Welcome to Room 13!  We are having a lot of fun in our classroom learning all about groundhogs by participating in Project Groundhog!  We are working with 7 other schools from across North America.  Every day we collect and record  the high and low  temperatures and the weather conditions.  At the end of the week we share our weekly data with our Nibbler Squirrel team mates.  We are trying to determine if groundhogs make good weather predictors!  Please visit the "Home of the Nibbler Squirrels"  to learn more about this project!

Recently, we read James and the Giant Peach. 

Below are some of the illustrations we made on the computer!

In our classroom we have been studying the Five Senses.  We have done many experiments blindfolded.  We have had mystery smell, mystery taste, touch and feel centers, and sound centers.  We tested the sensory receptors on our palms and the back of our hands with hot and cold metals, and with a thread and a needle.

In Math we have done sorting exercises blindfolded.  We have graphed our surveys on our favourite tastes and smells.  We have written poems about pleasant and unpleasant tastes.  We have done research on the internet in our computer lab.   We are just starting sound experiments.

We are currently studying bones.  We have examined the inside of cow bones using magnifying glasses.  We are learning the names of our bones and the different joints.  We are doing experiments with teeth that we have saved since school began.  We will put our teeth in coke, milk, apple juice, and vinegar to observe what happens to them.  We made dancing skeletons out of paper!  We are researching interesting bone facts using the internet and a CDROM called "How the Body Works". 

One of our themes from last year!

Mrs. Vidal's students have been exploring the genre of  fairy tales.  The students have discovered many of the characteristics of the classic fairy tale.  For example; most fairy tales begin with "Once Upon A Time", most fairy tales have both good and bad characters in them, most fairy tales attribute special meaning to the numbers three and seven, and most fairy tales end with "Happily Ever After." 

Through the fairy tale theme, the students have worked on developing not only their writing skills, but also on their reporting and interviewing skills.  They have also had fun developing their acting skills by role-playing characters, and by using the hand-sewn puppets that they made in class!   (Special thanks to the parents who helped out!)  

The students all took on the persona of a reporter and wrote news articles based on fairy tale characters for a newspaper called "The Fairy Land Daily News".  The students are currently writing their own fairy tales for a class book.

TO READ, OR HEAR SOME POPULAR FAIRY TALES VISIT

http://www.childrenstory.com      or     http:www.storiestogrowby.com

BIG, BAD WOLF STRIKES AGAIN!

By Katherine (Police Reporter

After two frightening attacks, the Big, Bad Wolf strikes a third house on the praries. The first house was made of straw, the second of sticks, and what a sight it was for the three pigs to see him attack the final house of bricks. For the first two houses, the wolf huffed, and puffed, and blew the houses in, but he could not do so with the third house. He actually went down the chimney. The pigs were smart, and the wolf fell into a pot of boiling water, and ran away screaming with his tail scorched. And the police are watching just in case the Big, Bad Wolf strikes a 4^th time.

KISS AWAKENS GIRL FROM DEATH!

by Amirah

Apparently a young woman has been poisoned. It is suspected that her own step-mother was the one who poisoned her. Her name is Snow-White and she was living in a cottage with seven little dwarfs, and was working for them.

Snow White was poisoned when the seven dwarfs were out at work.

Snow White said that she was tempted to take all the strings and laces, the comb, and poisoned apple that a peddlar gave her.

Snow White was awakened by a prince who was riding on his horse in the forest.

Snow White also said it was a miracle because a prince's kiss is what awakened her. The prince and Snow White will be married soon.

SLIPPER LEADS PRINCE TO MYSTERIOUS GIRL AT BALL!

By Willow

A mysterious woman, who danced with the prince and then disappeared from the palace, was found in her home today!  Her name is Cinderella and she was a servant in her step-mother's house.

Cinderella's step-mother and step-sisters had gone to the ball when Cinderella's fairy godmother appeared in the kitchen. She did magic to change Cinderella's clothes into a ball gown. She even made a coach for her to drive in.

No one recognized Cinderella at the ball. She got to dance with the prince lots. At midnight, she ran away without saying anything to the prince.

He was very sad but he had a clue! Cinderella dropped her glass slipped as she ran. The prince insisted that everyone try it on. When Cinderella tried it on she produced the other slipper from her pocket.

The prince and Cinderella are to be married very soon at the palace.

WOLF TRICKS GIRL IN WOODS

by Devon (Police Reporter)

A girl named Little Red Riding Hood was walking in the woods when she met a wolf. The wolf tricked Little Red Riding Hood by telling her that her granny would like some flowers. The wolf really wanted Little Red Riding Hood to stay longer in the woods so that he could go to granny's hose and eat her. Little Red Tiding Hood told us that when she got to granny's house she thought that her granny looked very strange. The wolf ate Little Red Riding Hood and fell asleep. Soon after a woodcutter came by because he heard the wolf snoring. He cut the wolf open and recued both Little Red Riding hood and her granny. They all shared the treats. The police have gone to granny's cottage and have seen the wolf. We are sure that he will never attack anyone again, because we know that he is dead.

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