Week of Sept. 24th

Problem:  1 Missing Bear   Solution:  Going on a Bear Hunt

When we returned from Spanish, we discovered that our own "Bandaid Bear" was missing from his chair.  We readied ourselves with cameras, notepads, and our "Scare Bear" bells (to scare off any non-fiction bears) and headed out to find our bear.

We asked many grown-ups along the way if they had seen Bandaid Bear.  Mrs. Roebber said she could not help us with the bear, but that she is great at helping if someone is sick or hurt at school.  Mrs. Koconis hadn't seen our bear, but she let us know that she can help if we come to school late and need a tardy slip.  We learned that Mr. Villeneuve helps with computers, Mrs. Johns helps with visitors, and the cooks help with lunch, of course!  Luckily the cooks said that they had seen a glimpse of a bear head out the back of the dining room, so we headed that way. 

We stopped for a quick break to take some notes of where we had checked for Bandaid Bear.  It was so interesting to see how each child represented different spots and had his own way of documenting with pictures, words, or symbols the information he wanted to record.  Not a single child said, "How do you spell..." but instead, everyone wrote something meaningful in their own way.  The notepads might not look like much, but with this background, I think they are really powerful! 

Cameras in hand, we searched the woods for signs of Bandaid Bear.  We stopped and recorded the details of the woods that make a good habitat for bears - we knew that the school, houses, roads, and cars nearby meant that we were too close to a human habitat for real bears though.  Soon we caught a glimpse of bear plaid and...

...we found him!

Goldilocks and the Three Bears - JK Style

This week we were introduced to our JK author and illustrator, Jan Brett, through her beautiful retelling of the classic Goldilocks story.  We read many versions of the story from various authors and talked about the difference between writing and retelling a story.  We loved the silly version, Somebody and the Three Blairs most of all!  We were quite adept at finding things that were the same and different between the various retellings.  We made Bear/Goldilocks hats to help us act out the story in the house area that has been transformed into the 3 Bears cottage by the afternoon class.  

Using recycled materials, we created our own 3 bears cottage and found sized materials to represent Goldilocks and the bears, bowls, chairs, and beds in the story.  We helped tell parts of the story in a group and will practice more on our own on Monday.  Happy weekend everyone!