Our second week was filled with books, books, and more books.  We learned that authors write stories and illustrators draw the pictures.  We read some books by Tomie DePoala, a New Hampshire author and Illustrator.  Some of our favorites are The Knight and the Dragon and Strega Nona.

The children used information from the story to determine the setting, characters, and plot of each book we read this week.  Afternoon students did some brainstorming for writing their own group story.   They also began writing daily journals.  It is exciting to see what they produce and how they work to sound out the words to figure out which letters to write down.

At the art table the students created self portraits.  They looked in a mirror to determine their eye color and hair color and all of the features that they wanted to include.  We will display them on the wall for all to admire.

In Spanish Zeanny began teaching us the words for the different parts of la cara (face), including el ojos (eyes), la nariz (noze), la boca (mouth),  pelo (hair), and la oreja (ears).  Each child had the opportunity to add a different feature to the flannel board cara, which got pretty crazy.

Our Thursday was spent at the library, where we filled out a form for a school library card and learned how to use place markers to put in the place of the book when we remove it from the shelf.  We learned from Ms. Ronnie that if we are ever unsure of where our book goes on the shelf, she has a special chair where we can put it so she can make sure it gets back to its’ proper place.  We listened to Ronnie read three stories about the library, then everyone decorated a special book mark to take home.

During music we learned about another percussion instrument, the piano.  We opened up the front and watched the hammers hit the strings to make the sound.  Everyone had a turn to press the keys and watch the hammers move.  We listened to the high and low notes at the ends of the keyboard.

Friday students had a very busy day.  In the morning, after doing some work, they assembled a terrarium.  They layered rocks, soil, water, and plants in a large glass jar, then tightly screwed on the cover.  They each meticulously recorded the process in their science notebooks, including the title, materials, and a detailed picture.

After some stories, dancing, indoor recess, and lunch, they did some journal writing, and then requested more stories.

Some of the stories we read this week were Strega Nona, Big Anthony, Each Peach Pear Plum, Edwina the Dinosaur Who Did Not Know She Was Extinct, A House is a House for Me, and The Gruffalo.