Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Lightning!

Mini-Inquiry We will wrap up our Mini-Inquiry on stormy weather this week. As you have probably realized, the children weren't satisfied with simply researching hurricanes. Tornadoes are especially interesting to them, and they enjoyed my reading the Magic Tree House book, Twister on Tuesday. I was also able to find some excellent interactive sites on the Internet. Just type in "tornado interactive" and see what pops up! The children were able to change the force of tornadoes, watch a tornado's path of destruction, see a video of tornado hunters in action, control lightning strikes, and learn how hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning form. The SmartBoard made all this hands-on, interactive learning very exciting for them. On Friday, we will revisit our Mindmaps, "What we think we know " and "What we want to know about hurricanes" to check our knowledge and reflect on how our research has increased our knowledge. Animal Inquiry I already have parents volunteering to come in and talk about the animals of South Africa, chinchillas, and mythical animals. If you have anything to share, please let me know. Many of the children are bringing in books, videos, learning cards, and research about animals already. If you have anything that might be of interest, please send it in. We promise to take good care of it! I have some old, cut-up National Geographic magazines, but could use some more as we move into our animal unit. Any kind of wildlife magazines would also be appreciated. Mahalo in advance! Math Investigations Teachers and children alike are enjoying our new math program. You, as parents, have a very important role in your child's math learning, so be sure to read all the "Family Letters" and play all the games that go home. Play them often! The more involved you are, the more your child grows as a mathematician. It is a great idea to keep all the letters in a folder for easy reference and all the games in large envelopes for easy access. It is very important to keep all game materials such as the Primary Number Cards because they will be used over and over throughout the year. Reading and Writing The children are enjoying reading together and playing reading games. They have made a picture and web for an exciting story about a storm. With all the enthusiasm, I'm sure their tales will be very interesting. They enjoyed journal-writing about their Labor Day weekends and sharing with others. Thank you, as always, for all you do at home to enhance your child's learning. Be sure to check the photo gallery for candid shots of your children in action!

Posted on September 6, 2007 10:57 AM | Permalink