5th graders get the buzz about bees!
According to Fleming, most people aren't aware of the fact that one out of every 3 bites we take at the dinner table is, in some way, a product of honeybee pollination--- from fruits to nuts to vegetables.
Another interesting fact that we learned from our study of bees is how they pass along information about nectar and pollen to the rest of their nest mates by dancing. Their dancing communicates to the others where and how far away the food source is.
A highlight and the conclusion of our bee study was getting to hear all about bees from our school nurse, Mrs. Ross! She is a beginning beekeeper and had so much to tell us about her experiences! She talked about the 3 kinds of bees: queen bee, drones (male bees), and the worker bees (female bees). They each play a unique role in the colony. She emphasized that even though they each have their own role, they all come together to form this amazing colony. Mrs. Ross had recently acquired a new queen bee, and she described the way the bees welcomed her after getting acquainted and comfortable with her.
She also shared with us ways that we can attract and help bee colonies to flourish, such as by planting flowers and plants that bees love. Some of their favorites include dandelions, clover, and sunflowers.
Mrs. Ross brought some of her beekeeping equipment with her, such as a beekeeping suit, hive box (that included the honeycomb that the bees had formed), and a fire box. Mrs. Ross has only tasted the fresh honey from her bees (she reports that it was very good!), but she looks forward to the day that she has enough to put on a biscuit!
Lillyanna, 5th grader, says that she "likes how Mrs. Ross is working to save bees as a beekeeper."
A big thank you to Mrs. Ross for taking the time to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for bees with us!
This Room has been "Tatered"!
Paired with the book Supertato, Mr. Potato Head is making his rounds to the classrooms. Teachers are encouraged to read the book aloud to their students, mark their name off the list found on the back of Mr. Potato Head, and move him in secret to another teacher's room. Teachers then hang a sign outside their classroom door that reads "This Room Has Been Tatered!"
Since he is life-sized, it is kind of hard to ignore or forget about Mr. Potato Head! From all reports, students are enjoying the book and having Mr. Potato Head join their class for a day or two!
May the Books Be With You!
Students put their names in the hat to see which student (one from each class) was the lucky recipient of a Star Wars giveaway (see display above). Giveaways included tee shirts, socks, cups, sketch pad kits, temporary tattoos, sticker books, Star Wars books, pencils, pens, bubble tubes, bounce balls, Princess Leia's Buns (honeybuns), Lightsabers (Twizzler licorice sticks), and Guardians of the Galaxy cereal.
We have several Star Wars series in our library appealing to all ages and reading levels. Our newest series is in Graphic Novel format, and it is very popular with the students.
The celebration was a fun way to greet the month of May!
Because we pre-ordered this book, our 4th graders were able to participate in a virtual interview with the author Messner and author/illustrator Lin. The two of them talked about how this book came to be and how they collaborated on it.
