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     April, 2006

February and March have flown by, as usual!  I hope everyone has a restful and enriching vacation!  We’ll be back at work on April 3.   

The boys have really stepped up their writing in their Independent Reading Response Journals.  I have been very impressed with their reading choices and their thinking about their books.  Hurray for reading and writing. 

In the classroom, we have been reading various fiction and nonfiction stories in guided reading groups.  The boys have loved reading books about fish and their distribution around the world, animal teeth, the arctic food web, Antarctica, and real children visiting a nursing home and becoming buddies with the residents. I have introduced Cinderella stories from various countries, and we will continue to read them throughout the spring term.

In social studies, we are learning about Australia at the moment.  (*I have a personal interest in Australia, having lived and taught there many years ago!!)  We are designing boomerangs before the break and finishing up freehand maps of the island continent as well.  Here is a wonderful link to a website, All About Mem Fox, a great Australian children’s book author:

http://www.memfox.com/welcome.html

The focus of math has been measurement and math challenges in March.  We continue to practice basic math facts to increase speed and confidence.  Thanks for your help at home with mental math and any games that reinforce basic facts!!!