Happy Friday to all of you! It's hard to believe that we only have one week left before our April break. Next week will be pretty jammed packed and there are a few things that I want to bring to a conclusion before the week ends.
PRIDE, PRIDE, PRIDE! If you asked me to describe how the students are feeling about their writing work, I would use that word over and over. This week the students presented their writing work to the group (I read for a few nervous ones). It was such a rewarding sight to see them so happy and proud of their work. Some of the students have even been signing up for share (during our morning meeting) to present their writing work. The class is certainly enjoying this opinion unit and next week they will be writing counter arguments to my opinion on replacing recess with extra classroom work. I am hoping this gets them wound up a bit and they will write creative and strong counterpoint pieces.
This week in math, the 1st graders continued to work on fact families within 20. This has them writing addition and subtraction facts for each fact family. They also worked on balancing equations by looking at the equal sign and then deciding if an equation was true or false. In second grade, the 2nd graders are currently working on a data unit. This week they were gathering data and then representing the results on a table.
This week's read-a-louds were: Muncha, Muncha, Muncha, When Spring Comes, This Is It!, The Wicked Big Todlah, and Sugaring. We used the story When Spring Comes to start a literature project this week. The kids are in the midst of creating a multi layered spring tree or flower garden picture. We will finish these on Wednesday of next week. These books continue to help me achieve a goal of reading picture books each day to help foster the students love for reading and opening their eyes to so many different books.
This week's science lessons had the students conducting 3 different mini investigations that allowed students to hear sound being conducted through different types of materials. The 1st one had the students making the age old string telephones with cups, the 2nd one had the students listening to metal being clanged together under water, and the third one had the students using balloons to pass messages through them to each other's ears.
NOTES:
*As I have mentioned in previous posts, if the temperature is under 40 degrees, I will have the kids wear their coats at recess. If it is above 40 degrees, they can wear a fleece or sweatshirt. Kids will continue to need to wear boots or have a change of sneakers for recess time. This helps keep the mud out of the building and off our classroom floor.
*Thank you again for helping your child brings back their homework bag each day. There are a couple of kids who still have theirs at home (and have for a bit now). If possible, could you ask if it is them and then help them look for it.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I again want to say, how much fun I am having with this group. They are all so proud of their work and what they are able to do. It is nice to have such a fun and positive experience each day and a pleasure to get to work with them.
Peace,
Tommy
