Train to Somewhere, Ryan's Well and Science

Today we read the story 'Train to Somewhere' by Eve Bunting.  The story is based on true events in the late 1800s with orphan trains.  Marianne is headed West with other children on the Orphan Train hoping to find her mother. We asked questions before, during and after the story, posting them to padlet.  Interestingly...there is no real place called Somewhere! Eve Bunting used her imagination to come up with the final stop on the orphan train.

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In Science, we consolidated our absorb/repel experiments from yesterday.  Here is what we discovered!

We are continuing to raise money for Ryan;s Well.  Look at all the money we have collected so far!  Way to go and a big thank you! Ryan will be coming to visit St. Cecilia after the March Break.  Our school is trying to build a well for his foundation.  I know we can do it!

Asking Questions and Absorb/Repel

Here is the March Newsletter...Enjoy!
Today we looked at the 'Asking Questions' reading strategy to help us understand what we are reading.  Good readers use this strategy before, during and after we read texts.  We also discussed 'thin' and 'thick' questions.  For instance. a thin question is "right there" and doesn't really help us understand the story.  With thick questions, you have to REALLY think and use your noggin'. We listened to the story 'A Day's Work' by Eve Bunting.  Here are some of the questions we came up with!

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In Science, we conducted experiments with solids to see which ones absorb (soak up) liquids and which ones repel (fall off) liquids.  Ask us which ones are great for absorbing spills (thankfully we use water and NOT sticky juice for our experiments!).

Asking Questions

We continue to work on the Asking Questions reading strategy.  Good readers should be asking questions before, during and after they read to help them better understand what they are reading.  We read the book 'Train to Somewhere' by Eve Bunting and stopped throughout the story to see if we had any questions.  The book is actually based on true events that happened a long time ago.  Check out our padlet with all of our questions! We think that the story had a happy ending.

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Tangrams, The Wind in the Willows and Asking Questions

Today we read 'Grandfather Tang's Story' and learned about the Chinese tangram puzzle.  Ask your child how many and what kind of shapes are in a tangram.  We posted our tangrams to our blogs so be sure to check them out and leave a comment! Some students were able to figure out out to make a rectangle using all of their tangrams...way to go!
Later on, we got to watch the Rag and Bone theater company perform 'The Wind in the Willows'.

We are learning about asking questions.  Good readers ask questions before, during and after they read a story.  It helps us to understand what we are reading.  We read the story 'A Day's Work' by Eve Bunting.  Here is our question padlet from that story:

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