Join us April 2nd by wearing blue for #LIUB!!!!

this week

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Sat/Sun
30	31	1	2	3	4/5
Play at Bibb Graves 10:00 a.m.-Wear Red	Dance And Gymnastics	$ due for field trip Tornado Drill Faculty Meeting 12:30 Dance And Gymnastics	Pizza and Music Easter Party 2 pm	Field Trip to The Barnyard and Egg Hunt

week of Feb 23 snapshot

we had a very interesting week this week. we brought Ice Age to Alabama! we learned that Ice Age is a time period that glaciers covered much of North America, our continent and Europe. we also learned this period lasted until about 10,000 years ago. there were glaciers, which are large sheets of ice that do not melt. they move like very slow rivers pulled by their own weight. I showed the students the Great Lakes on map, which were formed by ice sheets, as were many valleys on our continent that were carved out by glaciers long ago when the climate was colder. we especially enjoyed learning about Beringia, a land bridge during the Ice Age. Land Bridge is a narrow strip of land that connected Asia and North America. It was like a bridge across the water.

click <here> for SchoolTube video

Map of Beringia 

 SS.K.1 SS.K. 7 S.K.8 SS.K.1.a

we also revisited migration which is moving from one country or location to another. animals that may have been being hunted were mastodons, any of several extinct animals resembling an elephant, also lived in Alabama. bison, a large animal with a big, shaggy head, a humped back, and short horns, found in North America; a buffalo. woolly mammoth, a very large, hairy animal with huge tusks found during the Ice Age. hunters used to hunt and trap these animals for food and fur. also lived in Alabama. woolly rhinoceros, a large animal found during the Ice Age used for food. giant ground sloth, measured up to 20 ft in length found during the Ice Age in Alabama. 

click <here> for a SchoolTube video on the Evolution of the Sloth

we looked at some examples of cave paintings and painted our own on brown kraft paper (they crumpled it and flattened out again before painting) using animals that we had learned about that week that we thought might be alive during that period;  mastadon, bison, woolly mammoth, and woolly rhinoceros.

the students really enjoyed making a stegasaurus out of a 1/2 of a banana, bugles, pretzel sticks, and chocolate chips!

we had fun taking a brain break to do the Sid Shuffle, too!

Our science experiment for the week: Does ice melt faster in salt water or fresh water?

(the answer is fresh)

we had another yummy snack- dino cheese toast!

we also learned about a few more dinosaurs that lived in Alabama during the late Cretaceous Period. I got all of my info from McWane Science Center's website and our school has visited several times. It is worth the trip to Birmingham if you have not visited them!

APPALACHIOSAURUS

Pronounced: APA-lay-CHEE-o-SAW-rus

Meaning: “Appalachian Lizard”

Common name: Alabama tyrannosaur

NODOSAUR

Pronounced: NO-do-SAWR

Common name: Armored dinosaur

DROMAEOSAUR

Pronounced: DRO-me-O-sawr

Common Name: Raptor

ORNITHOMIMID

Pronounced: OR-ni-THO-mi-MID

Meaning: “Bird Mimic”

PTERANODON

Pronounced: TE-ran-O-don

Meaning: “Winged and Toothless”

ICHTHYORNIS

Common Name: Fish Bird

and on Friday, we learned that fossils are the remains or traces of an animal or a plant from millions of years ago, preserved as a rock. we became paleontologists, which is a scientist that deals with fossils and other ancient life forms and archaeologists, which is a scientist that learns about the past by digging up old buildings and objects and examining them carefully. we learned the importance of having correct information from long ago during the ice age so that we can learn more about the time period. we learned that the job of a paleontologist and of an archaeologist is important and we depend upon these people with these skills to share information from the Ice Age with us. each student was given a dinosaur egg where they had to carefully carve away the dirt to find pieces of a dinosaur skeleton which they would have to piece together. they had a blast!

SS.K.1 SS.K. 7 S.K.8 SS.K.1.a T.K.3

Dr. Dumas and Ms. Emily came to talk to us about the Ice Age on Friday. they brought along some fossils and some artifacts that have been recovered from the Ice Age. these items were found right here in Alabama. we learned that the large animals during the time of the Ice Age were called Megaphona, which means, really big animals. we also learned that there were no real dinosaurs still alive during the Ice Age because all of them had died long before that time. (that's right. I am still learning, too! and that's just fine with me. I love that I am in a profession where the learning never stops.) we learned a great deal from Dr. Dumas and Ms. Emily. we are so thankful that they took time from their busy day to come see us. we saw fossils from the Beaver, the mastadon, and the woolly mammoth. we also saw pictures of all the animals from the Ice Age that lived in Alabama.

our finished KWL chart for Ice Age

a few pictures of the students in the library having fun with cotton and me on the outside looking through the window because I am a weirdo and cannot stand the squeaky sound that cotton makes. don't believe me? ask your kid. they are laughing in the pics, too. :)

one day they drew snow pictures with a white crayon on white paper and then colored the same paper with markers and watched their snow come alive!

thank you to all parents, grandparents, and family who could come eat at our Under the Sea lunch. it was delicious and our Book Fair was another success!

these books will go this summer with the Christian Valley Baptist Church's Mission Team to Honduras. my mother-in-law will be with them and she is very grateful and excited to take these books and read them to the children there. so thank you from both of us.

we decorated a cover of our favorite Dr. Seuss book for our Read Across America bulletin board. sadly, I would miss this day because of the dreaded stomach bug that hit our county so hard. :(

a few journal writings:

when is your bedtime?

what is something that makes you feel special?

name one thing you are thankful for you can see.

when is your bedtime?

do you wear glasses? if so, what color?

what time do you get up in the morning?

what is your favorite dinosaur?