Science Fair and Pen Pals

We have done a lot of work since my last post. We have started our science fair projects in the last few weeks. We will be spending the next few weeks researching our topics in the lab. We will do most of the work at school, but some students might find it more useful to work at home too. If you have any questions about science fair feel free to contact me or check your child's science fair packet.

Last week we were given the opportunity to write to pen pals in South Korea. They wrote to us first giving us general information about themselves. We wrote back asking them LOTS of questions and we told them information about our school and the U.S.A. It is hard to be patient while we wait for a response, but we know they are taking huge tests right now so it is more difficult to write us back. The tests are much like ISTEP+ for us. We also took pictures of Milford School for them. We wanted to show them what our lives were like.

Don't forget the 5th grade spelling bee will be December 14th during block 6. The spelling bee is optional, and we will only do one bee. The top winners will advance to the all school bee with 5-8th grade students. Let me know if you have any questions. Students that wanted to participate in the bee were given words to study before Thanksgiving.

I will be posting some information about the World Wildlife Fund in the upcoming days. We did a write around about endangered species, and it certainly got us thinking. I will have some persuasive essays to post on our blog soon. Along with a link to the WWF website. Some of the students felt very strongly about saving endangered animals! It was really exciting to hear their conversations during this activity.

Scholastic Read Every Day!

Today in class, we watched an interview with Taylor Swift about the importance of reading and writing. If you would like to watch the interview or check out the website for the Read Every Day program follow the link below.

Scholastic Read Every Day

You should also check out the Scholastic Homepage to learn about all of the exciting things Scholastic has to offer!

Scholastic Homepage

In Language Arts this week, we finished our author letters. I now have them all addressed on my desk. (They are just waiting for their stamps.) We wrote to quite a variety of authors! Several students sent their letters through email and have already gotten a response! How exciting!!! I am looking forward to the replies already!

Next week is a three-day week so, we will be working on some Thanksgiving related activities in both reading and writing. Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Wow, I am behind!!!

It has been too long since I posted an update, and we have been doing some really creative work! We worked for the month of October on personal and fictional narratives. We are publishing our fictional narratives this week. Last week we wrote spooky stories. The kids were really creative and came up with some great ideas to make their stories spooky and humorous.

We shared our stories around our "campfire" in class last week. It was really fun! We turned off the lights and even had a "campfire" noise on the SMART Board. This week we are going to enjoy our S'mores that we didn't have time for last week. 

Thanks for the "Campfire" Mrs. Taylor!

We are currently working on writing letters to our favorite authors, since Monday was National Author's Day. Our goal is to publish our letters and send them in the mail on Monday, November 8. Hopefully we can get them done in time!

Latest News!

We have been so busy, I haven't had time to update our blog! Since my last post, we took a trip to the Milford Public Library, voted on our favorite "Diary of a Caterpillar" stories, went to HealthWorks in South Bend, and SO much more!!!

Our "Diary of a Caterpillar" winners are:
Block 2: Brittney
Block 3: Gabby
Block 6: Clara
These ladies will be receiving a special treat for doing such an amazing job! Since Gabby was our overall winner this time, Block 3 will be receiving a popcorn party next week. :)

We took a walking field trip to the Milford Public Library! We learned about all of the cool materials we can check-out. We really enjoyed our tour, and we had a chance to check out some cool books, Cd's, etc.

We also took a trip to HealthWorks in South Bend. We had an ABSOLUTE blast! They taught us some really intriguing facts about the human body and how it works. After our learning experience at HealthWorks, we ate lunch at McDonald's or Burger King. That was a special treat! HealthWorks even has a website to learn more about the programs, and activities they offer. Check it out!

http://www.healthworkskids.org/

The Brain at HealthWorks.

Welcome to HealthWorks!

Last but not least, I went to a conference in Indianapolis this week and they shared a motivational video about Reading. By request, I am attaching the link for the YouTube video. A bit of background, it is done by a Middle School. REALLY COOL! Makes you want to sing and dance!

Ocoee Middle School "Gotta Keep Reading"

Butterfly Update

Mr. Butterfly came out of his chrysalis on Friday, September 10! Block three students were able to get a front-row seat to the event. How lucky! I took a video (as best as I could get) for the rest of my students to see. Yesterday we released Mr.Butterfly in the Courtyard at school. He really didn't waste much time before flying quickly out of sight over the school. How exciting!!!
I have noticed that we are really interested in anything about butterflies right now, which is great! We have been reading lots of books about bugs in Language Arts, and we have been writing our own stories. We are publishing our "Diary of a Caterpillar" stories later this week. I just know they are going to be funny!
I found a really helpful website to help aid in identifying butterflies. I plan on sharing the website in class tomorrow too, but check it out when you have time.
Here is the link:
http://www.gardenswithwings.com/identify-butterflies.html

Below are some updated pictures of Mr. Butterfly. Enjoy! 

The clear chrysalis right before he was ready to emerge.

Right after he left his chrysalis. Look how little the wings look!

Drying out his wings.

Right before flying away.

Happenings in Room 106

Last week, I found a monarch caterpillar in our backyard munching on some butterfly milkweed. I took some pictures to share with my students, and told them I would definitely bring our new caterpillar friend to school. I finally brought Mr. Caterpillar in on Monday with some food, and a nice big tank to call his temporary home. This morning, I found Mr. Caterpillar upside down on the top of the tank lid! He was preparing to make his chrysalis. I was hoping that he could wait for the kids, so they could watch nature at its best! Thankfully, my block 2 students had the opportunity to watch this amazing transformation. What now you ask? We wait for Mr. Caterpillar to become Mr. Butterfly. 

Here are some pictures to share in our experience!

Mr. Caterpillar before making his journey to Milford School

Getting ready to make his chrysalis.

Making the transformation with a 5th grade audience.

Our Monarch chrysalis. So AMAZING!

Welcome

Welcome to Mrs. Van Laeken's Language Arts class blog!!! This site will have tons of useful information for class. I will be posting exciting books and websites that you can check out on the Internet. In the upcoming months you(my students) will be blogging too!