Classroom Updates, Great Pictures, and More!

Habitats

We kicked off our new Science unit with a picture sort, exploring the 5 habitats we'll be studying: Woodlands, Desert, Ocean, Freshwater and Rainforest. We will spend the next few weeks exploring these habitats in books and videos and recording our findings in our Habitat Field Guides. 

Fruit Stand Math

Last week the students were presented with  this scenario: Fruit, prices, and a purse of unknown coins. I asked them to generate mathematical questions. They came up with some really good ones! (This type of lesson is designed is called a 3ActMath plan). Then, they went about solving the questions. We have continued these problems in our small group lessons, in addition to playing coin games! If you haven't already done so, now is the time to start playing with real coins at home with your child. Or better yet, let them count the change out for you when you pay for things at stores.

Valentine's Day Party!

Informative Writing

Most of the class has completed their Animals in Winter writing: a 5-paragraph paper on the ways animals survive through the winter! Be sure to check them out in the hallway outside our classroom.

Adjectives

 How do I love thyself? Let me list the adjectives...
We tied in our study of adjectives to Valentine's Day by having the kids find adjectives that described themselves, drawing a self-portrait and writing a list of 10 things they love about themselves! See if you can find your child!

Make-It Monday (well, on a Tuesday)

I've been trying to think of ways to incorporate STEM activities into lessons all year long, and I've just decided to dive in and get the kids building with the materials. Call it play, exploration, creative building, or basic STEM, if you will. But the kids will start their day off on Mondays (or Tuesday, in the case of this week's 3 day weekend), cooperating and creating. I told the kids that I would be looking for :

• What are they building?
• Are they building alone or with someone?
• Are they sharing their materials?

At the end of their building session, I had each group share:

• What they built
• What was good about the material they worked with? 
• What was challenging about the material they worked with?