Stuck Inside!

The frigid weather forced us to spend the ENTIRE week inside!  In between all of the wishing and hoping for an outside recess, we got some pretty great learning accomplished.

To wrap up the first set of investigations in science, students used straws, paperclips, rubber bands, and pieces of paper to create mobiles.  After 3 sessions of experimenting, our room is now adorned with some great works of science AND art!

In Writers' Workshop, students have chosen the how-to that they would like to publish.  Together, we brainstormed a checklist that each student needs to complete before meeting with an adult.  Next week we share them with the kindergarteners!

 We have been working diligently to strengthen our FACT POWER in math!  We've been playing Beat the Calculator, putting numbers into function machines, and playing Around the World to gain fluency with addition facts.

We can't forget all the building and creating that happened during indoor recess all week!

Happy weekend!

Learning Snapshots

In Readers' Workshop we've been diving deep into non-fiction.  We have been practicing how to get the most information out of our non-fiction texts by chunking pages together and giving them appropriate headings to describe the important information on those pages.  Here is an example: Learning in action

We have also been practicing using our best narrator voices to read the information.  We got inspiration from Jeff Corwin's narration skills in his Discovery Kids show Unleashed. Here is a clip we watched to get started.

Our word study work this week has focused on long vowel vs. short vowel sounds, and how to know which one a vowel is saying.  Students have discovered that if the one syllable word only has one vowel, it will be a short vowel sound.  If the word has two vowels, there is most likely a long vowel sound in the word.

In science, each student was given a pencil, some wire, and 2 clothes pins.  The direction was to build a stable system that allowed the pencil to balance on its tip.  This experiment took us 2 days to figure out and really tested out the classroom rule We don't quit when work gets hard! Here are the results:

 

On Friday we read Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. 

Students shared their thoughts on what makes a hero:

 

Students have also been learning about MLK Jr. with Mrs. Costello in library class, as the beginning to a powerful unit on heroes.

Happy MLK Jr. Day and happy weekend, everyone!

Balancing Act

The scientists in room 108 conducted a series of balance experiments this week.  First, they tried to find as many ways as possible to balance a triangle and an arch, using counterweights:

Next, they recreated other scientists' balance experiments to see if they were true or false:

Last, they got creative and magic happened!

In readers' workshop, we continued to read more non-fiction texts and have been learning about the different text features that can help us better understand what the author is trying to teach us.  Here are a few we've talked about:
-Table of Contents
-Index
-Diagrams
-Headings
-Captions
-Bold Text
-Maps

We've also started a reading partnership with Mrs. Melevsky's kindergarten class.  On Tuesday, we traveled down the hall to Mrs. Melevsky's room.  We met our partners and then read them a book  of our choice. Next week, after we read the kindergartners a book, they will read one to us!

 (Everyone super excited to go see the kindergarteners)

In writers' workshop, we're tapping into the expert in each of us to write How-To's.

 In Everyday Math, we've started using greater than (>), less than (<), and equal to (=)  to complete number sentences.  If your child is up for some math challenges over the weekend, visit Rachel Clark's website for a variety of age appropriate recommendations.

Happy New Year!

Its been a great start to 2013 in room 108!  

Here are some highlights from the short week.

In readers' workshop, we've started learning about non-fiction:

We started a new science unit: Balance and Motion!  Here are some shots from our first balance experiment using counterweights:

With the new year came piles of snow and chilly temperatures!  A few reminders about winter gear:

-Students can only play in the snow if they have ALL the appropriate gear.
-An extra pair of shoes/slippers to wear in the classroom helps with comfort and keeps our classroom dry.
-We play hard outside!  As a result, we have lots of wet socks.  An extra pair in the backpack is helpful.
-Dressing and undressing for recesses is time consuming!  Please have your child practice doing this independently at home.  Setting a timer  and making it into a game helps them become more efficient!

 Happy New Year!