Check out the following websites to reinforce material learned in class here.

Practice your words for the Spring Show and start working on your costume! To visit our classroom site for lyrics and tips on costumes click here.

April 26th to Present...

In Science class, we are studying about habitats. A habitat is where an animal or plant lives. A habitat has everything the animal or plant needs. We have studied three main habitats: the ocean, the forest, and the desert.

Our first graders have a research project due this coming May 6th. Your child has two weeks including two weekends to work on it. Please do not leave it to the last minute. This project will be graded and reflected on the final report card. The most thoughtful and well constructed projects submitted will be displayed in our school wide science fair on May 7th!

Students are to make a shoebox diorama of one habitat. Your child will choose to research the ocean, the forest or the desert. Your child may use the public library or the Internet to research what animals and plants live in the habitat they have chosen. I will be posting a web page on habitats on our classroom website. Your child may go to our website, click on homework, click on science homework, then, click on the link to science websites. There he/she will find a posted page on habitats we have studied together in class. Your child can also use the search engines at the top of our homepage to locate websites about habitats on his/her own with parental supervision.

The assignment is to get a shoe box, cover it with any art materials to create a replica of the chosen environment and fill it with replicas of plants and animals typical to that environment.

You will need construction paper, scissors, glue, and crayons or markers, among other typical art supplies. Some creative materials to use would be sand (sprinkled on glue), twigs (to be trees), paint, glitter, and string (to suspend ocean creatures from the top of the box so they appear to swim). Please do not use any live materials (plants) in your diorama as they will not survive long enough to be displayed.

It is always difficult to determine how much �help� is too much. I expect parents to make time for research, allow children to pick which habitat they wish to depict, assemble appropriate materials, and be available for guidance and advice. I know it is tempting to do the hands on work with the children (it is fun!) but it is very important for the children to construct the project on their own. Please refrain from cutting, drawing, gluing, pasting, sprinkling or painting for your child. If your child expresses a desire to do something in particular but does not know how to do it, you may explain how to do it and give examples and directions, but the child must do the work on their own. I will be able to tell if a child had excessive assistance and will adjust their grade accordingly.

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