Volcanoes, Volcanoes, Volcanoes!!!

By now I am sure you have heard all about the exciting learning opportunities we had last week as we learned about and explored volcanoes! It was wonderful being able to get back into a full week, uninterrupted by testing, and being able to explore some new opportunities in a hands-on way! This week began with reading a National Geographic Kids story called Volcanoes.

While working through our focus story, we learned new vocabulary words and motions including magma, lava, surface, eruption, and caldera. We spent time adding these words into our interactive reading journals and then writing the words into sentences. We also spent time talking and writing about whether or not we thought it would be safe to stand next to an erupting volcano.

During our Science time this week we were able to watch the video Magic School Bus Blows It's Top and see how the students in the show learned about volcanoes. We were also able to make our very own volcanoes out of air dry clay that we used on Friday to make our own eruptions! Take a look below at the fun we had with our experiment!

Additionally, we had the amazing opportunity to go on a Virtual Field Trip to Guatemala and learn all about the volcanoes they have there on Friday morning. We met a scientist named Brandon Hall. He taught us all about the various volcanoes they have in Guatemala. He showed us on the map where we were visiting and then through pictures and videos of him actually visiting the volcanoes we were able to see what it would be like to take a trip to an actual volcano ourselves! He was also very impressed with our background knowledge of those vocabulary words we learned this week. All of out friends could answer his questions when he referenced them! Way to go friends!

There was a lot of fascinating information that we heard during our field trip. Some of our favorite facts included the fact that the lava coming out of these volcanoes is compared to peanut butter, meaning that it moves so slowly that Brandon said you would have to be a snail for it to catch up to you. He did mention however that the danger falls when there are chunks of flying lava erupting out of the volcano, as some can be as big as a car! We also thought it was very interesting that Vulan Fuego (Fire volcano) has lava from it's 2010 eruption that is still warm enough to roast marshmallows and cook a sandwich! How cool!! We learned that there is a lake (Lake Atitlan) that was caused by a crater from a volcano. It is surrounded by 3 volcanoes and continues to get deeper and deeper. In fact, there is a city on its edge and if you go scuba diving you can see parts of the city underwater from continuous growth in water levels.

We were thrilled with the opportunity to interact with our very knowledgeable scientist as well. Mrs. Powell's friends and our friends were able to ask him questions and interact with him through our video call! This was a wonderful learning experience that only helped to deepen our knowledge about volcanoes. Check out our fun experience below. We were focused and great listeners the whole time!

Moving forward we will begin looking at new topics in science. Specifically, the solar system - days and nights beginning this week. We will continue working in hands on interactive ways that really help to enforce the concepts we are learning about.

We will also be moving in to a new topic in Reading and Social Studies as we learn about slavery, reading Henry's Freedom Box. We will learn what it was like for him growing up a slave and how he became free. On Friday we will also be learning about Ruby Bridges.

Please continue reading at home with your child. Remember, continued and repeated practice at home will only help to reinforce the concepts we are learning at school. Additionally, keep working on those sight words. We have many friends who are starting to fly though them!! Keep up the practice and hard work at home! We will be finishing up our work on long vowel sounds this week, concluding with the letter o. I have seen some definite improvement over the last couple of weeks with our understanding of that Magic/Sneaky E on the end of words and it's ability to change the medial vowel's sound. There were some spelling lists that fell out of folders on Monday. If your's did not make it home you can find it here!

Enjoy your evening and stay dry in the rain tonight!!