Week of April 14

We have been writing a variety of poems this month for National Poetry Month.  So far, the students have written an acrostic poem, a rhyming poem, a tanka poem, and a haiku. 

A tanka poem has 5 lines, with a pattern of 2 words, 3 words, 2 words, 3 words, 3 words.  The students wrote tanka poems on a paper bag kite that they made.  They were asked to write their poem about what it would be like to be a kite. Here are the students' tanka poems.

Flying
Up high,
In the sky.
Very fast,
Blowing very hard
In the clouds.

Flying High
Flying high,
In the sky.
Fun, scary,
All those feelings.
Flying is amazing.

Kite High
Really high,
Couldn't be stopped.
Really scared,
In the air,
Fast and high.

Kite
Way up,
In the clouds.
I fly
With the birds.
I feel content.

Ducks
Ducks fly,
Soaring up high.
Higher up,
Up they go.
Flying very high.

To Fly
So fast,
Up to high,
Incredibly fun
In the sky.
That's to fly.

Soaring
Soaring high
In the sky.
Flying peacefully
Like graceful swans.
The wind blusters.

Kite Park
Many kites
Flying so high.
The wind
Blows much
Until nobody's there.

No Thanks
No, nuh-uh.
Don't make me.
Please no.
Flying isn't my
Cup of tea.

In the Sky
Kites fly,
In the sky
So high,
Everything is small.
Very very small.

Howling Tornado
Cold sky,
Air is fast.
Howling wind.
Kite, a kite,
A beautiful kite.

In flight
Very high
In the clouds
Soaring up.
In blasting wind
Scary, but fun.

Flying High
In air
High in sky
Sky high
Aloft in sky.
Fly so high. 

We also had a great time building our found object sculptures.  The students were asked to make a sculpture of an actual item using objects.  Students could decide if they want to paint the sculptures with a bronze paint or leave them ask they were.  Here are the sculptures. 

 

 

We also had a wonderful time cooking and eating Greek food.  The students made Greek cookies and spanakopita today.  The kids loved getting their hands all dirty with dough and butter as they created the delicious food. 

Week of April 7

It was easy to get back into the routine after Spring Break with all of the fun things we did this week.  The week started with a guest speaker, Kelle Stratton from Scrap That.  Your child might have brought home a scrapbook packet from her.  She brought many pairs of scrapbooking scissors for us, as well as many great ideas.  She was so generous with her time on Monday, so if you are interested in scrapbooking, please visit her store.  Her card should have been on the scrapbook packet, but let me know if you need her information. 

The students are using the information and materials she brought to create a scrapbook on the famous person they read about in their biography.  They have found some pictures on the Internet, and are using the information from their book to tell the story of the person's life.  The kids are so excited about this project.  In fact, a number of students have said, "This is the BEST book report we have ever done!"  That is what I want to hear!  We will show off our scrapbooks at the end of the year when we have a Publishers' Party on the last day of school.

Here are some pictures from her visit and the kids working.

 

 

We also started learning about Ancient Rome this week.  The kids learned and experienced how the Romans tried to be peaceful, but in truth, they enlarged their empire by taking other's land.  The students also learned about the different classes of people in Ancient Rome.  They quickly found out that being a slave was not fun and that they would much rather be a patrician, although plebians and provincials were okay too.  Our week ended with our toga party!  We paraded around the school and peacefully, of course, took over other classrooms, making our Roman Empire huge!  Here are some good looking Romans!