Good Afternoon,
It was nice to be back in the full swing of things after a fun April break. I have to say it was a fun filled week and the kids were super enthusiastic about a few of the projects.
Students continued to write teaching books or non-fiction books. Most of the class was bummed we only have this type of writing three days a week. The students shared that they love the ability to choose their own topics, and that they have to create detailed illustrations too. This week we focused on introductions at the beginning of the books. Several of the students shared the introductions that they created, with the whole class.
Wednesday was Pokemon day. As you may know, we have literature project time on Wednesdays. This is a chance for me to use special projects to explore and enhance reading and writing concepts, as well as a time to bring in a variety of art mediums. Many of our students are really into Pokemon this year. So I decided to have them each make their own Pokemon card (I did this project about 5 years ago too). First I asked all of our Pokemon experts to share cards and their features. The students then took this knowledge and sketched their own Pokemon character. The beauty is a character could be anything from a monster, a unicorn, or even a funny looking stuffy. The students then started their sketches and took their sketch and designed the first part of their card. Next week they will color them and then start the writing portion of the project. Traditional cards have descriptions of powers, health points, and other data. Our cards will have a persuasive piece that tell the reader why this is the best Pokemon card ever. As you can imagine, their is lots of excitement around this project. 
Thursday brought us back to our final two days of our States of Matter unit. I started the class by reading Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. We then had the chance to make our own Ooblec and use this substance to answer different questions about states of matter. To paint a clear picture for you, picture giving 22 Sweedish Chefs (Muppet reference) the materials and then telling them to explore. The pictures sum it up more clearly. In all honesty, it was a lot of fun to try and figure out why something held two different states of matter at the same time. Needless to say, the engagement with this activity was quite high.
First grade math had us finding differences with a variety of games and activities. We continue to look at how we can use addition to solve subtraction. For some, we have been using number line jumps to model the subtraction situation. Ms. Figdor was out today so I don;t have an update on 2nd grade math.
That is all for now. I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Mr. Young
