Week 7.5 and 8

Reading

We finished our first set of novels and many students immediately wanted to read one of the novels that they didn't get a chance to read. We are taking a short break so the students can read a book of their choice, but never fret, after conferences we are diving into 2 great new books.More to come on that later. Over the past 2 weeks we have been working on identifying levels of questioning and thinking, comparing and contrasting characters, and annotating texts. The students worked with partners to read a story and annotate the text, they participated in musical shares and cats and fishes discussion forum. The students also used an online discussion forum called padlet while listening to the cats and fishes discussion. The students admitted it was hard to listen and write online, all they need is more practice and they will be pros at it. 

We had our first visit to Chapel View and met our "grandfriends" for the year. The students loved meeting the elderly and creating a Thankful Pumpkin for them. Our grandfriends thoroughly enjoyed the students visit and are already looking forward to our next visit. It really is the highlight of everyone's day and your children bring such joy to them it is overwhelms me each time I go. It's one of the reasons why I am selfish and why I won't give it up and let another class go.

Math

We finished up Unit 2 and moved on to Unit 3 Geometry. We have been reviewing names of angles and determining how many degrees are in equilateral triangles. We are now working on using a protractor to measure angles. I have no math pictures to share from the past weeks. Bad Mrs. B! The morning goes by so quickly and we go from one subject to another that the morning flies by like a whirlwind. I will work on this for next time.

Science

The students have been working in groups to perform a water tolerance investigation to see how the amount of water affects the growth of certain seeds. They have been observing and recording their data so they can determine what each seed can tolerate and what they prefer when it comes to water. The students became an "expert" about a biome by reading and taking notes. They then worked together with other students who studied the same biome and shared information and facts with one another. They then worked cooperatively to create a list of the top 5-10 facts about their biome. Finally they shared their expertise with the other students in their groups and learned many new facts about the biomes of the world.

October has been a little wonky with the short weeks for MEA and now conferences. Hopefully you and yours have been able to enjoy these beautiful fall weekends. My girls and I enjoyed our 2nd annual Mother-Daughter MEA camping trip to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. Here we are taking, what I call, the new up selfie...

I look forward to meeting you later this week at your child's fall conference to discuss how they are learning and growing.