This week we completed our study of frogs. As I read to the students the final books of the thematic unit I realized that they really have learned quite a bit of information about frogs. They are not the only ones who learned either. Now I am quite informed on the cold-blooded amphibians we call frogs. I have learned that authors write about frogs (sometimes letting them do things in their stories that frogs cannot do in real life). Not only did we get to learn through reading books and participating in activities, we also got to see actual frogs at the Great Lakes Science Center!

We finished our KWL (Know, Wonder, Learn) chart on Frogs on Thursday. At the beginning of the unit we filled in what we already knew about frogs and what we wanted to know. The final step was to fill in what we have learned. The students remembered many of the bits of information they have learned and dictated it to me to put on the chart.

Some of the writers in Writer’s Workshop started a new strategy while writing their stories. Sometimes the writers wanted to tell a story that was not finished in one page. They discovered they could continue telling the story by getting another piece of paper and stapling it together. The students continue to sound out their words when writing their stories. We discussed not getting frustrated when we get stuck on how to spell a word. Our new mantra is, “Oh well, I will come back to it and try again later.” This will prevent the students from stopping their story because of one word. When I told the students they were able to skip words in order to continue their sentence they seemed much more interested in writing their stories.

Every day, during morning meeting we have a morning message. This week we began having students take turns reading the morning message to the class. When they sound out the words in the morning message they are practicing the same skills as they are in Writer’s Workshop—associating letter sounds with letter symbols.

During Math Workshop we began to start recording some of our sorting findings. This week we sorted people. We came up with different ways in which we could sort each other. We sorted boys and girls, colors we were wearing, and by hair color. By looking we guessed which group had more people. We then double-checked by counting the groups and then deciding which number was higher.

We finished off our week with our trip to the Great Lakes Science Center. Next week we are going to begin a unit on apples. We will learn where they grow, explore different ways to make apple recipes, learn about Johnny Appleseed, sort apples, and finally have the all school Field Trip to Burnham Orchard on October 2nd.

Enjoy your weekend!