What We have Been Up To...

"Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?"- Winnie the Pooh

That's how I feel about my blogging efforts!  I have great intentions when it comes to blogging, but sometimes no follow-through on actual posts.  Our gifted days are filled with learning and activities and I will try to do a better job of sharing those with you.  Here are a few things that we have been up to:

K/1st Grade-
Not a Box-  This clever book by Antoinette Portis sparked our creativity and imagination!  Check out this video and ask your child what they drew for their "not-a-box." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KXuBcdmktY&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1&safe=active

K/1st/and 2nd-

Six Thinking Hats- All three classes were introduced to the Six Thinking Hats this week.  Six Thinking Hats is a proven and pratical thinking tool. It provides a framework to help people think clearly and throughly by directing their attention in one direction at a time:
White hat- facts(logic)
Red hat- feelings
Yellow hat- benefits(positive)
Black hat- cautions(negative)
Green hat- creativity
Blue hat- summary

Ask your child about Six Hat Thinking!

Coming Soon...
~Sweet Pete's Field Trip Pictures and Wrap Up
~Guest Student Bloggers
Save the Date...
~ We are going to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm on April 24th!  Mark your calendars!  Permission slips coming soon

Critical Thinkers

One of our K/1st grade activities today was solving riddles. Using flexibility is part of being a critical thinker. We do this a lot every Tuesday as we stretch our minds and think in different ways. Ask your child to help you solve these riddles. Leave your answers under comments. Stretch your mind even further and leave a riddle for me!

1. I fly through the air,
and I start with A;
Fasten your seat belt,
And we're on our way.
What am I? __________

2. I sit upon your shoulders,
And I end with K;
You would surely lose your head,
If I went away.
What am I?___________

3. I look out on the world,
And I start with E;
You would depend upon hearing,
If it weren't for me.
What am I? ___________

HAVE FUN!!

Some Spider!

We are still learning a lot about spiders.  Today we did a spider web quest.  We are working on spider reports and we can't wait to share all we have learned.  We did a simulation of how spiders "ballon."  After we made our "spider parachutes" we made up plays and performed them for the class.  We all have such big imaginations and love to be creative. 
Our class is reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  Second graders, think about these questions.  Leave a comment on the blog with your answers to at least two questions.

• Why is Chapter X titled  "The Explosion?"
•  If you were Charlotte, what would you have written in your web about Wilbur? Why?
• Why did Avery get sent to bed without any supper?(Chapter XI)
• What is the meaning of the word "idiosyncrasy?"  What is the goose's "idiosyncrasy?"  Do you have one?(Chapter XII)
• Why did the sheep say that Wilbur's destiny and Templeton's destiny were closed linked?
• What clues are in the story that tell you that Mr. Dorian is not worried about Fern?

We can't wait till next week!

Kindergarten and 1st Graders are Going Batty!

We are "Going Batty" in Kindergarten and 1st grade!  We started a unit of study about bats last week.  We read the book Stellaluna by Janell Cannon and discussion similarities and differences between bats and birds.

This week we learned about echolocation and went on a webquest to learn more.  Ask your child to tell you what they have learned and take some time to explore and learn about bats with them.

(Click on the highlighted (linked) words in this post to discover more!)

Arachnologists

Do you have arachnophobia? The 2nd graders sure don't! They have quickly become arachnologists and are learning everything they can about spiders. They are fabulous researchers who are diving into our new spider unit.  If you want to learn more about spiders try out this cool website: http://www.kidzone.ws/lw/spiders/facts.htm. Leave a comment about a spider fact you learn.

We are also starting a 2nd grade book club and we are reading Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.  Leave your comments about the book here too. 

The Farmer and the Piggies!

You may be wondering why the title of this post is The Farmer and the Piggies.  Well, it is because we played Chess today.  Are you still wondering what piggies have to do with Chess?  Today we learned about some of the chess players: The King, The Knight, and The Pawns.  The King is the leader in the chess army and he has a very important job.  The King is the most important chess piece.  The King can move in any direction, but only one step at a time.  The Knight gallops around the kingdom moving in an L shape: one, two, turn the corner.  He is the only piece that can jump over other pieces  The Pawn is the most plentiful piece.  He is not a trained soldier and can't do fancy hops like the Knight.  Instead, he moves by stepping one square in front of him.  On his first move the Pawn is so excited he can move two steps forward instead of one.  The Pawn captures diagonally. We played a game called the Farmer and the Piggies!  The "piggies"(pawns) escaped from their pen and were running across the yard(chess board)in search of food.  The farmer(king) had to capture all of the piggies before even one could reach the barn. This little game helped us learn how the Pawns and the King move in a game of chess.  You can practice your chess skills at ChessKid.com!  Note to Parents:  Mrs. Skipper did not tell the students to go home and beg their parents for a Chess set!  You can find very inexpensive sets at your local big box store though:) Happy Playing!

About Henri Matisse

Henri was born on New Years Eve.  He was born in 1869.  He was born in France.  His father wanted him to become a lawyer.  When he was 20 he got very sick.  The very first painting he ever did was in 1890 when he was 20.  When he got older instead of painting he did cutouts.