Tuesday, January 19th, 2016

This morning we worked well at Daily 5 and we got our Guided rEading groups up and running again.  Students are progressing well when reading with the teacher and are encouraged to be diligent with reading at home on a regular basis.  Raz Kids and reading good quality books at home are all contributing factors to growth in reading skills and strategies!

We have also been working at our India information gathering.  Our classmate will be returning next week and we can't wait to share what we have learned.  We look forward to seeing his pictures and hearing about his family's adventures.

After snack,  Read Aloud and a quick movement break, we gathered with Mrs. Peterson's class to watch a few videos to build our understanding of Global Citizenship and Rights of the Child.  We added to our brainstorming sheets and then discussed possible ideas for our Inquiry work. We will be encouraging students to choose an area they are passionate about and are willing to commit to researching and creating an action plan for in the months to come.  Some possibilities brought forward to day included homelessness, the environment, education, and access to clean water.  We are looking forward to this very important and meaningful inquiry!

In Math today we looked at the strategies that we use to add 2-digit numbers.  We found out that we don't all have the same strategy but that we all got the same answer.  We will continue to look at strategies and find the one that works best for each of us.  We know that we may have to find a different strategy to make sure that it is efficient (works quickly and easily).  Look at  the picture below of some of the different strategies.

We continued our science inquiries.  In the engineer group we looked at prototyping and how we can make our plans better by talking with others.  Encouraging words and helpful suggestions help us to alter and change our plans for the better.  We also discussed the needs that have to be met by the building our our structures: food, water, air.  Have you included plans for these in our structures.  We will continue to gather information that will help us in the planning process.  Next week we will begin some experiments that will help us with the building.  What materials to use, what will make them sturdy and a few more.

In gym, we tested our fitness. We did the beep test.  We all worked very hard and I was proud of everyone of you.  You did a great job encouraging your classmates to do their best!


Things to Remember:

1.)  Fun Lunch Tomorrow
2.)  The EcoTeam will be collecting markers to contribute to the Crayola ColorCycle program.  They can bring them into school, where they will be collected.  In the Peace Wing, they can be collected in the Learning Commons. In the Hope and Harmony Wings, Mrs. Patton’s class will collect markers.  Go through your markers at home, and see if you have any that are used up, for us to Recycle. Collection will end on February 8.  

Question of the Day:

What are you enjoying about our class and your learning right now?  What would you like us to do more of?  What would you change?