistence, and belief in oneself.

On Friday, Jan. 25th, the Lemurs and the Otters will have an “in-school field trip”  Scott Heinrichs, will bring his wonderful animals to our classroom.  Scott worked at Lincoln Park Zoo for 13 years and is licensed to rescue, care for, and share his amazing collection of animals, including a sloth, a kinkajou, a boa constrictor, a hedgehog, and many others! Scott has worked as a bat and primate researcher in Indonesia and South America.

Monday
Introduction to the Rainforest – We talked about what and where a rainforest is.   Each group created a small “rainforest” terrarium to observe.  Rainforests and terrariums are great examples of the water cycle in .action.  Each student was given an official personalized research book to take notes in this month.  Each week they will earn a different badge for the cover.  This week students earned their “careful observation” badge.
Introduction to Animal Rescue Center – Working on pairs, a “rescuer” and “doctor” used walkie-talkies to communicate from the rainforest to the hospital.  A hurt animal was located, transported to the hospital, cared for, and put into recovery.
Read-Aloud – Rainforest –  I read Rainforest by Helen Cowcher.  The book shows the effects of deforestation through the eyes of the animals living there.

Tuesday
Math – Gooey the Shape-Eating Frog – Students reviewed shapes including polygons.  They needed to search the forest for hidden shapes to “feed” Gooey the red-eyed tree frog.
Science/Art – The Great Harpy Eagle – We learned about one of the greatest predators of the rainforest…the harpy eagle!  Students worked together to create a life-sized version of a harpy eagle to fly about our classroom forest.
Researcher: Jane Goodall – We watched a video of the amazing Jane Goodall.  Students are always mesmerized by her story.  What 4 year-old wouldn’t want to live in the jungle with chimps?  A student volunteered to be Ms. Goodall while I was the chimp in the jungle.  With help from the rest of the class, the student problem solved ways to win over the chimps trust and get the chimp to come over to touch her hand.

Wednesday
Literacy – Guided Reading – This week we selected books to take home in our book bags.
Math – NUmber Mat addition and subtraction – Using a giant-sized number line, numbers 1 – 12.  One student stood on the line (ex. 6), Mrs. Swanson drew a card (ex. 5).  The group figured out how many steps forward or backward the student needed to go to get to that number.  They then created a number sentence on the whiteboard (ex.  6 – 1 = 5).
Art – Watercolor Rainforest Layers – We used liquid watercolor to lay the foundation of our rainforest books.

Thursday
Math – Follow My Pattern –
Art- Painting Rainbow Paper for Scarlet Macaws – We painted striped paper in rainbow order to use as the wings for our scarlet macaws.  13 students, 5 colors of paint, brushes to be cleaned between colors, in correct order….this project is an orchestra of synchronization!
Researcher: Jane Goodall, termite fishing – We observed chimpanzees using tools in the wild!  Jane Goodall discovered that chimps adapt blades of grass to use for gathering termites out of termite holes.  We then watched this fascinating video of monkeys using rocks as both tools to open nuts and also a means of protection against jaguars.

Friday
Literacy – Reading Comprehension – The Great Kapok Tree, by Lynne Cherry –
Science/Art – Attributes of scarlet macaw – We learned about the beautiful macaws that fly around the emergent layer of the rainforest.  Students began work on their scarlet macaw model that will adorn our forest sky.
Art – Watercolor painting, kapok tree –

Harpy Eagle!

Scarlet Macaws!