~ FESTIVE FRIDAY ~ 

The pictures are a little different this week - we had a mini photo booth and all of my classes took pictures with some Holiday Props.  

Enjoy the silly photos!

Around the School

December 21st - End of 2nd Grading Period
December 24th - January 7th - Winter Recess
January 8th - Class Resumes
January 21st - Martin Luther King Jr Day -
No School
January 25th - PTO Movie Night

2ND GRADE:  THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE:

 Together, we read the last few chapters of our book this week.  The students were shocked and excited to see Edward reunite with Abilene at the end of our story.  The students wrote a reflection with their final thoughts from the story.

  To end the week, we had some fun with a game of Kahoot that covered the entire journey of Edward.  When we return from break we will work on a few final projects with our novel.

3RD GRADE: COMPARE AND CONTRAST:  This week the students finished their T-chart comparing The Watcher and Me...Jane.  Then, they had to select their favorite story and write a paper persuading the reader that the book they selected was the better choice.  They had to incorporate 3 or more arguments from their T-chart to support their answer. 

 The students completed their hamburger model with their outline of their paragraph - which was a perfect stopping point before break.  We will complete the final paragraph when they return.  We took a few minutes from class to have some Holiday Fun and completed a snowman glyph together.

4TH GRADE:  CHANGE MAKER:  This week we looked at how people can cause a change in society.  We focused on J.K. Rowling and the change she brought to literature.  Together, we read a short biography on her and focused on the obstacles she overcame in her life and what she contributed to society.  The students were very surprised to discover she was rejected by over 10 publishers before finding someone that agreed to release only 500 copies.  We discussed the change she brought to society with the excitement she brought to literature.  This followed with a franchise she created that all started with the idea of a wizard. 

 We saw midnight release parties for the books and movies, merchandise and a theme park.  The last thing that surprised the students was that she was a philanthropist.  Although she could have reached a billionaire status she is giving back so much to charities it keeps her under this financial mark.  The students tied together her need to give back based on the obstacles she overcame as a single-mother.  At times, she relied on assistance and now she is giving back to pay it forward.  To end the week, we had some holiday fun!  We focused on the change of words as we played some Holiday games. 

2ND GRADE:  AREA:  The students came in and completed measuring around the room.  We took some time to let the different groups share their discoveries with the class.  I mentioned last week we picked some challenging areas where the students were converting lots of quarter fractions.  One group had the challenge of converting 21 1/4 quarter pieces into wholes.  Together, they were able to solve this problem.  To end the week, they had some Holiday Fun with a round of Kahoot.

3RD GRADE:  AREA:  The students came in and continued to find their total area of their 2D body.  As they are looking for the total area in the legs and torso, I reminded them they could make multiple squares with number facts they have mastered.  (Hint-Hint:  Our next lesson will teach us how to break apart the larger squares with the distributive property) We changed gears on Thursday for some Holiday Fun.  The students played some Kahoot games to review perimeter and area.  

Happy
Holidays

4TH GRADE:  TANGRAMS:  This week the students were given a challenge to recreate a square with 7 tangram pieces.  Ironically, most of them struggled with one piece - the small square.  After, a few hints all the students in the class successfully completed the challenge.  This allowed me to ask the students if each of these pieces represented 1/7 of the whole. 
 There was no tricking them - this is not true because they were not equal parts of the whole.  We looked at each piece to figure out what part of the fraction they would represent and found pieces that were 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16.  This led us to a perfect stopping point before break.  We ended the week with a few rounds of Kahoot to review equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, and improper fractions.  


Have a Wonderful Break,

Ms. Losinski