Our Week – May 29

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To write this week memo each of the students shared points of interest from their states and some memories of the parade. We had a wonderful time sharing with you.  Enjoy!

We started our study in mid-March.  As we learned about our states we created pieces of art to represent our “Wonders” – animals, people, and structures.  Here are samples of our work and information we’d like you to know.

CTNYWITX

Ronan

  • Maurice Sendak was from Connecticut.
  • Cottontail bunnies are from Connecticut.

Nick S

  • Harley Davidson was founded in Wisconsin.
  • Harry Houdini lived in Wisconsin.
  • Wisconsin was the 30th state.

Henry

  • New York was the 11th state.
  • The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world for over thirty years.
  • We practiced for the State Parade.

Ben

  • Walt Disney was born in Missouri.
  • The first record of “raining frogs” was in Missouri.
  • Missouri has the tallest ach in the country. It is the Gateway Arch.

Laird

  • Texas is the second biggest state in the U.S.A.
  • The King Golden Ranch is as big as the state of Rhode Island.

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Timmy

  • Muhammad Ali was born in Kentucky. He became one of the greatest athletes in boxing history.
  • Kentucky has the biggest cave in the world. It is more than 400 miles long.
  • Kentucky also has the biggest peanut butter factory.
  • I am very proud of my state and how I did in the State Parade.

Oliver

  • Nike Headquarters is in Oregon.
  • I finished a blog post about all 50 states and Washington DC. They took me over a month the write and post.

Sami

  • I think the most interesting thing about New Jersey was that they have the most millionaires in our country.
  • My favorite part of the night was being in the parade.

Stella

  • Maryland was the 7th state.
  • Maryland has a state dog and a state cat.
  • Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore. That’s in Maryland.
  • Annapolis is the capital of Maryland.
  • Maryland’s nickname is The Old Line State.
  • What I really like about the state parade was getting to see all the floats.

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Ginger

  • There were a lot of people at the Parade of the State.
  • They were most interested in the crazy state laws of Arkansas. They thought the dog one was the craziest.

Nick C

  • A very important thing in my state, South Dakota, is Mount Rushmore.
  • The Corn Palace is important too. It is the only Corn Palace in the world.

Alexis

  • I studied Idaho for a state and a cool fact is the Idaho grows one third of America’s potatoes.
  • Idaho is the “Potato State.”
  • Idaho’s nickname is The Gem State.
  • Sun Valley Ski Resort is in Idaho.

Marianna

  • I was the 45th state, Oklahoma.
  • The state animal is the rattlesnake.
  • It has plains.
  • It has the record for the biggest pecan pie.

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Thank you to everyone for supporting this project and for helping us all learn more about our wonderful country – the United States of America.

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Our Week – May 22

broccoli in the greenhouse Thank you for all you have done, and are doing, to support your children by working on their floats, helping them with homework and celebrating their passions and interests. They are involved and interested in so much   They are working, but they are tired.   Any things you can do to encourage them to focus on completing the many great projects we have in process – the Wonders presentations, the class magazine about their animals, portfolios and food chain mobiles – would be greatly appreciated. I know everyone in the class would like everyone to be included in each of these projects. Your encouragement and support are greatly appreciated.

Gratitude – what are we thankful for?

           Gratitude ABC This week our Social Emotional Learning focus has been an exploration of gratitude and treating both, ourselves, and others with kindness. We have been thinking about what is important and what we are grateful for.  We have been delving into what rights and opportunities and thinking about what we have available to us.  We’ve explored books like I Have the Right To Be a Child, We Are All Born Free, Gleam and Glow and The Sneetches to help us consider differences and opportunities. We’ve also talked about how we can help ourselves be more open and available when we trust and believe in ourselves.

            We based some of this discussion on the Maya Angelou quote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Added into that discussion was our wish to be given a second chance (and even a third or fourth) if we’ve made a mistake. We all said we didn’t want to be judged as “wrong” forever. We all wanted a chance to learn and change after having made either academic or social mistakes. Academic mistakes are a bit more private. Social mistakes are public – we talked about not ganging up, not blaming but rather working with empathy and forgiveness. We are thinking about opportunities to grow and learn from mistakes. We are working to focus on positive self-talk and the magic of the word “yet.”

            You would have been very proud of your children and the things (not things at all) they appreciate and are grateful for.

Wrapping Up Wonders Research and Writing

            Now that the Parade is a week away the children are beginning to feel the importance of using their time wisely, completing their research and writing about the Wonders. I think a few of them are feeling concerned about what they will have finished to put on display that evening. Several of them have commented that they could do it at home because their mothers would tell them what to write. (Please don’t do that.) This is challenging work but doable. It requires using inferencing skills and finding words to describe the images they have in their minds. Because of the effort required, some of them have resisted it. They have spent time scrolling through images or copying recipes or listening to their state song. I hope we can help them learn from this. They’ve had over six weeks to research and write about their Wonders. Our goal in this writing project was to learn how organization is important in writing. Some of the children have used this opportunity to develop leads and conclusions for their writing. Some have put them main ideas first and supported them with details they found interesting. They have attempted to add voice to their pieces and truly hope you will be interested in their Wonders.

It is interesting to note what each of them finds striking about their states and what interest them. Regardless, all of the children are more curious and interested in our country. Geography was already a favorite thing for Ollie, so since the start of this study, he has been writing posts sharing state symbols for all of the states alphabetically. This week he completed the V’s – next week he’ll be on to the W’s and completion. If a state is important to you – go to his blog and leave a comment there. He’ll be really pleased.

Fractions – looking closer

  fractions and recipesrecipes and fractions          We are continuing to grow our understanding of fractions. This week we spent some time adding fractions with like denominators. Applied what we are learning to recipes of foods that represent foods special to our states. We worked to double a recipe to see how that changed how the fractions were recorded. And we worked to cut the same recipe in half. This was a fun way to explore fractions and think about the information the different parts of the fraction give us. If you are using a recipe while you cook at home this would be a great opportunity to explore fractions together.   Next week we will be exploring fractions with linear measurement. We’ll be exploring fractions as we draw.

Bits and Pieces –

  • We are building our portfolios to present to you in the last weeks of school.
  • Diary of BroccoliWe have continued to care for our broccoli plants and to add to The Diary of Broccoli each week.  It is amazing to note the growth and changes.  We are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping we are able to sample our vegetable. (Our project and picture was in the Hampton Union on Tuesday.)
  • The Parade of the States is coming. The Parade of the States is coming. Please see the separate memo outlining the schedule for that night in this week’s folder.

It’s Wednesday – here are some problems to solve

numbersThe following are some recipes from a few of the state we are studying.  For each one find the ingredient amounts if the recipe were cut in half AND if the recipe were doubled.  They sound yummy!  Enjoy.

Missouri Black Walnut Quickbread

  • 3 c  flour
  • 5 tsp beking powder
  • 1/2 c  sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 c  milk
  • 1 tsp
  • vanilla
  • 1/2 c  margarine
  • 1 c chopped walnuts

Oregon Cranberry Cookie Bars

  • 2 tsp shortening
  • 1 c  cranberries
  • 1  1/2 c  flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 c  sugar
  • 1/2 c  brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Texas Spicy Barbecue Sauce

  • 1 onion
  • 1 c  ketchup
  • 1/2 c  water
  • 1/4 c  vinegar
  • 2 T sugar
  • 1 T Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 cumin
  • 4 drops hot pepper sauce

Wisconsin Cheddar Dill Puffs

  • 1/3 c  margarine
  • 1 c  water
  • 1 c flour
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 c  cheese
  • 1 tsp dill
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 T shaky cheese

Our Week – May 15

NH habitatsAnother week – ZIP…ZING. I know we’ve been trying to use every second and still there is so much to accomplish. Every end of the year is the same. We’ll just keep working and doing our best to do as much as we can. Please be on the lookout next week for a student led conference sign up. These conferences will likely be held during the second week of June. The children will be sharing their digital portfolios and their selected work samples documenting learning progress of this year.

S.E.L. – Gratitude – Taking Time to Notice

This week we wondered about the expression: The most important things in life are not things. As we began to identify what we are grateful for, we explored books like We Are All Born Free, I Want to Be Free, and The Yellow Star- the legend of King Christian X of Denmark. It is challenging for the class to believe other human beings are treated with such little respect. The class was saddened and full of wonder at such cruelty. However, they could identify glimpses of this unkind side of human nature in the slights in the classroom and on the playground. They could see them in moments of cheating or hurtful things said, in over competitiveness or whispered secrets shared in front of others. I am proud of them for being aware of their actions and realizing how they can sting. They are trying to pay attention to their actions and the impact they have. We are trying to find balance between the needs of each individual and the collective needs of our whole class, our whole grade, moving on into the ever-widening community circles out into the world.

In considering what we need to feel content and successful we have begun to identify what we are grateful for in our lives. Each of us is working to identify an alphabet of gratitude. It is a challenge to take time to notice what is wonderful around us – hot and cold running water, heat and lights, sunshine, clouds… These conversations are bringing us full circle to our first weeks of school when we developed our classroom constitution. As I listen to the conversations and questions this week, it is clear that the children have become both more self- and socially aware this year. They are thinking of others and working to be responsible. They trying are taking care of themselves and considering others at the same time. We can be grateful for their efforts. They are caring people.

Habitats and Food Chains

DSC06015We had a habitat presentation this week done by the New Hampshire Department of Fish and Game. Through it we learned more about habitat requirements and of one we hadn’t considered before: SPACE. We knew about food, shelter and water, but space was a new idea, and suddenly, the reasons why different species become endangered made more sense.

We could more easily understand how species that adapt to a variety of habitats have a greater chance of survival than those with a very specific space needs. We looked at the variety of large and small animals that might survive in the main types of NH habitat: field, wetlands and forest. We played a game called “Oh Deer” as a way to understand what naturally happens to animal populations when numbers grow while habitat remains constant. Ask your child about the plot graph created from the game as the deer population changed year to year.

oh deerThe final surprise was in learning what part of Earth provides habitat for us all.   They used an apple for this. First the apple was cut into fourths. Of those four pieces, only one could possibly provide habitat. The rest is under water. That fourth was cut in half again. Now only one eighth of Earth was left. That is because about half of Earth’s surface is inhabitable when you combine desert and mountaintops, ice fields and other extremes. That eighth was cut again into three equal parts leaving one twenty-fourth as the piece of Earth remaining to provide the food all living things on earth require. The other parts are too full of people. And finally, of that twenty-fourth, only the top five feet or so can be used for food production – just the skin of the apple. It was striking. That example helped us understand the need for using resources wisely – to think about waste and reusing and reducing. These are all things we had heard of, but the examples helped us realize that every person’s actions DO make a difference. It was surprising to know that the Earth can be so big and so small at the same time.

Bits and Pieces –

  • We are continuing to work with division and fractions.oh deer
  • We are further developing our research and informational writing skills through our State Wonders. We are gathering information and thinking about how we will present that information to you at The Parade of the States on May 28th.
  • In read-aloud news, we finished The Secret of Zoom and began The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon. Our new story is a complicated, fast moving adventure.
  • Our broccoli continues to get bigger, taller and thicker. We are hoping for signs of a crop in a couple weeks. We can’t wait.
  • We’ll be exploring the vernal pools during our outdoor challenge time next week.

May 15

It’s Wednesday – here are some problems to solve

numbersThe Harriers are the birds that live in the forest on the Starkian Ridge.  Christina and Taft counted 23 nests.  12 of the nest had 6 eggs.  11 of the nest had 8 eggs.  3/4 of the eggs hatched.  How many Harrier chicks would that be?

The orphans were breaking rocks in the mountains.  There were 16 orphans.  Each of them filled 7 bucks of rocks a day for Lenny Loomski.  How many buckets of rocks did the orphans fill altogether in a day?

How many buckets of rocks did they fill altogether in an entire week?

1/4 of the week’s buckets of rock was gray stone.  3/4 of the week’s buckets was zoom stone.  How many buckets was that?

When the orphans found the cavern full of Leo Loomski’s planes they were arranged in rows.  There was 18 rows.  There were 7 planes in each row.  How many planes had Leo Loomski built?  The orphans used 2/3 of the planes to escape.  How many planes were still left in the cavern?

Our Week – May 8

bloggingThursday was our 150th day of school together. Already! Now comes the work of looking at all we have done to see how we have grown as learners this year. Yesterday while we were working on our blogs several of the children scrolled through their posts to see what we had been doing early in the year. They came upon their first book reviews and their early multiplication riddles. Remembering when… allowed the children to appreciate what they are able to do now, even more.

Choices, Choices, Choices

This week our S.E.L. focus has been around the choices we make to be bored or not, and to be able or not. Our discussions helped us realize that we choose to be bored if we are. Boredom usually happens when we are waiting to do something else or wishing for another thing to happen or come along. We can get rid of boredom when we decide to think of something on our own. Alexis said that when she was bored she tries to “make the best of it.” That seemed like a good idea to us. Especially when she said she isn’t bored very often or very long.

following a plandesigning a flower potWe also realized there is a good side to boredom because it is then that you stop and think. While you are thinking and coming up with different ideas it is often fun and exciting. Lots of new and creative ideas come from taking time to figure out what to do to stop feeling bored. We enjoyed I’m Bored by Michael Black and Let’s Do Nothing by Tony Fucile as part of these conversations.

Looking for the Positive Ways to Grow

At the beginning of the year we spent several weeks developing individual learning profiles and learning goals. We spent time exploring multiple intelligence theory and identifying “how we are smart.” We discussed how we are able to help ourselves learn and grow through the choices we make. We looked at being engaged by thinking about each task, staying focused and thinking through challenges on our own. We tried to limit talking so we could become more aware of how we can answer our own questions.

We are exploring those ideas again as we look back at our year. This week most of the class agreed with this: If you think you can, it’s a possibility. If you think you can’t, you’re right. We’ve been thinking about negative self-talk and the way we “bully” ourselves. We’ve been trying to be more aware of when we limit ourselves with “I can’t…”, “I don’t…”, “I’m not…”, “I must be stupid”, “It will take too long”, or “This is too hard.” We are looking for options that will give ourselves chances to keep on growing and learning. A couple examples are: “I can’t yet, but I can try until I get better” or “I’m going to start with this, and then ask for help when I get to the part I don’t know.”

May challengereading maps At home you may want to talk about how to stay positive. We can’t be great at things you are figuring out. Learning is exciting and constant. It’s also important to celebrate effort, growth and near wins. Near wins (if we see them that way) help us set new targets and develop new goals.

Division and Fractions

It was surprising for the class to realize how a week away from this math work helped us know what we did and did not understand with regard to division and fractions. We do know that fractions mean dividing something into groups that are even and equal. Fractions are part of a whole. Most of the class is working to understand how mathematicians organize their thinking to divide large amounts. We need to use what we know about multiplication and place value to guide our thinking. It is exciting to see what they children are doing and how they are challenging themselves. Most of them are recording their equations for each part of the multi-step problems. They are responsible for showing their math thinking in this way. They are also working to solve the problems as efficiently as possible.

The Diary of Broccoli

week 9broccoli recordsBefore we left for vacation we measured our broccoli plants. We measure how tall they were and we measured the length and width of the longest leaf. Each student also tried to draw his or her own plant as it looked at the time. A week later the children went out to see them. “Whoa!” was the immediate response. When the children checked to see the changes they discovered that the plants had indeed changed. Some had grown over 4 inches in the week and the leaves are spreading across the square foot space. One of the measuring labels we had put out a month ago when the broccoli first went out to the greenhouse had been pushed over. We are guessing the roots are also spreading out and getting bigger as well. We are waiting to see when our plants will bud and flower and looking forward to that! When that happens Broc’s diary will be done.

 Bits and Pieces –

  • We are continuing our state research and are working to discover as much as we can about those states so we can convince others that it is the best state to travel to and visit. We ‘ll be working on our persuasive writing skills with that.
  • Our next step with our informational writing about the animals from our state will be to design pages for our class book.
  • We are almost done with The Secret of Zoom. How are the orphans going to escape? What will happen to the Adnoid family, Taft and Danny? Why is Lenny so mean? Ask your child to tell you about the story.

readingsolving problems

It’s Wednesday – here are some problems to solve

numbersGinger needed 60 plates for her birthday party.  She had 26 blue plates and 17 striped plates.  How many more plates did she need to buy for the party?

Oliver earns $6 per hour for yard work.  He worked 2 hours on Friday, 6 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday.  How much money did Oliver earn in all on Friday, Saturday and Sunday?  Oliver wanted to buy a new bike for $329.95.  How much more money does he need to earn?

Laird had 12,080 Legos, but he lost 417 Legos.  How many Legos does he have now?

Nick baked 115 muffins which is 17 more muffins than Alexis.  How many muffins did Alexis bake?

It’s Monday – here are some books you might like to read

April vacation booksIf there was a reading club, would you come?  This week I had a wonderful time reading and while I read I thought, “Alexis would love this book (My Happy Life) and Sami would love this (The Penderwicks series).  I have to finish this so Nick (The Ostrich Conspiracy) can start reading in on Monday.  I think Ollie would really relate to the characters from The Carver Chronicles.  I love the way three books (The Lobster Chronicles) can tell the same story – but each from a different character’s point of view.  I wonder how kids would feel about the different stories of one event.  I love Ms. Rapscott’s Girls!  I wonder what kids will think.  I hope someone reads it soon.  I wish we could all read it together – it would be so cool if there was a family book club too.  Ginger would like the idea of what to do with a magic pencil.  Who will read the sequel to Gooseberry Park?  Has anyone read Gooseberry Park yet?  Will anyone take on reading The Incorrigibles?  Will Marianna read Completely Clementine – the last book of Clementine in 3rd grade?”

You can tell I was thinking a lot about reading with you and wishing we could talk more and share more. Here’s the stack of books I read this week.  Can you imagine reading a book and then finding out that your imagination has brought the characters to life and you can actually join them in their story?  That’s what happens to Billy in The Island of Dr. Libris.  It is both cool and creepy – you’ll have to read it to find out why.  The Black Reckoning is the final book in The Books of Beginning trilogy.  This is Emma’s story and she has to find a way to rid the world of evil by eliminating the Dire Magnus.  If she is successful she may be able to heal the world and bring her family together – but at a great cost.  Is it worth so much loss?  The Griffin’s Riddle offers us more information about Dr. Woo and her imaginary veterinary practice – why she does it, how she does it and who all the players are in the Imaginary World.  This is book 5 in the series.  I think they keep getting better and better as I learn more about the characters and how they interact.

There are a lot more great books in the pile.  They’re all waiting for you in our classroom Enjoy!  (and let me know if you want to start a reading club before or after school – either one, I’m game!)