There's so much going on in here, where do I begin?!?!? We touched on the Lifeskill of curiosity this week. One group had the message on their morning message to write down all the things they are curious about. It was neat to see.
Some of the quotes shared this week were:
- Open the door, let's explore.
- Lief is either a daring adventure of nothing. (Helen Keller)
- Curiosity didn't kill the cat, boredom did.
Fourth Grade LA:
We talked a lot about their presentations and how they need to tell a story. I pointed out that they are now experts on their topic and they cannot assume we know all the information they've gathered. They took this to heart and went right to work. After figuring out a glitch, on my end, I can now make suggestions and communicate with them while they are working on it. They had this week to work on their presentations knowing that we were going to view them as a class. It's just a way to touch base and give thoughtful suggestions to their peers midway. Stay tuned . . .
Fourth Grade Math:
They were anxious to get another chance at their Math Masters test. . . .if you can imagine that?!?!? Congratulations to Kaden, Josh L. and Matthew for passing their multiplication timed test! Also, I had another group pass their next challenge of 90 division facts in five minutes. Way to go Lia, Ben, Riley, and Taylor. I think I'm going to go through a lot of Smarties with this group!
We also worked on division with remainders. I gave them a chance to move to a different group where they could work together and check as they go. They really are a great group. What I like is that I loosened the reigns a bit with the seating arrangement, but they appreciated it and still worked very hard.
Second Grade LA:
Although most have read through to the end of Edward, we are taking time to finish and discuss the book together. This week we came to the very sad part of the book with Sarah Ruth. They are so invested in this book. I loved it as they talked about how they felt a part of the story. . . .like time stops when they are reading it. Their teachers have even shared with me that they come back to the room talking up a storm about Edward, the book, how sad it is, what a good book it is and on and on and on. We then played their favorite game of Edward Jeopardy. I break the chapters down into categories with different questions that each have different point values. This week it was The Lost Bunnies vs The Abilene's. Each time we play the names get better! I have to share about this group. . . .they are so concerned and into the green slips that they constantly compliment and encourage each other during the game in hopes of getting a green slip. "Great job!" "Thanks for cheering me on, that was nice of you" "It's okay, you'll get 'em next time" It's over the top and funny to watch.
Fourth Grade Math:
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| The first thing they did when they walked in was to look at our Math Masters wall to see who passed! |
They were anxious to get another chance at their Math Masters test. . . .if you can imagine that?!?!? Congratulations to Kaden, Josh L. and Matthew for passing their multiplication timed test! Also, I had another group pass their next challenge of 90 division facts in five minutes. Way to go Lia, Ben, Riley, and Taylor. I think I'm going to go through a lot of Smarties with this group! We also worked on division with remainders. I gave them a chance to move to a different group where they could work together and check as they go. They really are a great group. What I like is that I loosened the reigns a bit with the seating arrangement, but they appreciated it and still worked very hard.
Second Grade LA:
Although most have read through to the end of Edward, we are taking time to finish and discuss the book together. This week we came to the very sad part of the book with Sarah Ruth. They are so invested in this book. I loved it as they talked about how they felt a part of the story. . . .like time stops when they are reading it. Their teachers have even shared with me that they come back to the room talking up a storm about Edward, the book, how sad it is, what a good book it is and on and on and on. We then played their favorite game of Edward Jeopardy. I break the chapters down into categories with different questions that each have different point values. This week it was The Lost Bunnies vs The Abilene's. Each time we play the names get better! I have to share about this group. . . .they are so concerned and into the green slips that they constantly compliment and encourage each other during the game in hopes of getting a green slip. "Great job!" "Thanks for cheering me on, that was nice of you" "It's okay, you'll get 'em next time" It's over the top and funny to watch.
Second Grade Math:
This bunch is truly excited when they see an activity where they have to add with regrouping. It was a struggle for most at first, but now they've got it down. I still had one who wanted to start with the hundreds place and move right, but got right back on track when I explained.
Although I've yet to have any pass the Math Master's test, they are making major gains as you can see by the chart. Each week they color in to see their improvement. It keeps them motivated; they are not at all discouraged.
Third Grade LA:
We started off by having each read their fairy tale in the fun chair. It was great to hear their stories and each had a chance to share what they liked about it. We then dove back to reading Alice in Wonderland. I have a small group of three, so we have a chance to get into deep discussions about the book. They are also given journal topics relating to the book. It's always a struggle to get comfortable just writing, but it gets easier. I encourage them to "just write" their thoughts and if they run out of ideas, they can write to me. I read their journals and comment as I go. A dialog gets started as just a new way to communicate. It's pretty neat.
Third Grade Math:
As a review of what we've learned with fractions so far, we used a Kagan strategy called Mix Freeze Group. Have them explain this to you in person! Basically they mix around the room until I say freeze. I give them a question that has a number in it, then they have to group off in that number. For example, the GCF of 5 and 20. Those left out, go to the "Lost and Found". Well, with my group of six it cannot go very long without restarting. They were also introduced to mixed and improper fractions. We'll do more next week. Congratulations to Jack for passing his multiplication timed test the first time around. Watch out fourth graders . . . I now have three third graders moving onto their division facts!
As a review of what we've learned with fractions so far, we used a Kagan strategy called Mix Freeze Group. Have them explain this to you in person! Basically they mix around the room until I say freeze. I give them a question that has a number in it, then they have to group off in that number. For example, the GCF of 5 and 20. Those left out, go to the "Lost and Found". Well, with my group of six it cannot go very long without restarting. They were also introduced to mixed and improper fractions. We'll do more next week. Congratulations to Jack for passing his multiplication timed test the first time around. Watch out fourth graders . . . I now have three third graders moving onto their division facts!
First Grade LA:
We finished up our Lipograms. Together we summarized the book E-mergency with a beginning, middle and end sentence. Next, each student rolled a die to decide which letter they would not be able to use when they rewrote their sentence. I stressed that they needed to keep the meaning of the sentence the same by coming up with a similar word(s). We even used a thesaurus a few times. We finished with a letter challenge where they used the clues to figure out the answer.
We finished up our Lipograms. Together we summarized the book E-mergency with a beginning, middle and end sentence. Next, each student rolled a die to decide which letter they would not be able to use when they rewrote their sentence. I stressed that they needed to keep the meaning of the sentence the same by coming up with a similar word(s). We even used a thesaurus a few times. We finished with a letter challenge where they used the clues to figure out the answer.
First Grade Math:
Way to go Braxton and Caden on passing their addition facts! They will move onto their subtraction facts. Also, I'm very proud of Kennedy who passed her subtraction facts. My second graders are expected to get 100 facts in five minutes, so I've adjusted it for my first graders so they don't get overwhelmed. They work to pass 50 first then I will increase their goal by ten each time until they pass. Kennedy already passed 70, whooohooo!!!
Then we moved onto our unit on time, we played, "I have . . .who has?" They have to read their analog clock and at the bottom it says, "who has . . . " When done correctly, they all link together. We ran out of time on the first day, but had the time for it on the second day.
Way to go Braxton and Caden on passing their addition facts! They will move onto their subtraction facts. Also, I'm very proud of Kennedy who passed her subtraction facts. My second graders are expected to get 100 facts in five minutes, so I've adjusted it for my first graders so they don't get overwhelmed. They work to pass 50 first then I will increase their goal by ten each time until they pass. Kennedy already passed 70, whooohooo!!! Then we moved onto our unit on time, we played, "I have . . .who has?" They have to read their analog clock and at the bottom it says, "who has . . . " When done correctly, they all link together. We ran out of time on the first day, but had the time for it on the second day.
Have a great weekend and I'll see you back here in a week!
Yours in education,
~Mrs. Koedyker
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