Habitats and Acrobats!

We had another great week on Team Esprit!

This week we had Hands on Nature.  This month's theme was wind and clouds. Through a puppet show and hands on activities we learned about the atmosphere and how unequal heating by the sun creates differences in air temperature and air pressure.  This can cause winds to blow and weather systems to form. We also learned about the different type of clouds and what they mean. What can your child tell you about clouds and wind?


In science, we continued our study of ecosystems.  This week our focus was on habitats. We watched a short video about habitats and learned that water, shelter, food, and space are necessary for an animal or plant to survive in a habitat.  In groups of four, the children were given a challenge to make a list of four items they felt would be necessary to survive in the desert habitat and justify why they chose those items.  Interestingly, most groups picked food, water, a tent, and matches! We also played a game outside to simulate what happens to animals if there is not enough food, water, space, or shelter in their habitat.

During writer's workshop we finished our second adaptations of fairy tales.  As the children revised their work this week, they thought about adding describing words (adjectives) to their sentences and using comparisons (similes).  Both of these help the reader to better visualize the story.  We also talked about varying their sentence length so that their writing sounds smoother and fancier and less choppy.  After vacation, the children will be creating their own original fairy tales!

In math, we continued with geometry, building polygons and identifying their attributes. The children were given toothpicks and had to build certain quadrilaterals and then even made multi-sided polygons having as many as twelve sides.  Did you know a 12 sided polygon is called a dodecagon?  We also used the geoboards to create polygons to match a series of clues given in the form of geometric attributes.  We finished the week by sorting quadrilaterals and writing  quadrilateral riddles.  What can your child tell you about polygons?

Lastly, we had a fantastic trip to the Flynn Theater this morning to see the Peking Acrobats.  It was an amazing show! The balancing, the acrobats, the music...just fantastic!  Ask your child to tell you all about it!

We hope you all have a wonderful spring vacation!  Please note that there is no school next week. School resumes on April 25th.  It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of the year!!