Friendly Friday

Hello!

As the students check in, they are greeted with a morning/afternoon message which gives them some direction and ties in with our LifeSkill for the week.

Our LifeSkill this week is Friendship.  We are going at a slightly slower pace than Mrs. Stillman.  Last week her focus was on Caring and Friendship and I'd like to take a full week for each in our classroom!

Some of the quotes shared during class:

• Destroy your enemy by making friends with him. (Abraham Lincoln)
• Friends are family you choose for yourself.
• The best way to have a friend is to be one. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• Friends make life easier. For each other.

Fourth Grade:  We worked on writing a paragraph using our interview questions from the previous week.  The feedback I got was awesome.  One student took it very seriously and got into character as he was interviewing Mrs. Soliday.  He wished he would have known about it, he would have wore his suit.  Love it!  I modeled how to put them in a paragraph form.  It was a bit of a challenge to change their perspective to third person.  Most of their answers were written in first person since they wrote down exactly what the person said.  We didn't want to get into quotes at this point.  I'm going to display them in the hallway!  They interviewed Mrs. Soliday, Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. C. Navarre and Mrs. P. Koedyker (my mother-in-law).  Thanks to them for their help.  It was great fun for all!

We continued our work with area and perimeter.  When figuring area, we did go above and beyond the fourth grade curriculum with multiplying 2 and 3 digit numbers WITH decimals!  Most remembered from being in here last year, but it was new to a few.  Many caught on and then there were some who just weren't ready for it.  I had them go right into a challenging perimeter worksheet rather than get frustrated with the new concept.  Even within high ability, we have many different levels and I want to make sure I challenge everyone!  A few finished both, so I gave them an EXTREME DOT TO DOT.  It counts up very high and they were excited to get their hands on it.  I made sure everyone got one to take home.  Next week we'll take all of our geometry knowledge to start building oragami cubes.  They've waited for this for many years!  I want to get to facts, but we seem to be so busy in fourth this year.

Second Grade:  We shared our examples of how we grouped our connections and saw that some grouped them the same as us, but yet also heard some different ideas.  All were great and logical ideas.  We moved onto writing about connections using the "hamburger model".  This was something they were exposed to during the pre-assessments and many had no idea what to do.  We did this one together which brought on an audible sigh of relief from the class.  I have some great thinkers in here that helped add to our pre-writing model.  We were able to collaborate to write a great piece of persuasive writing.  We'll use the "hamburger model" consistently over the year, so they will become pros at it. 

We finished up adding 2 and 3 digit numbers before having a "subtraction war" using my "dice in a dice" (there's a smaller one inside).  We started with subtracting just using the one die (6-3=3).  Then we moved onto a two step problem where they were given two dice.  They rolled the dice, added the outside, added the inside, then subtracted the two numbers.  It was a lot of fun and brain power at work!

Third Grade:  We started off our lesson with a visualization activity.  They each relaxed on the floor with the lights off while I read.  They enjoyed this a lot!  We then moved onto reading from a book of myths.  Each got into this and wanted to know if they could get copies of the myths.  We discussed the various stories and did a Big Idea Vocabulary Map on what a myth is.  This activity was great because they included a definition, what it is and isn't plus a picture.  It will cover several of the multiple intelligence's  depending on how they learn.

Later in the year we will get into Math Masters where they take a timed test each week.  Since this is my second year in HA, I noticed that many did not know their facts last year.  They did not progress as they should have taking them weekly. This year, I've made it my mission to practice and teach them their facts before even getting to the timed tests.  It will get to the point where they are automatic as they should be.  I have SO many songs, stories, and ideas to help them remember.   I've even gone back to the vault to pull out some of the School House Rock videos that I learned with.  My two from last year really remember and are doing well.  It's my job to get the rest on board!  We did a neat SmartBoard lesson to work on their facts for the extra practice.  We focused on their 3's facts to go along with our "Three is a Magic Number" song.

First Grade:  First grade was SO excited to present their "Coat Of Connections".  They each practiced before with each other before we used the rubric.  We talked about speaking clearly, being prepared and looking at your audience.  The rubric was sent home even though grades are not taken in HA.  They did a great job and should be very proud of their hard work.  We only met once due to the early dismissal.  

We took time to fill in our "addition table".  They quickly found the patterns and were able to complete it.  Many really enjoyed this and liked seeing how it all went together.  We had to sing our doubles song while we did this.  Ask your son/daughter to sing it to you!  They ask to hear it all the time!!!!  The following day we did a SmartBoard lesson where they were given number clues.  As they faced a giant 100 chart, they had to fill in the numbers that applied to the clue.  (ten more than 47 or number with a nine in the ones and tens place)  This is something we do with the older grades individually, but as an introduction for first grade . . . it was great to use teamwork!  

Yours in education,
Mrs. Koedyker