This week we focused on the LifeSkill of effort in our classroom. On our morning/afternoon message during one of the LA classes, I posed the question for each Learning Club to discuss how Wile E. Coyote (cartoon character) shows effort. I had to quickly expand that to any cartoon character because a majority of them had no clue who I was talking about! By my final class of first graders, I figured out I should show a clip of the cartoon first before they could discuss. It was a great discussion non-the-less.
Only three days next week due to Fall Break, so LA will meet regularly Monday and Tuesday, yet Math will only come on Wednesday. My math groups were not happy to hear this and asked if I could switch it.
Some of the quotes discussed were:
- The only place success comes before sweat is in the dictionary.
- You must do the thing you cannot do. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
- The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
- None of my inventions came by accident. They came by work. (Thomas Edison)
Fourth Grade: A few finished up their interviews from the previous week while the others got right to work on their "Latin and Greek Word Elements". We are taking time to understand where words come from and how they get their meaning. Students are visiting a bookmarked website to get their information. Although all of the answers are right there, they need to summarize or look within the paragraph for the answer. They were stumped at first because it wasn't obvious, but once they found out they needed to look deeper . . .they were successful! We are also breaking several words apart like repel, in order to decipher its meaning. They are finding the definitions of a prefix, suffix and the root word. Great High Ability thinking!
They were over the moon excited for the "extreme dot to dot" I gave them to take home last week. I have more on hand, but we'll use them when we have extra time and not as an entire lesson. Many asked for one for a friend, heheh. They are practically begging me for the next one, but we're going to wait. We moved right into the much awaited oragmai cube. We've been busy front loading and reviewing many geometry lessons leading up to this activity. It's an activity that many took off with right away, but for others, it will take more time and patience. Either way, we are all headed in the same direction! I loved seeing how they helped each other out in their learning clubs. It's always great to see their LifeSkills in action.
Second Grade: We finished up our conclusion sentence from last week. They were very proud of the paragraph that we wrote using team effort. It's not an easy task and the more they do it, the more proficient and independent they will become. We then viewed a video clip of the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, Eldorado. We used our "Reading Analyzer" to break the poem apart and help bring more meaning to the poem. Second grade, analyzing poetry, can you believe it?!?!? They rock!
Second grade went on a problem solving scavenger hunt. Various task cards were placed around the room for them to solve. Some were one step and others were two. I love this because the kids get to move around and do math, but also go at their individual pace. They can take the time they need to solve the problem plus I'm able to touch base with all as I walk around the room. Fantastic! We reviewed their answers afterwards and some were missed, so we will continue our work with two step problems. All of my classes get very excited when they see random things taped to the wall hoping that it will be the activity for their class! I had two finish quickly, so they were given the same extreme-dot-to-dot that my fourth graders worked on. It was a BIG challenge for second graders, but I knew they can do it!
Third Grade: We worked briefly as a group to fill out our story map to analyze a myth. From there we moved onto a grammar lesson where they highlighted different parts of speech within a given myth. I first showed a "Grammar Rock" video to get them thinking then we began our search. They highlighted different nouns by color. (yellow were people, blue were things, etc) This group really enjoyed doing this and we'll continue where we left off next week.
We've been hitting our facts really hard this year! I'm going to make sure that everyone knows their multiplication facts up to 12 when they leave my class.
We will do an awesome progression through their facts starting with x2's. As they pass their math fact tests, they will build an ice cream cone. Each part represents the fact that they've mastered. I'm so excited about it! We didn't do this last year. This week we tested their x2's and x3's. Many have earned their place mat and one his napkin already! Once we get everyone to pass . . . we may even celebrate this big accomplishment!!!
First Grade: My first graders were given a message they had to figure out. It was tough! I talked about how things need to connect when reading like sounds to letters and then words. We pulled out our list of things that don't go together from a previous lesson and showed them how the mixed up message they were given needs to make sense in order for them to understand. I showed them a Caesar Cipher Wheel that they were given to construct. Depending on the directions, they were to turn the wheel "+7 Shift Cipher" . The outer "real" letters will match up with the inner "cipher" letter. It can get confusing and we'll keep practicing next week. I appreciate their perseverance!
We began our subtraction math lesson by reading Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. They each had a ten frame to work with while acting out the problems using buttons. They loved it! Little did I know that they needed extra time to trade buttons. It was too cute to watch. Next, I put them in groups of two or three by using "button buddies" . . . of course. (they can explain if you ask them) Using their ten frame they rolled a die then subtracted. Their task was to then find their answer somewhere in the room and bring it back. They all finished and found their numbers. Fun! I knew my grandmother's button's would come in handy one day =)
Yours in Education,
Mrs. Koedyker
They were over the moon excited for the "extreme dot to dot" I gave them to take home last week. I have more on hand, but we'll use them when we have extra time and not as an entire lesson. Many asked for one for a friend, heheh. They are practically begging me for the next one, but we're going to wait. We moved right into the much awaited oragmai cube. We've been busy front loading and reviewing many geometry lessons leading up to this activity. It's an activity that many took off with right away, but for others, it will take more time and patience. Either way, we are all headed in the same direction! I loved seeing how they helped each other out in their learning clubs. It's always great to see their LifeSkills in action.
Second Grade: We finished up our conclusion sentence from last week. They were very proud of the paragraph that we wrote using team effort. It's not an easy task and the more they do it, the more proficient and independent they will become. We then viewed a video clip of the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, Eldorado. We used our "Reading Analyzer" to break the poem apart and help bring more meaning to the poem. Second grade, analyzing poetry, can you believe it?!?!? They rock!
Second grade went on a problem solving scavenger hunt. Various task cards were placed around the room for them to solve. Some were one step and others were two. I love this because the kids get to move around and do math, but also go at their individual pace. They can take the time they need to solve the problem plus I'm able to touch base with all as I walk around the room. Fantastic! We reviewed their answers afterwards and some were missed, so we will continue our work with two step problems. All of my classes get very excited when they see random things taped to the wall hoping that it will be the activity for their class! I had two finish quickly, so they were given the same extreme-dot-to-dot that my fourth graders worked on. It was a BIG challenge for second graders, but I knew they can do it!
Third Grade: We worked briefly as a group to fill out our story map to analyze a myth. From there we moved onto a grammar lesson where they highlighted different parts of speech within a given myth. I first showed a "Grammar Rock" video to get them thinking then we began our search. They highlighted different nouns by color. (yellow were people, blue were things, etc) This group really enjoyed doing this and we'll continue where we left off next week.
We've been hitting our facts really hard this year! I'm going to make sure that everyone knows their multiplication facts up to 12 when they leave my class.
We will do an awesome progression through their facts starting with x2's. As they pass their math fact tests, they will build an ice cream cone. Each part represents the fact that they've mastered. I'm so excited about it! We didn't do this last year. This week we tested their x2's and x3's. Many have earned their place mat and one his napkin already! Once we get everyone to pass . . . we may even celebrate this big accomplishment!!!
First Grade: My first graders were given a message they had to figure out. It was tough! I talked about how things need to connect when reading like sounds to letters and then words. We pulled out our list of things that don't go together from a previous lesson and showed them how the mixed up message they were given needs to make sense in order for them to understand. I showed them a Caesar Cipher Wheel that they were given to construct. Depending on the directions, they were to turn the wheel "+7 Shift Cipher" . The outer "real" letters will match up with the inner "cipher" letter. It can get confusing and we'll keep practicing next week. I appreciate their perseverance!
We began our subtraction math lesson by reading Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons. They each had a ten frame to work with while acting out the problems using buttons. They loved it! Little did I know that they needed extra time to trade buttons. It was too cute to watch. Next, I put them in groups of two or three by using "button buddies" . . . of course. (they can explain if you ask them) Using their ten frame they rolled a die then subtracted. Their task was to then find their answer somewhere in the room and bring it back. They all finished and found their numbers. Fun! I knew my grandmother's button's would come in handy one day =)
Yours in Education,
Mrs. Koedyker
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