Hello Everyone! We have had a wonderful week full of getting to know each other and getting to know our classroom! I have watched as students form new friendships and start to come out of their shells. What an awesome bunch of kids!! We have spent some time each day working on our interview project, which has been a great way to get to know each other. Students were paired up with a classmate that they did not know very well and have done several activities with this new friend to get to know each other. We have also begun to learn about interviews, including an exploration of what makes a “good” interview question. We have begun exploring the difference between a question that elicits a one word answer, and a question that gets the interview subject talking and telling about themselves. It has been interesting, and requires a lot of critical thinking to develop these types of questions. An interesting (and easy!) home extension activity would be to listen to an interview together, and critique the questions that the interviewer is asking. In reading and writing we have been focused on building up two different response to literature routines. My goal is to have students comfortable with several response to literature options so that when they read a book on their own (during just right reading) or with a group (during book clubs) they will be able to complete a response to the book confidently on their own. One response to literature graphic organizer that we have been using is one in which the student has to draw and write what happened at the beginning/middle/end of a book. If you are wanting to try this at home (great work sample idea!) just google “beginning middle end graphic organizer” and you will find tons of different options. The other response to literature routine that we have been building is writing a character in the book a friendly letter. Here is a link to a friendly letter graphic organizer that I like: This is a fun way to learn about the parts of a letter, while also allowing them to demonstrate what they understood about a character in a book. We have been working on these 2 response to literature options in both writing and reading, so most students are starting to feel confident in them. In math we have continued doing number talks and word problems. I wanted to show you an example of word problems that we do in class: Students have learned how to use this type of paper, and are getting used to the idea that I am more interested in seeing “how” they think about the problem, rather than just the answer. I am going to try to get everyone enrolled in ST math this Thursday, Friday, and I will let you know more once that is complete (thank you for your patience!)
Announcements: Cordula and Mr. Mason (the art teachers) are looking for some supplies for their classroom. Here is a message from Cordula: We are looking for any white-ish paper that is larger than 8 1/2 x 11. Heavier weight paper than copy paper is preferred, that way students can paint and use water based media. Paper can be dropped off directly in the Innovation Station on the table near the white board. Have a beautiful long weekend! Robin Comments are closed.
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AuthorWelcome to Robin's Core 2 Blog! Archives
February 2017
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