Westward Bound!

Ready to ride for the 'mail'!

Enthusiasm is high for our western books and social studies theme! Each day the line leaders take a turn galloping to collect a letter written from the perspective of someone long ago - a gold rush miner, a pioneer, or a settler living in the west. It brings a personal touch to the lives of the famous Americans we are reading about. After learning about Lewis& Clark last week, we took a closer look at another famous American, Sacajawea. We read Sacajawea; Her true Story about her life before she met the explorers as well as her contributions during her journey with them. 

Quick riders!

Ready to ride!

 We tied in our writing activities this week by being newspaper editors and writing our own accounts of the Gold Rush, the 49ers, the methods of travel to reach CA, the supplies to pack, and the dangers to avoid. Of course we had to have some gold of our own, so painted little rocks with sparkling gold paint on Friday. Thanks to Mathias for bringing in some real 'Fool's Gold' to examine as well.

Gold Rush!

Our newspapers

Painting rocks

Gold rocks!

Learning about the gear needed to dig for gold led us to another well known name: Levi Strauss.
He set up business in CA to sell pants (jeans) that could take the tough outdoor mining work, and a couple of our classmates were conveniently wearing Levi's this week. We could see the leather tag with the emblem of horses on it! 

Several read-alouds this week introduced new series based on horses, the west, or prairie life. The kids are very excited to delve into all these new book selections. 

Billy and Blaze 

A favorite pony

Cocoa, a talking horse

 Reading Blaze and the Forest Fire inspired us to write a book           review about this exciting story. The first book in this series was       written in 1936 and continued with 11 more books through         1970. The kids were captivated by the story, so we definitely plan on reading a few more. After reading Cowgirl Kate & Cocoa, an early chapter book series, we made little horses standing on clothespin legs.

Love my horse!

We look forward to enjoying more new book series next week, among them a series by Laura Ingalls Wilder based on the Little House on the Prairie books, but for younger readers.

Science has us delving into the world of plants and learning about the parts of plants and how each part contributes to its survival. Our seedlings are sprouting, we made models of plants this week using tissue paper and construction paper (labeling each part of course!), and we enjoyed a buddy reading activity sharing the book, Parts of Plants. We had a surprise visit from Mr. Branco the assistant superintendent, who became a buddy reader with us!

Welcome to science, Mr. Branco!

Buddy reading

My turn, your turn

Let's get this book started!

Reading about plants

Working collaboratively with partners is always a favorite endeavor, so this week when we researched a plant of our choice, we gathered with friends and used fact cards to write up important information about each plant's habitat and special features.

Researching Forget-Me-Nots

Lily pads from the pond for us.

Cactus of course - plant of the western deserts!

Mountain Meadow habitats

How cool is the Venus Fly Catcher?!

 One of friends brought in a real cactus that was blooming:

Caution - sharp spikes!

 A wonderful way to close the week was the visit from the Museum of Science. We learned all about animal habitats and even got to see a few animals, such as a snapping turtle, an armadillo, and a Cuban Tree Frog! As we wrap up our focus on plants, our science lessons take us to animal habitats and features of animals that help them survive in those habitats.

Snapping turtle!

Our sprouting plants

We wished a very Happy Birthday to Oliver this week - he shared his hopes for upcoming birthday presents with us! 

Spring arrived this week, but somehow we didn't notice it... More indoor recess, but at least we have some great western play set-ups to enjoy!

Native American village, mining camp, and a fort!

We are bound to get warmer weather soon, and at least it's sunny. 


Enjoy the weekend,

Mrs. Dagley