Monday
No School

Tuesday
Math – Deconstructed 100 Chart – students reassembled a 100 chart that had been cut apart.  Once together, Mrs. Swanson challenged students to search and find different numbers.
Science/Art/Handwriting – Rainforest Book – Sloths
Read-Aloud- Slowly, Slowly , Slowly Said the Sloth by Eric Carle

Wednesday
Read-Aloud – Verdi by Janell Cannon – a tale about a quick but reckless young yellow tree python who learns to stay young at heart when he become a big, slow green adult tree python.
Science/art/handwriting – Green Tree Pythons 

Thursday
Science – The Drip Tip Game –  We learned that the plants in the rainsforest help each other out!  These clever leaves have a “drip tip” that waters the leaves below them.  The bromelaid plants collect water inside it’s crevices that house a whole micro-ecosystem!  We played a game to move water from the emergent layer to the forest floor using leaves.
Game Day – Race to the Treasure

Friday
Literacy – Guided Reading/ Starfall – Students read to me one on one while the rest of the group used Starfall.
Math – Counting ants by tens – Students lined all of our leaf-cutter ants into a long line grouped by tens to figure out how many ants we have in total
Rainforest Tea Party – We enjoyed cups of mint tea and rainforest figs while listening to a story about the shaman medicine man.
Read-Aloud – The Shaman’s Apprentice by Lynne Cherry

Monday
Science/Art – The Great Harpy Eagle – Students worked together to create the life-sized wings of the great harpy eagle.
Read-Aloud – Rain forest by Helen Cowcher.  Through this beautifully illustrated book, we learned the consequences of cutting down the trees in the rain forest.
Math – Clear the Board – Students rolled and added dice to clean markers from their numbered board

Tuesday
Math – Intro to Greater than and Less Than –  We pretended a greater than and less than sign was a chimpanzee’s mouth.  He was so hungry he wanted to eat the bigger number.
Science/Art/Handwriting – Rainforest Book – Capuchin and Howler Monkeys

Wednesday
Literacy – Guided Reading and Reading Stations – Students read to me one on one while other students rotated literacy stations
Math – IXL– Students worked with Mrs. Swanson at individual levels on IXL
Researcher – Jaques Cousteau – We learned about the many amazing inventions and adventures of the incredible Jacques Cousteau.

Thursday
Math – Any Addition – Students formed addition number sentences with the help of some creepy ants.
Science/Art/Handwriting – Rainforest Book – Emporer Tamarin Monkey – Fascinating monkey!  They communicate with different tongue signals.

Friday
morning – MLK Assembly – We joined the rest of Quest in the gym for an excellent performance celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
afternoon – Jaques Cousteau Challenge – Inspired by this researcher, students were challenged to create and test a container that would keep a tissue dry when submerged under water!

Monday
Intro to the Rainforest – We learned about the attributes of each rainforest layer: The Emergent layer, the Canopy, the Understory and the Forest Floor.
Intro to Animal Rescue Center – Students worked with a partner to rescue injured animals from the rain forest and provide first aid.
Intro to Researchers – Jane Goodall – Students received a researcher notebook and will be working to earn 4 badges for the cover: careful observation. patience, persistence, and belief in self.  We started our study of researchers by learning about the amazing Jane Goodall, who embodied all of these attributes.
Read-Aloud – Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell – Picture Book about how Jane Goodall developed her interest in animal behavior as a young girl.

Tuesday
Math – Gooey the Shape Frog – We will be focusing on shape identification for the next couple weeks, simple and more complex polygons.  We have a “tree frog” named Gooey who likes to eat shapes.  He is a very picky eater, so students had to search for specific shapes to feed him.
Science/Art = The Great Harpy Eagle – Students learned about the biggest predator in the rain forest…the great harpy eagle, a massive (but beautiful) bird of prey.  Students worked together to make a life-sized model of a harpy eagle to fly over our rainforest.

Wednesday
Literacy – Guided Reading – I read with students one of one at individual reading levels.  In a couple weeks, I will begin sending home book bags with “just right” books for you to read with your child at home.  More information to come.
Math Centers – Each Wednesday we will also do math centers.  Students will work at independent math stations while Mrs. Swanson works with students one-on-one, focusing on individual math skills.
Ethology – Observing Animal Behavior – Students used their observation skills while watching videos of chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys using objects as tools.  Students earned their first badge if they documented how a monkey uses tools inside their researcher books. Rock wielding Capuchins

Thursday
Math – Follow My Pattern – Students used shape blocks to continue patterns (ABAB, ABBA, ABCABC, etc.)
Science/Art – The Scarlet Macaw – We learned about the scarlet macaw.  We studied how a macaw’s beak is a different shape than a harpy eagle’s beak because it is a seed eater.  We painted paper to use to create macaws to hang in our rainforest.
Read-Aloud – The Parrot Tico Tango by Ann Witte – This scarlet macaw keeps stealing fruit from the other animals.

Friday
Math Game – Subtraction Hopscotch – We started practicing simple subtraction this week.  Students played a game of “take-away” on large number mats on the floor.
Art – Rainforest Book Prep – We will be creating a rainforest book over the next month showcasing animals in each layer of the rainforest.  We started out by using watercolors to make the background.
Science/Art – Kapok Tree Painting – We learned how buttress roots keep the tall kapok tree from falling over in the rainforest.  The water-saturated ground causes shallow roots that do not hold the trees up.  The wide base at the bottom holds the tree up.  Students then used watercolors to paint a kapok tree with a strong base for their books.