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Click here for the December 2009/ January 2010 school calendar.

News from the 3-4 Class

Westward Ho!  We have started our integrated unit on the emigrants who traveled west along the Oregon Trail in the 1800s.  We have learned the reasons why emigrants began their journey westward and we will soon explore and experience first hand the challenges the emigrants faced along the trail in order to settle in the vast Oregon Territory.  The students are divided into four different families who will pack their wagons and head west on the Oregon Trail to ultimately settle in Dalles, Oregon.  The students will be journaling throughout the unit to record all their experiences and thoughts during the journey.  They have already decided upon their character and their traits, age, occupation, skills and interests.  We will soon be choosing a leader and developing a list of rules to keep order and to keep everyone safe on the long journey.  After we pack our wagons, the families will be meeting in Independence, Missouri, where they will begin their journey.  However, there are definitely going to be some unexpected events that the families encounter.  There may be an outbreak of cholera or a wagon might slip off “Devil’s Backbone.”  We are going to have so much fun!

We plan on brightening up the days of winter with a study of riddles. A riddle attempts to use figurative language in such a way as to present common things as unfamiliar and then asks its readers/listeners to guess what it is. The students will be learning about imagery, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, personification and the sound technique of alliteration.  After reading, experiencing and learning about riddles, we will create a class riddle book comprised of 3-4 originals. 

In January, we will begin our scientific study of “The Incredible Human Body!”  We will begin with outside the body by discovering more about our five main senses.  We will then be taking a closer look at the inside of the human body by learning and discovering more about bones, muscles, and animal cells.  We will then be ready to investigate the nervous system, respiratory system, circulatory system, endocrine system, digestive system and my favorite one to teach, the excretory system. J  As a culmination to the unit, we will be learning more about food and nutrition and how to eat and live healthy.

Happy Holidays to all -
Lara