Fall is Glorious!
If you haven't been on campus recently, you are missing out. Check out the fall colors!
Please return the forms and money for pizza by Tuesday. (They went home with students on Friday, 10/21.)
Thank you to those of you who have already volunteered to bring in some supplies for our Fall Harvest Day. The link to what we need is here. Contact Ms. Anderman with questions.
Curriculum Updates: We've been BUSY!
Language Arts: Ask your child about Flocabulary and what we've done with it...
Students have been working on their active listening skills. After some explicit teaching around these skills and daily practice, students generated the following ideas about what a classroom discussion should look like, feel like and sound like. They are doing an EXCELLENT job demonstrating progress with these lifelong skills!
We've also been focusing on the reading skills of making connections and inferencing. You can help by asking your child what type of connections they are making to the books they are reading at home.
The Book Buffet
Another thing we are learning about is how books can be "Windows" and "Mirrors." Ask your child what this means and see if they can explain it to you. On Friday they participated in their very first Book Buffet which exposed them to a variety of books that can serve as either Windows or Mirrors depending on their own identity. Hopefully, they've already told you about it! If not, you should ask them about the buffet and the books they are interested in reading. :)
Social Studies
Speaking of Identity... That is our first unit this year. Our overarching question is, "Who are you and why does it matter? Students brainstormed what they knew about identity, played a game to make connections to others, and began a small project about their individual character strengths.
 |
| Their initial brainstorm about what identity means |
 |
| Identity Game |
 |
Math
In math we are finishing up our unit on finding the volume of a rectangular prism. Students have developed strategies for finding volume, writing expressions using parentheses, and problem solving real-world problems using their new skills. This week we looked at how recycling and garbage is often shipped to other counties via container ships. Students were challenged to find a way to ship 3,300 tons of plastic waste that was being shipped BACK to the United States in this real world problem. Students had to find multiple ways to arrange 60 shipping containers and then choose one that would make the most sense on a container ship. Students had to defend their thinking as to why they chose their arrangement. This kind of question allows students to have many "right" solutions. Throughout this process, students have had amazing math discussions. Our young Wizards are good listeners, build on others thinking, respectfully disagree and take risks by sharing their thinking and making mistakes in front of their peers. It has truly been a highlight to watch this week!
 |
| Students share their thinking about how they would ship 60 containers |
Science
We jumped right into our unit about matter and energy by considering the question "Where do living things get what they need to move, grow and reproduce?". On day 1, the students did a great job following directions to set-up their first experiment this year. In order to gather evidence and learn more about where energy comes from we sprouted black beans and are collecting data on growth when the beans are put under various conditions. This will help students to better understand variables and controlled experiments and what exactly plants need to grow. Not having done this activity before, I was just as surprised as the students to find multiple sprouted beans with growth just a day after we started the experiment. It made for a very fun class with a lot of excitement.
 |
| Students play "Odd pig out" which helps the to practice their math facts. |
Comments
Post a Comment