Our Week – February 9

There have been so many stops and starts recently, it is challenging to feel as though we’re accomplishing very much. Our progress has been slowed, but we are moving forward so that is something to celebrate.

Global Geography and the Global Kind Project

This week we planned and wrote down what actions we would take intentionally to make our world a kinder place. The children wrote things like smiling and being friendly to everyone, helping without being asked, thinking of others first, before acting. They are definitely considering how kindness looks and feels. This week we were only able to share gifts and a smile with one grade level – but it sure feels good to see and hear our schoolmates’ reactions.

We’ve also continued reading about different parts of the world. We completed Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, our first chapter book about a different time and place in the world. We have begun Tiger Boy, our second chapter read aloud set in a different country. This is a bit more challenging. It is set in the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and we have very little background knowledge (schema) to help us visualize the setting. We are going to begin some sketch-noting as we read. Clearly this is a different place and culture.

We’ve shared many picture books about different places in the world too: Four Feet, Two Sandals, Listen to the Wind, It Could Always Be Worse, Lost and Found Cat, Dear Primo and My Beautiful Birds. Many of you would be smiling if you could hear our discussions. They are full of questions and wonderings. They are full of indignation and empathy. They are beginning to recognize how different people are across the globe. Our next steps will be to learn what readers, thinkers and learners do when they recognize they are not fully able to visualize.

Synonyms and Word Choice

We’ve been learning about synonyms and the power of unusual words. We’ve been reading short magazine articles and looking at how they are written. Whole collections of words meaning “brave” or “gross” have been used by the author so they don’t have to write the same word over and over again. This makes the writing more interesting. It also seems to help it flow more smoothly for the reader.

We’re writing a collection of quick writes over the course of the next two weeks. When we have a collection of them we’ll be choosing one to elaborate. We’ll attempt to add more detail and description, action and dialogue and inner thought. We’ll explore word choice and sentences structure too. Finally we’ll choose a way to share our stories with you.

Learning New (for us) Math Strategies

As you look through your child’s work this week you’ll see how your child is using and learning to use the standard algorithm with addition and subtraction. The problems we’ve been solving have used large amounts associated with the countries the children are researching. Subtracting and subtracting with zeroes remains a challenge, as is expected.  The larger amounts help the children visualize the process of trading thousands for hundreds, hundreds for tens and tens for ones.

Bits and Pieces –

  • Our Valentine’s Brunch will be on Wednesday. We’ll begin our day sharing cards and enjoying fresh fruit and bagels. Please remind your child that any candy they get will need to be brought home to be eaten due to the Wellness Policy.
  • Thank you for all the cereal donations. Our class collected 34 boxes to contribute to the total. It is really exciting to see the entire collection as we walk down the hall.  It is a fabulous project to be a part of.
  • We’ve begun to share what we are learning about our countries by making a Wonderful World display in the hall. If you’re in the school, check out the facts and artwork the children have created.
  • Our Global Geography book clubs will continue for one more week. I am proud of how the majority of the class is accepting responsibility for reading carefully and recording the main idea of each chapter. They are also learning to make inferences and predictions as they show how they are thinking about their reading. They are curious about the patterns of each book in the series and are looking to make connections between the different volumes.
  • Up-coming units of study are Magnetic Forces in sciences and Fables, first in reading and then in writing. Your child will be asking you if you have a favorite fable in two weeks.

And finally here’s how our Kind Acts count is proceeding:

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3: