Omega Update, April 11

Hello all you wonderful families! It has been a long time since I have given you any updates about what we have been doing and where we are going with the literacy curriculum. Let me waste no more time...

Reading and Writing
We have been making progress on our study of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. The students are working in cooperative groups that focus on a particular area of interest with regards to the Trail: science, history, geography, and present day. We have recently received all 13 maps of the trail system, which are invaluable resources for this project as they have information about science, history, and present day on the back. Now that we have these, we will be able to make some significant headway with our research.

Let me reiterate the purpose of studying the NFCT during literacy. This unit allows me to teach research skills more systematically to the students. These skills will enable them to conduct research more independently in the future. Students have been learning about generating questions and categories of information to help focus their search for information. They have also worked with using text structures such as titles, headings, subheadings, tables of contents,and indexes to locate information.

In addition to research skills, this unit incorporates science, geography, and history. We had a whole lesson on maps and map reading on Wednesday when the maps arrived at school. This lesson also helped us preview the information we can expect to get from the maps. We have also had a couple of science-based literacy lessons about the water cycle which included experiements and lab reports. We talked about how the different parts of the scientific process are similar to reading strategies (hypothesizing and making predictions, for example).

Our study of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail will culminate in two ways. First, the students will present the information they gathered to the class. We will also (hopefully, if we can pull it off) take a canoe trip in the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge. During this trip we will be able to observe a local river ecosystem, participate in a river clean-up effort (the first week of June is River Clean Up Week), learn some basic canoeing skills, and build community.

Charley and I are working on the logistics of this trip. We need nine canoes and nine willing adult chaperones/paddlers. We will also need 26 life jackets (17 for kids) and paddles. I think it would be easiest to try to rent the gear from a paddling outfitter in the Swanton area. However, I cannot rent adults, so...are you ready to get your canoeing on? I am thinking of June 2 (Monday) as a tentative date for the trip. Maybe after spring vacation we should have a potluck and work together to hash out the details. Please feel free to email me with your responses, thoughts, and ideas (or post a comment to this blog).

Spelling
Progress in spelling has been slow going during this time between the Play and the Cultural Display. We have had a lot on our plates, but have still been able to make some progress. I have totally slacked on putting your child's spelling words in your boxes for use at home. However, I'm figuring that there has been no shortage of homework as we all work on toward the display.

Art
When we come back to school after Spring Break, it will be time to focus on art. In conjunction with out NFCT study, I want to focus on artists whose medium or topic is the natural world. Last year my class learned a little bit about Andy Goldsworthy, who makes art with nature. They were enthralled with his work. I want to revisist Andy and his work this year for a more in depth study. If anyone knows of any other artists, especially a Native American artist or a local artist, please pass that information on to me.

Cultural Display
Everyone has worked so hard to research and draw about their topics. I am really proud of all of your children. It is amazing to see the growth between the science display and now. Thank you to all of you parents who helped out in so many ways. We have three more days to get it all finished. Expect homework associated with the display next week. Feel free to come in and check in with me Monday afternoon.