- Monday, September 5th- NO SCHOOL for Labor Day
- Friday, September 8th- PTO Movie Night at 6:00
- Wednesday, September 13th- Dismissal at 1:40
- Friday, September 22nd- NO SCHOOL for teacher professional development
- Wednesday, September 27th- Picture day
We are all settled into our routines now, and a lot of learning is happening! During the first few days, we wrote a class mission statement that reflects how we want our classroom to look and feel. The students did a great job with this.
We did more team building activities, and we have been focusing on how important it is to work together. Throughout the year, we will be incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) projects into the different subject areas. Below are a few fun challenges the students worked through. In one, the students had a limited amount of supplies and needed to build a support that would hold two cups off the table. In the second, students were given a piece of paper and 5 centimeters of tape. The challenge was to build a structure that would hold a book off the table for 30 seconds. As you can see in the pictures, there was a lot of creativity happening! They realized that by rolling the paper into columns, they could hold more books. I think the record was over 30 books!
Writing: In writing, our first unit is about personal narratives. So far, we have been learning about different strategies for writing personal narratives. We have talked about writing about a memory with a special person, a first or a last time doing something, and a memory in a special place. Also, we have read examples of personal narratives to help get the ideas flowing. After writing a few short drafts of different ideas, students have chosen which idea they would like to elaborate on. A big focus of personal narrative is getting the kids to zoom in a particular moment. We use a watermelon and seed analogy to explain this. A watermelon is a broad topic, and the seed focuses in on a particular moment within the broader topic.
Reading: In reading, we are learning how to slow down and think about what we are reading. I have been conferencing with students, and reading groups will begin next week. Students will meet in a small group with me, and they will also be a member of a book club that meets twice a week. Book clubs will begin in the next week or two. Last week, we enjoyed the nice weather and read outside in our outdoor learning space!
Math: We spent a few days practicing math stations. A typical math lesson consists of a 10 minute mini-lesson, and then students try a few problems on their own. I use the problems they do independently to make my math groups for the day. The math group is a follow up of the day's lesson. Some students need more reinforcement on the skill, and others are ready for a challenge. Groups change daily based on student need. While I am meeting with small groups, the students go to their math stations. We have 5 stations, and students go to one station a day. There is a hands on group where they play partner games that go along with our current math topics or topics previously learned as a review. At the problem solving station, students solve real life math situations with a partner. There are also 2 computer based stations that allow students to practice math concepts that we are learning. The last station is an independent station where students review concepts that have been previously taught to ensure they retain what they have learned.
We are currently on chapter one which covers place value of whole numbers and decimals. If your child does not know his or her multiplication facts up through 12, please review these at home nightly. If you would like suggestions for online ways to practice these, please let me know.
Science: In science, we have been exploring the different science tools we will be using this year. We are also learning about the scientific method. Earlier in the week, we talked about how observations help guide the questions we come up with. We went outside and made qualitative and quantitative observations of objects we found.
Also, students have been talking a lot about Hurricane Harvey. We watched a few video clips and came up with some questions we had about hurricanes. Then, I posted some articles and videos on Google Classroom. Students decided which questions they wanted to find the answers to, and they researched to learn more about what they were curious about. They really seemed to like this, and they came up with some very interesting questions!
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