Dear IMA Families:

Multicultural Day is scheduled for May 20th .  In order to prepare for the event, we will be starting our geography projects on Monday.  Each child will create his/her own geography project at school.  Students are encouraged to read about their selected countries for home reading and this may be recorded on their homework logs.  Students can also collect artifacts outside of school with family members.  Artifacts are not required;  however, if your family has artifacts (money, samples of clothing, postcards, or other cultural items), students may bring those to support his/her digital display on Multicultural Day. 

This project integrates so many literacy and social studies standards and skills and promises to be an exciting learning adventure.

Students will:

•    select a country of interest.
•    generate 5 or more wonder questions about the country
•    conduct research to answer these questions
•    collect maps, images, and videos to support their learning
•    present their learning in a digital format, using applications learned in IMA


Many resources are available at our digital workspace for home learning.  Please visit:

http://chapmanima.pbworks.com

Your child will need to log on to see the resources.  We use this resource at school daily, so they should know how to log on to our workspace.

Go to Mrs. Smith's file and find Geography Project for many helpful internet links.

http://chapmanima.pbworks.com/w/page/39375766/Geography-Project

Please let me know if you have questions about our upcoming work.

Pebble Go Books

Chapman students have another new digital reading option for school and home reading.  The website is called Pebble Go Books.  This site was a gift from the Chapman PTO for the entire school community to share and enjoy.  Designed for kindergarten through third grade readers, it is a resource that can be enjoyed by older readers as well.  It is a great place to launch wonder questions and animal research.  A huge THANK YOU to our supportive PTO!

The username is: chapman1

The password is: animals

Enjoy the new digital book website!

Can you imagine how little this tortoise is now 

and how huge he will grow over the coming decades?

Talented Songbirds and Helpful Adaptations

 

Why do birds sing complicated songs?  

Do males and female birds sing?  

How do birds sing complicated songs without stopping to take a breath?  

Follow this link to an interesting article about our talented backyard musicians and their amazing adaptations.

How can birds sing complicated songs without stopping to take a breath?

Reality TV At Its Best: Bald Eagle Parents and Their Young

Add a daily dose of unique joy to your family's day and check in with the Bald Eagles in Decorah, Iowa.  The adult pair recently became parents and to bring awareness and knowledge to the public, a live stream video camera was installed so the world can watch many miracles unfold.  

Not only can you watch the daily events in the nest, but viewers can review captured video clips of important events such as egg turning, hatching, and feeding time.  Enjoy!

Watch the eagles and their young live from Decorah, Iowa!

But This Baby Needs A Home....

The start of spring is filled with so many memorable moments-sunshine, blooming flowers, mud puddles, spring time walks, and of course, baby animals.  After visiting our classrooms, you know that we love pets, so we wanted to share this article about what to do when you and your child encounter young wildlife that seems to be without parents.  

If you are out walking or working in your yard and you find a young creature that appears to be alone, stop and think out loud with your child.  It is only natural that our first human impulse is to assume that the creature is abandoned, needs to be taken home and hand raised...and the baby rabbit or squirrel or robin is just so cute! 

Many times, young animals are out and about away from their nests but are still under close care of their parents.  Birds, especially robins, face space issues as their chicks grow SO big and the nest is just too small. By a certain age, robins will have a satellite nest for a fledgling or 2; the parents still care for the young birds nesting on the ground or in the bushes. 

Read this article before faced with this dilemma and it will help your child understand why wild animals should stay in their natural habitat.  Follow this link:  Should I adopt and care for a wild animal (even if it is the cutest thing I've ever seen?)

If you are highly concerned about a wild creature that you discover, you can always contact The Ohio Wildlife Center.  They are a fantastic organization and are set up to hand raise and then return creatures to the wild.  Their office is nearby on Billingsly and the professionals staffing this office run an amazing wildlife rescue center. The OWF has saved us many times in the past when children arrive at school with a box holding young birds, squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons.  The all-time amazingly unusual gift was the baby skunk!


Enjoy the beautiful weather and all that the season holds. 

Interesting Neighbors

White-tailed Deer are common neighbors in Central Ohio.  We often see bucks and does wandering in fields, woods, and even neighborhoods.  Why is it so much trickier to find fawns?  How do so many fawns manage to avoid predators?  Follow the link below and find out more about our 4-legged neighbors.

Why are fawns almost invisible to predators?

A New Resource For Writers

Storybird is a new digital writing and reading resource in our classroom.  Using a variety of artists' resources, students use the shared artwork, design their own books, and then write their own creative and personal narratives.  Some of the stories are funny, some are serious, but they are all as interesting and unique as each child.

Please ask your child to show you how to use this resource.  Read some of the published stories. Explore the ways that writers can create stories in the public and private libraries. The public stories are stories shared freely on the website.  IMA students will publish only in our private "class" and our stories will only be viewed and shared by IMA students and their families.  

This is a new resource that holds many possibilities for our writers. Try collaborating on a story with your child. Read some of the stories together.  Enjoy the site!  

Let me know what you think of this digital writing resource.