Thank you to all the families who made it to our park date this weekend. It was a lovely day for it. I love seeing families having time to connect! We'll look forward to more of these in the coming year.
Let's see, what's happening in our class this week? Here are a few things the kids asked me to add to the blog...
Last week we were lucky enough to have Silas's dad come in to share his expertise about reptiles. The snake skin that Jason found out in nature inspired the students to write lots of questions they have about snakes and shedding. Doug was able to give us SO much info and the students asked GREAT questions. This was a fun session. It is always important to know that research doesn't always happen on the internet and the students did a fabulous job preparing and following through. Ask your child about what they thought about the things we learned. Also, ask them about the shape that was on Doug's shoe...
Periodically when we have a few moments in between work or waiting for something we play hangman. I ask the students to share their thinking in why they are requesting a letter. This has supported the kids to make educated guesses instead of choosing random ones. The students are getting so capable with this that the kid were feeling very proud of the fact that they haven't been getting any wrong letters and so the man always goes free. They joked that they need to change the name of the game. So, the new name for hangman in our class is freeman!
Here are some new or unworked math challenges for your home working pleasure. I am excited that friends are writing thier own word problems. Another element to this work is to become confident reading these symbols, just as we are with letters. We are practicing reading the equations out loud so that it may become second nature for each friend to read them and to differentiate between all of these symbols: + - x =
Since today was a rainy day and we didn't get out much, I suggested we take some time to dance and get out our inside wiggles. The students requested some songs that we have been enjoying. We've used these in the past to investigate the patterns in music. We have been talking about how some music is in a 4 or 8 count while others are the 3 count of a waltz. Today we made a different type of pattern while dancing that was inspired by Joey and Parker's moves. The class danced in pairs to join our snowflake pattern and build it from the inside to the out. It was fun to let off some steam and to find the beat of the music while noticing patterns in both a snowflake and music. This connects with the students growing abilities to skip count in twos, threes, fours, etc. The children are noticing new ways to group and calculate things.
Patterns are everywhere! Can you keep this snowflake pattern going out further outward from the center?
The Winter Party planning has lead us into many interesting class discussions and discoveries. The arctic group has been thinking about icebergs and how they can be so massive and still float in water. The tree committee is researching what animals would be out on a snowy tree and the book making group has realized how a production line works best to get things done efficiently. The experiment group has organized a lot for the experiment we will be doing this Thursday and the sign up committee has lent a hand for many groups to help out when writing is needed. There is still a lot to be done still, but it is great to see how the students are learning new concepts along the way and are collaborating.
Thank you to all the families who have offered to come and help or who have offered to bring in supplies to actualize all their plans. I think it's going to be a great way to finish up 2011 together!
Have a nice night, Jennifer
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