February 17 - Delayed start February 18 - Coffee with Sara Raabe in the library
Literacy:
Last week we finished up our study of nonfiction. The class has developed such a love of learning through this unit. We have experts in the solar system, stars, weather, penguins, sharks, whales, reptiles, and many more topics. I love looking around the classroom and seeing students curled up with books that interest them and then hearing the murmur of everyone sharing what they have learned from their books. Super job readers!
Math:
We spent a lot of time this past week diving deep into what the equal sign means. We worked on proving whether equations were true or false and then we created equivalent equations, on our own and with partners. The students are so good at supporting their thinking using math language and concepts.
Science:
The class is having a blast applying all their learning about force and motion while creating their own arcade style games. Everyone worked so well with their partners, they used scientific language to explain their ideas. We all can't wait to work on our projects some more!
Valentine's Day: We had fun passing our Valentines, cooking vegetable soup, and baking dog biscuits. I delivered the dog biscuits to the Humane Society of Chittenden County on Saturday and they were very grateful for the treats.
February 17 - Delayed start February 18 - Coffee with Sara Rabbe in the library Ongoing until February 19 - Big Change Round Up
Please send in any
boxes, empty paper towel rolls, or any other pieces of plastic, etc.
that you think the kids could use in creating their own games. Anything
from the recycling pile will work. See the science update below for more information. Thanks!
Big Change Round Up A
baggie with information about the Big Change Round Up went home last
week. We are collecting change for the University of Vermont
Children's Hospital. Kids can bring in change and put it in one of the
containers in the office. There is a container for 10 different staff
members. The staff member that gets the most money will have to dye
their hair a crazy color. I moved up to 4th place last week! Woo hoo! I'm getting closer to dyeing my hair!
Literacy:
This week, student were all diving into their own interests, reading nonfiction books. Students are learning how to organize the information in books using t-charts, webs, and Venn Diagrams. Students then come up with their own ways to share their new learning by writing books or making posters. They are sharing new information every day!
We have been writing a biography of Heroes (Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges). Here is a picture of the class, writing the table of contents in their books. The students have learned so much about these important people.
Math: We've been tackling some tough story problems and questions this week! One day we worked hard on figuring out the following problem: I had 11 doughnuts. 3 were chocolate. The rest were vanilla. How many were vanilla? This was a tricky problem because at first, many students thought we had to add the 11 and the 3 together to get the answer. After a lot of work using manipulatives, creating representations, and sharing our thinking with one another, we finally figured it out! And once we got to the correct answer the class realized that we had two different ways of solving it: 11-3=N or 3+N=11.
Science:
The students are getting ready to apply what they have learned in our study of force and motion. We are doing a Project Based Unit (PBL) that has the students creating their own arcade style games. Here are two videos that we have already watched in class to give you a better idea of what we are trying to do.
This is where we need your help. Please send in any boxes, empty paper towel rolls, or any other pieces of plastic, etc. that you think the kids could use in creating their own games. Anything from the recycling pile will work!
Important Dates and Reminders:
We had fun passing our Valentines, cooking vegetable soup, and baking dog biscuits. I delivered the dog biscuits to the Humane Society of Chittenden County on Saturday and they were very grateful for the treats.
