New Adventures Near and Far

Today, we mailed our "flat selves" around the world. As we finished up the first Flat Stanley book today (about a boy flattened, origianlly, by a bulletin board who goes on adventures around the world traveling by mail), we prepared our envelope for delivery. Boy, do I wish I had a video on some of the envelopes after the kids licked the adhesive strip! They had just come back from lunch, but you would think some kids hadn't eaten all day by how chewed up these envelopes got from the licking!
I told them they needed more envelope licking experience so don't be surprised if they ask to write letters the old fashioned way! We are all very excited about the adventures our "flat selves" are going on. We are sending letters to Texas, Minnesota, Australia, India, and more wonderful places!! Some of us are traveling only a short distance, like to a different neighborhood in Aurora, but we are still looking forward to the letters we will get back and the activities we will do with our friends and family.

As I sit and write this post, I am listening to both of my daughters cough miserably! This weather has not done us any favors on the homefront! One has a terrible hacking cough and the other is having asthma attacks. I, unforunately, am hearing the same noises in the classroom. With these extreme changes in the weather, the kids need to be reminded constantly to cover mouths when coughing or sneezing. Also, due to all the sickness, we have depleted our supply of tissues again. I know some of you have already donated an extra box in January, but if anyone hasn't contributed an extra box - it would be most appreciated!!

In reading, we are beginning our study of community helpers and careers. We are reading a story about a mailman named Curtis. We will do an activity where the kids will study different jobs and teach the class about what they have learned. You can expect an optional activity coming home next week for those kids interested. They will interview someone at home about the job they have and how they went about getting it. It can be the job you are in currently or any previous job. The kids will love hearing about all the different jobs they have to choose from. Thanks for participating in any way!

The kids have really enjoyed our water cycle unit so far! We've been learning about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. We came up with some fun moves to demonstrate each part of the cycle. We set up some containers of water in different places around the room to see if different places can affect the rate of evaporation. Also, we've been sharing some amazing facts about water! Ask your child to tell you a few, like:
How much water do we use when showering?
How much water is used to build one car?
How much water should we drink in one day?
How much of the earth is water?

In computers, the kids have been enjoying learning how to use text boxes in their documents. We've been focusing on how to use the text features of textbooks, careful not to skim over the important pictures, captions, tables, and maps that accompany the text in our important reading. This practice will serve them well in the higher grades. Manipulating text boxes gives them an understanding of how publishers and authors display work and sue creative ways to share information.

I hope all the Young Sons who are going on the "campout" tonight enjoy themselves!! Have a great weekend, everyone!