Writing: We are illustrating and putting the final touches on our small moments books. We will start exploring and

writing nonfiction soon!

What is nonfiction?I read the students two books about

frogs and they decided which book was fiction and which book was nonfiction. Then, we generated a list about what we think makes a nonfiction book nonfiction. Here is what they said:

•tells us real things

•has true facts

•we learn things from it

We l e a r n n e w information when reading nonfiction. T h e s t u d e n t s explored nonfiction

book baskets at their tables. They used post-its to identify newly learned information. Your children are such

sponges for information that they used up a whole pack of post-its this week!

We ask questions when we read nonfiction. Banyan students used their post-its to record questions they had as they read. Sometimes the questions were answered in the text and sometimes they were not.

Nonfiction books contain specific elements. We identified and some of these elements.

•photographs

•index

•table of contents

•fact boxes

•glossary and so much more.

Reading Nonfiction

Banyan NewsletterWINTER 2010 ISSUE NINE

Banyan students explore nonfiction books at their tables.

Did you know...?The blue whale is the largest animal ever to

have existed!A Banyan student discovered this amazing

fact!

Math: Data and Surveys and Measurement

We measured fish in pairs and decided if we were going to keep them or throw them back.

Balls And RampsWe began our new science unit in

which we will be learning about

balls and how they move. We will eventually be exploring concepts

such as force, gravity and friction. The children will discover these

p r o p e r t i e s t h r o u g h o u r

investigations.

We explored the bal l s wi th our

p a r t n e r s a n d

described their attributes. The children told us

what they wondered and noticed as they explored. Then, we

conducted an investigation about

their differences. Which ball is the most bouncy? Which ball

rolls the farthest? Which ball seems the heaviest?

Then, we talked about the

concept of a fair test and how

did you test each ball fairly.

Did you apply

force? What surface did you

roll on?

We also practiced freezing

when the teacher turns the lights off. Banyan students are getting

very good at this!

We learned to collect data and represent it.

Banyan mathematicians conducted many surveys last week. They learned methods o f gather ing data and representing data. Then they learned to interpret the data that was represented. They even did their own representations.

We measured using nonstandard tools.

We started a new unit about measurement. We begin using nonstandard measuring tools such as 1 inch tiles, cubes and paper clips. The students measured the length of a variety of materials at a measuring station: paper, unsharpened pencils, a block, a book and much more. They recorded the lengths and the tool that they used. We discussed measuring techniques and accuracy. We also talked about rounding the number when we did not have an exact measurement.

Then Banyan students went on a fishing trip! They could fish for either perch, mackerel or alewife. They had to measure each fish and decide which ones were keepers and which ones they would throw back depending on their length. The students really enjoyed this activity and were very involved in the accuracy of measuring their fish.