Today we got to practice more visualizing with the book In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming.  It may seem like a simple book at first, but it's really in intricate poem.  The descriptive words allowed us to paint all sorts of cool pictures in our heads while we listened.  For example: close your eyes and make a picture for "crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch" or "dart, dip, hummingbirds sip" or "crack, snap, wings flap."  Keep working on visualizing at home!

Dandelion 
​by Don Freeman

Last but not least, we met our second Secret Reader.  Remi's mom came in with a fabulous book. This one was new for all of us and Miss Kylie too!  The book Dandelion is a clever story about a lion who wants to look fresh and fancy for a tea party with friends.  BUT, when he gets to his party his friends don't recognize him. He's left out in the rain and soon looks like his normal self again.  He returns to the party and they all have a laugh.  We think the moral is JUST BE YOURSELF!  Thanks Jennifer!

Check out this super cool book!  Did you know you can make a map of pretty much anything. The author of this books has maps of her bedroom and neighborhood, but also her day, tummy, and family!  It's cool to think about maps in a different way.  They are a great way to organize our thoughts.  You can see the tummy map below:

We are working on long o and long u right now in spelling and reading. LONG O can be spelled with a sneaky e on the end like slope or with /oa/ in the middle like coat.  LONG U makes a couple different sounds and can be spelled with a sneaky e on the end like mule, /oo/ in the middle like food, or /ui/ in the middle like fruit.

In math we are working on place value. Today we started our new unit by talking about grouping.  Ten is an easy number to work with. Instead of adding 9+1+4 we can combine numbers to make it 10+4.  They both equal 14! We started off by balancing some equations to make 10 on both sides.

​First we referred to our editing checklist to make sure we knew what to look for.

​Then we made sure we remembered our periods and capital letters.

​Then we added lots and lots of details.  With some sound effects and word shapes for fun!

Lilah, our Scientist of the Week, wanted to know: What is the best way to clean a penny? Good question, now we want to know too!  Lilah came prepared with a couple of different options and lucky for us we each got to try them out.  You may find some cleaner pennies around your house this weekend!

​Happy Birthday Tessa!
7 is just the best!

Taj brought in a very local article today from the Aspen Daily News!  In 1987 a plane left the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport on a sightseeing flight up to Ruedi Reservoir.  The plane was caught in a downdraft and crashed in a very dense forest near Mount Yeckel in the Lenado area.  Luckily all four passengers survived and walked out with their lives, but some bad burns.  Now one day short of the 28th anniversary, the plane was found by two of the original passengers.  They found some remaining wreckage and hopefully some peace too!