As I write this we’ve only had two days of school, but they have been full and busy. We are looking forward to more fun creating, researching, and discovering new ideas and abilities.

We are in need to some volunteers to help with journal making. If you think you have some time at either the beginning or adding of our school day, let me know. Thank you.

The Global Kind Project – S.E.L.

We are participating in the Education Collaborative’s Global Kind Project.  There are children from nearly 25 different countries participating.  We hope to connect with some of them during this 4-week(+ or -) project. It began on Martin Luther King Day and continues through to Valentine’s Day.  This week we defined kindness Check out the blog to see a picture of the list. This class clearly knows how kindness is expressed. We also began a plan for sharing joy and smiles throughout the school.  This week we were able to share with the 2^nd and the 7^th grade. We shared kind message ornaments with 2nd grade and made monster pencils for 7th.  It’s fun to share with others!  Next week we’ll consider ways to inspire good. We will explore the idea of gratitude and continue on finding ways to share smiles with other grades.

Elaboration Strategies When Writing

This week we looked more closely at dialogue. We looked at how it is punctuated and explored the choices authors make to help their readers understand what they are reading. We discovered that when a new person speaks it is written on a new line. We learned about indenting and using the quotation marks to surround the speech. When we work together we are easily able to notice when we need capitals, end punctuation and commas to divide the speaker from the quote. We’ll continue to practice so each of the children can work with this more independently.

So far we’ve practiced adding detail and description to our narrative. We’ve added sound and action to liven our words up. Dialogue we’ve discovered moves our stories along faster. The last strategy we are going to explore at this point in the year is capturing inner thoughts. When we can connect with our reader’s feelings we think they are more like to remember our story.

If you’ve not had a chance to connect with your child’s blog in a while, I hope you’ll have a chance. They’ve been writing lots and having fun sharing with each other. You can see signs of growth and change in them. And I know they would love to read your comment.

Global Geography and New Book Clubs

This week we finally finished reading about each of the seven continents. At the beginning of our study the children found it challenging to name the outlined shapes of the continents and to place them on a paper to create a map. Now we hope we all can name each continent and place it in its approximate location to create a world map. The world it full of interesting and wonderful places. It is exciting to explore.

We’ve got four new book clubs. They are Flat Stanley – Worldwide Adventures, Race The Wild, Recipe for Adventure and Secret Agent, Jack Stalwart. Most of the groups have been able to read the first four chapters. We know the characters. We have some idea about their traits and a few hints about what the upcoming problem might be as we follow the plot line of the books. Since each of us is reading a different volume in the series we are looking for similarities and differences.

We’ll be mapping our book adventures in the classroom and highlight some of the things we’ve learned about Global Cultures as we read.

Bits and Pieces –

• We have a bit of work remaining on our map of Sassafras Springs. We should have that all finished on Monday.
• We’ve been exploring larger amounts and strengthening our understanding of place value. You’ll see some confusions begin to show on the place value riddle sheets that will be coming home over the course of the next few weeks. This confusion is normal. It will clear. If your child feels concerned help them see the patterns. We’ll be doing that in the classroom too.
• We’re having fun with Secrets According to Humphrey. We think we’ll have Humphrey books clubs next.
• The Good Deed Club met with Dr. Anderson and shared their plan for an event modeled after Harvest Fest that will raise money to benefit endangered animals. The children made a fabulous presentation of the goals and their plan. He granted the club permission and because we need the gym and that is always used in the winter for basketball set the date as Friday, April 6. It will be afterschool in the early evening. More details will follow after the group has met with Student Government. They asked the older kids to help them. I know there is conversation about costumes, etc. … please hold off on those plans. I am hopeful as we get planning ideas can become a bit more realistic. Please save the date. We plan to send a flier home about it next week.

 

Happy New Year! It’s been a few weeks since I shared what’s been happening in our classroom. Lots!

We’ve continued to explore maps and atlases, mapmaking, and continents. We’ve begun researching different countries. We’ve started fiction book clubs. We’ve transitioned from time to money in math. This is another vehicle for us to learn more about multiplying with 5’s and 10’s and to consider the importance of place value. We’ve been working collaboratively to create our version on Sassafras Springs – we’re nearly done. And we’ve been learning ways we can write more elaborative narrative stories.

Global Geography

This week we’ve focused on the continents. We’ve been looking at them one by one to identify features in the shape that will help us know them. And we’ve been learning which hemisphere(s) they are situated on by looking at the equator and the prime meridian.   We are getting better at knowing how our world fits together.

Both in the library and the classroom, This is How We Do It, has helped us consider how families around the work can be different and yet the same. This book has opened the door for lots of different questions about how everyday people live across the globe.

As we research, we are going to be looking for Wonders from our countries just as Eben did in The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs. The class brainstormed things we might consider to be a Wonder. They are an interested and curious class.

• Who are the special or famous people from my country?
• What are the natural wonders of my country and where do you find them?
• What special occasions or events are celebrated in my country?
• What are common foods?
• What is daily life like?
• Is there any traditional clothing?
• Are there holiday traditions?
• What are beautiful tourist destinations?
• What are important historical events for my country?
• How wealthy is my country? How do people make money?
• What habitats are in my country?
• Does my country have animals that no other country has?
• What are my country’s national symbols?
• What’s it flag like and what do the symbols and colors stand for?
• What is the money like?
• What famous buildings or landmarks are in my country?
• Are their famous works of art from my country?
• What is important to the people who live there?

The children used this list as a guide and wrote blog posts full of questions about their countries. We are hoping people around the world will read these posts and respond. If you know people from the countries the children are researching or people who have traveled there, would you please ask them to respond to the children’s blogs? That will be terrific. Thank you

December is learning about Guatemala, Willow about Australia, Miles about Ireland, and Emily about Egypt.   Annika is learning about Japan, Derek about Venezuela, Dylan about Turkey, and Brian about Madagascar. Maxim is learning about Russia, Jack about Bosnia, Ryan about Greece and Alex about Italy and Vatican City. Izzy is learning about Germany and Corbin is learning about Brazil.

Elaboration Strategies in Writing

This week we’ve been thinking of ways to stretch and expand writing. We’ve been trying to use our words to paint pictures in our readers mind. We’ve been imagining the setting and scenes for our stories and then adding detail and description in ways that will help our readers imagine what we see as well. We’ve tried to keep all of our senses in mind.

Next we tried to animate our picture with action. We’ve thought about choices and how each one that we make changes what can logically happen in our stories. We’ve discovered that stories do need to make sense even when they are made up.

The next elaboration strategy we used is dialogue. Some conversation in stories adds variety and speeds the story along. We are learning how to use this technique, but not over do it. We’ll spend some time over then next week or two learning how to write and punctuate the conversations that happen in our stories.

Bits and Pieces –

• Our map of Sassafras Springs is nearly finished.  We’ve got some final touches and a few more labels to add and it will be finished.  This has been a fun collaboration.  It has involved lots of creativity and cooperative communication to build the town as we imagine it.
• We’re reading our second chapter read-aloud by Betty Birney, Secrets According to Humphrey.   Ask your child about Humphrey’s problem with secrets. Secrets and surprises are creating worry for Humphrey. He is a classroom hamster who really takes keep his classmate happy seriously. He doesn’t always feel good about secrets, and he’s noticing some of his classmates are feeling the same way.
• We have made a plan to create our Wonder/Discovery Journals for recording what we learn and question each day. I think most of the kids are excited about this challenge. We’ve been thinking and talking about the connections between learning, understanding, creating, wondering, discovering, questioning and moving forward with confidence and optimism. We’ve been discussing things like: What is learning? How do questions impact our learning? If we change our questions do we learn more/differently? Is learning also realizing or making connections? These are challenging notions to tackle. We are looking forward to spending some of our day in mindful reflection as we find ways record our thinking.
• In our new book clubs each child will be reading a different book from his or her chosen series. There are four different series and each of features travel in different states or countries. We plan to learn more about geography in that way too. It will be interesting to see how the children learn to sift facts from fiction and verify them through their informational reading.