Thunder and Lightning

"A giant tumbling in the sky..."
 "Zeus the thunder god, mad furious, throwing his thunderbolt..."
"The rain going fast, fast, fast like a race car speeding pass you..."

These are some of the descriptions that came from our class members to describe the thunderstorm that hit us early Tuesday morning.  The storm definitely brought up feelings of awe, excitement, and even fear.  We decided to take advantage of the show that Mother Nature was providing us and do some writing.  Students thought about how they would describe this storm to someone who wasn't here to experience it.  They thought about what they saw, what they heard, and what they felt.   We then listened to some of our classmates' pieces and discussed how similes and metaphors help us better describe our ideas in our writing.

The thunderstorm also raised many inquiry questions in our students.  How does lightning form?  Are thunder and lightning the same?  We watched a short video from the Discovery Channel to help us better understand what causes lightning.  However, after watching the video, the students had even more questions!  Students  will have time in the coming weeks to research one of the many questions that they had during this storm.  Our goal is to be better informed when the next storm hits!

This week we do not have a new spelling list.  As a review, students will receive a new spelling list next week made up from words seen on previous lists.   Students will be tested on these words on Monday, December 10.  Students should be reviewing spelling patterns to help them prepare for the test.

Have a great weekend!

Posted on November 29, 2007 7:07 AM | Permalink