Week in Review: January 20-23

I could get used to these 4 day weeks! I think the students enjoy an extra day off as well. I hope you all had a great 3 day weekend.

This week we wrapped up our fraction unit in math. We did some review stations on Friday, will wrap up our review on Monday, and test on Tuesday. Next, we will begin working more on multiplication and division, particularly in solving 2 step word problems. Our fact focus will be on the 6s and 9s multiplication facts.

Using a number line and cars to model fractions to solve a word problem about driving to school.

Using counters to represent Girl Scout cookies...trying to determine the fraction of cookies that I ate!

Ordering fractions

We spent some social studies time on Tuesday and Wednesday discussing Martin Luther King, Jr. I was pleasantly surprised that most of them knew who he was and why he is such a significant figure in our history. For science on Friday, we did another activity with Mrs. Swyers class...this time building a model of a mountain and causing a landslide from "torrential" rainfall to observer how the earth changes.

Setting up our notebooks for observations.

Raining on the mountain to cause a landslide.

Mountain model done, getting ready for the rainstorm!

In language arts. we are still exploring various types of poetry, and trying our hands at writing them as well. Friday we did a fun activity I call "Found Poetry" where groups of students wrote descriptive paragraphs about a photograph. They then shared those paragraphs, and created a group poem by selecting the most beautiful language from each one. Look for a new bulletin board coming soon to display these as we finish up next week.

Just as an FYI, I will be out next week on Tuesday and Wednesday for more Capturing Kids Hearts training. I am honored to have been chosen as one of three "Process Champions" from our campus to receive this extended training, and bring it back to develop and implement a campus-wide plan of action. Mrs. Howard will be our substitute for both days, and she is great! I'm leaving my kids in good hands. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!