Seeds "Planted", Book Review Board and Book Report

We have a lot of stuff going on here at school.  In science we have planted our seeds in water.  The students love it.  We have taken detailed observations of the changes in the seeds.  We will continue to monitor growth and record our data inside our Hydroponics journals.

When students finish a book, it's an accomplishment and I want to celebrate it, as well as check for comprehension of the book as a whole.  I've created a Book Review board outside of the classroom where students are allowed to write their own review of the book and create a new cover of the book, which they love.  This review must include a synopsis of the book, as well as a reason for why they gave the book its star rating.  It's great to watch the other students in the school (mostly 3rd graders from our hallway) reading the book reviews.  I asked one student who was reading them today if he liked them and he said, "Yeah, they're cool."

I will be sending home a detailed letter today about our October/November book report.  I am not having the students read a particular genre, but they will need to respond to some questions and create a model from a scene in the book using clay or any other building material.  This will be due just before Thanksgiving.