September 26, 2014

Classroom News:

• We have library on Mondays. Make sure to send in your books so new ones can be taken out. 
• There is a book fair at school from September 29-October 3. The hours are 8:30-2:30. Checks can be written out to John F. Kennedy School.

Literacy:

We focused on the big concept of acceptance during our read alouds this week. The week started with Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes. During our accountable talk read aloud, the reading buddies worked on making predictions and backing up their predictions with evidence from the text. Reading buddies shared ideas using turn and talks. Finally, we worked on sharing our thoughts about the big idea, or what the book is really about. The students are showing growth in these reading habits of mind. Good work readers!

Then we were able to read one of my favorite books:  One by Kathryn Otoshi. This book has some big themes in it. We will continue discussing this book next week while we work with another one of Kathryn Otoshi's books.

Here is a a video of Kathryn Otoshi reading her book: 

Catalanotto

Catalanotto
Math  Focus:

Math Focus:

How do mathematicians represent their thinking in more than one way?
We have been comparing two ways of representing mathematical thinking: counting on and counting all. Mathematicians are working on making sense of these two methods of representation and justifying that both ways are true. 


Special Guests:
JFK had 2 special visitors this week!

First, we saw the UVM women's soccer team. They spoke to the school about perseverance and how to overcome challenges to reach  your goals. It was a fun assembly with many JFK students trying out some soccer tricks.

On Friday, Sean McMannon, our superintendent, introduced a Special Olympian to the class. Josh has participated in the Special Olympics for many years and was the speaker at last year's Penguin Plunge. He spoke to our class about all the sports he plays, his travels for the Special Olympics, and the importance of accepting others. The kids loved listening to him and had tons of questions!