We are certainly in need of sun and melting and fun. This week we can sit on the benches on the playground for the first time since January and all the swings can be used. There are a couple places where you can see a bit of ground, but mostly the children are playing on the blacktop – soccer, basketball, versions of 4-square and jumping rope. It feels good to move freely without too many clothes. Bring on the sun and the spring breezes.

S.E.L – Being a Friend

We’ve continued our daily discussions about what it means to be a friend and how we can support each other to learn well and to be happy together. Here are the ways the children completed the sentence stem “A friend is…”

• A friend is nice, happy and shares.
• A friend is someone who listens to you when you talk, someone you can trust, someone you can count on and someone who cares about you.
• A friend is nice.
• A friend is a person you always hang out with, somebody who does not hurt your feelings, and that can cheer you up.
• A friend is some one you trust and know will always help you and be there for you when you’re sad and scared. A friend is someone you want to be “sisters” or “brothers” with. A friend is someone you care for a lot, a lot, a LOT. A friend is someone you hug every time you see them and that is a true FRIEND.
• A friend is trustworthy, great, helpful, crazy, kind, happy grateful, excited, nice, peaceful and fun.
• A friend is a helpful person by your side to help you and you help him/her.
• A friend is someone who helps someone and stands out for that person. They hang together and are nice to each other.
• A friend is someone that can help you with your troubles.
• A friend is a nice person.
• A friend is a person who listens to you.
• A friend is someone that you trust. You admire him or her. A friend is a person that doesn’t laugh at you and picks you up again. A friend is a person who believes in you. A friend is always kind, helpful, trustworthy and friendly. A friend gives you good advice. A friend is someone who backs you up and who gets your back. A friend is a friend.
• A friend is a person who is nice and likes you.

I think the class made some amazing statements about being friends. Now we need to bring all of them to life. We read a book this week called Say Something. In it the girl sees other students being teased, feeling sad, and being left out. She feels badly for them and comments that she would never do or say anything. One day her usual group is not there and she sits alone at lunch. Some kids come over and begin joking around and then turn the joke on her. She feels hurt, especially when she notices that some other friends were right there listening but not saying anything. She’s angry about it when she tells her brother and he says she can’t be angry because they didn’t do anything. That’s when she realizes she could be different – maybe there is more to be done that just not participating. It is a short and simple book – the message is subtle. It would be great to have a conversation about at home. Please feel free to borrow it. Our next goal is to define what it sounds like to be nice, what it looks like to be nice, and how it feels to be nice.

Fractions and Fair Shares

We are continuing to grow our understanding of fractions. This week we spent some time identifying fractions and seeing them as a way to divide a group of things into smaller groups AND also a way of cutting one thing into smaller pieces. We worked to solve problems of how to share a number of brownies with a number of people. For example: how would you share 2 brownies with 4 people or how would you share 5 brownies with 4 people?

Next we’ll be applying what we are learning to recipes. We will work to double a recipe to see how that changes how the fractions were recorded. We will also work to cut the same recipe in half. Hopefully this is a fun way to explore fractions and think about the information the different parts of the fractions give us. If you are following a recipe while you cook at home this would be a great opportunity to explore fractions together.

Bits and Pieces –

• Christina and Taft are trying to discover what Lenny Loomski is doing in the mountains and the mines with the orphans in The Secret of Zoom, our current chapter read-aloud.
• We have a challenge with Mr. Caron on April 7.
• We are reading and researching both our state wonders and the animal we have chosen to focus on from each state.
• The children are continuing to learn about sentences and paragraphing. We’re also choosing different formats to present information through – question and answer, poetry, diaries or essay. We’ve got some interesting ideas that we hope to put together into a class magazine.
• This week we were able to work on our animal masks in art. They are coming out great.