Math and Science

Although last week was a short week, we managed to cover quite a bit. In math we began a unit on subtraction and addition. ThinkMath! had us finding missing addends and minuends using cuisenaire rods. We talked a lot about how this strategy helps us apply algebraic concepts.

We finished our science unit on the water cycle.  During this unit, we co-created water cycles in a bag using water and food coloring.  We are moving onto social studies and government next.

100s Day, Talent Show, Friendship & Thank You

100s Day & Musical Math
Tuesday was a lot of fun.  We combined concepts of 100 into many of our subjects.  We began the day with cutting 100 squares to create a mosaic, we read our story in reading in "elderly" voices, and did brain breaks throughout the day by counting to 100.  In math, we used candy hearts (thanks to Alexis' family) to sort and create fractions such as 3/8 of my candy hearts are green.  Next we did fraction addition such as 3/8 (green) plus 2/8 (pink) equals 5/8.

As a math extension, we borrowed Mrs. Stouts boom whackers to play notes in 4/4 time and discussed how musicians read notes such as the eighth, quarter, half, and whole.  We discussed the difference between a 100 equal parts as a whole and 4 equal parts as a whole. This was certainly a loud and fun way to learn.

Posing as if we're 100 year olds

Talent Show
On Tuesday evening, four of our students participated in the Talent Show.  Way to go Isabel, Makayla, Maddison & Sophie. Such talent!

Friendship 
On Thursday afternoon, we exchanged our affirmation notes/valentines with one another.  I was so impressed with the amount of thought and creativity students took to create unique cards. This is my first year of teaching in which every card given was different! The students did a super job reminding one another of good friendship practices.  At the very end of the day, we played a riddle game (thanks to Katie's family) that got us thinking, working together, and laughing out-loud.

Thank you
Thank you for all of the nice cards, chocolates, candy, and warm wishes. It was a great week.

Math Workshop, The Chocolate Touch & Frindle

Math Workshop

We have been working on fractions this week.  Many of our students have a solid foundation, so we are building on that understanding by working with manipulatives. To extend our learning, we compared and reduced fractions using geo-boards. Check out how we used evidence and reasoning to support our fraction claims.  

The Chocolate Touch

We took an opportunity on Friday to celebrate our class's completion of The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling. We celebrated by turning the classroom into a reading cafe complete with donuts (thanks to Saahil's family) and hot chocolate.  We also took some quality time talking about the book. One of the joys of reading, is sharing our thoughts and reactions.  It was a fun event and thankfully, no one turned into chocolate!

Frindle

We also finished a class read-aloud of one of my favorite books, Frindle by Andrew Clement. Just for fun, we took a class picture of ourselves holding frindles just like they did in the book. If you're not sure what a frindle is, ask your 2nd grader. 

Do you remember a favorite childhood book? Tell us about it in the blog comments. I'll share your comments with the class.  Who knows, it might be our next read aloud.

Perseverance Video, Reading Buddies & Affirmation Cards

Moral Focus Assembly

Several of our students planned to perform on Monday, January 13th. Due to snow days and NWEA schedule changes the assembly was cancelled. Regardless, this group used perseverance and their indoor recess time to practice the following week. They performed for Ms. Josephson's class as well as our class. They did an amazing job.  Here is a video clip.  

5th Grade Reading buddies

We were able to read with our 5th grade reading buddies on Friday. You would be amazed at how much reading is done during this short time.

Affirmation Cards

Last Monday I sent home a list of student names.  Your child is encouraged to write an affirmation to each of their classmates.  This is not a requirement, however, if they choose to write them, they should write one to every student in class.  They are also asked not to buy store-created cards and instead create their own.  If you need paper or supplies, I am happy to share.  Please have your child bring them to school on or before February 13th.  We will spend the last part of the day on February 13th sharing cards and snacks.  There is no school for students on February 14th or February 17th.