Determining Importance, Ecology books and something Random

Welcome Spring Weather...we missed you!
It is so nice to be able to get outside to play games, swing or play on the climbers. 

                                  'Determining Importance' 
This week we have done work towards understanding what is important when reading text. We started by doing a simple sorting activity (looking inside a willing student's backpack).

Then we worked in groups to brainstorm what would be needed on a camping trip. Such interesting discussions evolved within their little groups as I asked them to provide the rationale.
This group chose to draw pictures and sort them by R for really important, M for mostly important and N for not important.

(you will notice this chart talks about 'clothes are very important or else you will be naked'... then they talked about the need for bug spray...sometimes primary students are so practical)

'Determining Importance' is a skill that permeates all learning subjects. In Science, students are reading non-fiction text to highlight and source 5 facts about insects, amphibians, mammals, birds and  fish. In Math, students are reading problem solving questions where they have to determine what the question is really asking and be able to answer it fully. When reading, it is one of the many fundamental skills that enables a learner to comprehend what they have read. 
What's on the bookshelf...

This months book shelf has a collection of Ecology and Earth Day books. I would highly recommend 'The Great Kapok Tree' by Lynne Cherry, Peter's Place or One World by Michael Foreman as great read alouds. They also generate interesting discussion points for class lessons on ecology. 
We have also finished reading 'James and the Giant Peach' by Roald Dahl. Wow, students have been listening so well to longer and longer chapter books. We have begun to develop what author Mem Fox refers to as a 'shared language' around books we have read. 

A random picture of one of my sister's alpacas. Yep, they are this cute :) I promised a certain student a picture.