~ FRIDAY, FRIDAY ~

AROUND THE SCHOOL

February 26th - March 9th:  ISTEP 3rd & 4th Grade
February 26th:  Six Flags Reading Logs Due Today
March 2nd:  Read Across America
March 11th:  Spring Forward
March 12th-16th:  IREAD *3rd Grade
March 15th:  Family Nature Night



LANGUAGE ARTS
We only met on Tuesday with Monday off for President's Day.


1ST GRADE:  ACRONYMS:  This week we looked closer at the illustrations in Wumbers and how they help give a clue to the Wumber.  We stopped when we reached a page full of acronyms!  This was a perfect opportunity to discuss what those letters were representing.  We looked at some of the acronyms included in our story:  ASAP, EMT, ER, TLC - some of these were tricky so I also referenced LOL.  After discussing the meanings of the letters we were able to come up with a definition for acronyms - they were shortcuts we use to represent a longer phrase.  We will continue to work with acronyms next week.

2ND GRADE:  THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX:  We started our week by filling out connections to what we read last week.  While working on assigned reading, they will either complete a connection worksheet or reading analyzer.  Our second grade language arts students study connections throughout their entire curriculum - I love to share this story with the students because of how many connections they will find throughout their reading.  Next we had a class discussion over chapters 3 & 4.  We discussed in detail what their thoughts were to Despereaux not fitting in and struggling to follow the mouse rules.  We also were introduced to his fascination with the light.  We ended our day discussing what might happen next since he broke the one rule even Despereaux obeyed - Never reveal yourself to a human.  Next week we will continue on with our novel study.

3RD GRADE: PERSUASIVE WRITING:  It was finally time to present our essays.  They were excited and ready to share.  This week each student presented their persuasive writing to the class.  Their fellow students used the rubric they followed to rate each piece of writing.  I like to let them see the grading to a rubric because it helps them understand the importance of meeting the criteria of the rubric.  They will see rubrics throughout their entire school career and the better of an understanding they have for it, the more success they will have in completing assignments.  We held a class discussion and it was nice to hear some people open up to other ideas shared - even if it was the opposite side.  We concluded that these books are made for two different audiences.  Me...Jane is a great introduction into Jane Goodall for a pre-k through 1st grade audience and The Watcher is better suited as a book for 2nd through 4th as a quick introduction into Jane Goodall's life.  This was a great lesson for comparing and contrasting, as they developed strong arguments to their feelings on the topic.


MATH




1ST GRADE:  NEGATIONS:
This week the students finished their Carroll Diagram Packet.  Then it was time for some review.  We want to concentrate on using proper shape names at this point in the year, so we had some SmartBoard fun to review shapes and their attributes!  

We had just enough time to introduce our next step with Carroll Diagrams - Negations.  When I started filling in the Carroll Diagram repeating the same two names for labels, they were quick to point out my error! 


 Until, I continued on and placed an X through one of  the duplicates.  Then they realized it wasn't an error and were excited to see our new way to sort using the Carroll Diagram.  


We will continue to work with negations next week.

Some Extra photos from last week - my phone didn't upload them all and too cute not to share! 

2ND GRADE:  ALL ABOUT FACES:  We reviewed our charts from counting edges, faces and vertices last week.  We only saw differences in our edges.  This error occurred more from them losing track of the edges they counted verse not understanding the edge on the shape.  We discussed faces and how they are the 2d shape we see while looking at one particular side to a 3d shape.  They stamped out the faces of 3d shapes, by tracing each face to one of our shapes.  This allowed them to see the 2d face on paper.  

It defined our chart from last week, where they identified a triangular prism had a total of 5 faces: 2 triangles and 3 rectangles.  Now they are ready to prepare for the Floor Design Challenge. 
 We reviewed the requirements and looked at the checklist they must complete to evaluate their design. Then we placed some shapes on the grid for a floor design, however it did not pass the requirements.  We switched out one shape and than it was perfect!  For the remainder of class, the students practiced different designs on their boards.  Next week they will create their final design.

3RD GRADE:  LOGIC FUN:  
This week we took our Chapter Check-up.  Just as I suspected, they rocked it out!  They have been doing very well with patterns in an array.   To have some fun, we tried a logic puzzle this week.  They took some time to complete it on their own.  However, they reached a point where they were stuck.  As a class, we began to work through the logic puzzle.  
They really need to look at the clues and then go back and look again.  It is a great activity to exercise their brains with these types of challenges.  We will be introducing different brain teasers for the students to complete, if they finish an assignment early.  We will finish solving this one together next week.  Next time they are on their own!
*We were so busy working out the logic puzzle together, we forgot to take photos this week!  Will try to take some extra photos next week.



4TH GRADE:  LOGIC FUN:  They needed some more time to complete their Chapter Check-ups.  After they finished, they were to complete a logic puzzle.  These are great activities to exercise their brains with these different challenges.  
 However, they reached a point where they were stuck.  As a class, we began to work through the logic puzzle.  They really need to look at the clues and then go back and look again.  We will be introducing different brain teasers for the students to complete if they finish an assignment early.  I feel confident after working through parts of this one together they are ready to complete them on their own.

Enjoy the Weekend!

Ms Losinski