Thursday 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.

We 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.”

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

Before 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.