Day: September 14, 2018

Happy Dot Day!

Mrs. Eaves Projects and Challenges

We began our day making Kandinsky Dots.

After Morning Meeting we explored the eight dot activities on the Dot Day menu.  We made magnet dots, printed dots, and dots in decorated swirly gold frames.  We made clay dots and button dots and a personal dot representing our favorite things.  We started making window dots (they take two days to finish because they need to be baked), and lastly we all painted a part of the SUPER dot.

We listened to The Dot song and reread The Dot to decide what we each thought was an important message we could learn from this book.

Here’s what we can learn from this story:

  • If you can make a mark, you can draw.
  • Try it.  Make a mark and see where it takes you.
  • Try to learn anything – try to learn a song.
  • Try hard.
  • The Dot was written to inspire people.
  • Be positive, you can do it with practice.
  • When you think you can’t draw, think again.  Actually you can!
  • People can draw.  Be patient and try.
  • Anyone can draw.
  • You can get better at anything.
  • If you can make a dot, you can be an artist.
  • When you can write, help another person.
  • The Dot is inspiring kids to never give up.

We are bringing many of our dots home today, but others will be  hung in our Dot Gallery outside our classroom.  We hope you’ll stop in some time and take a tour.

Celebrating Dot Day was “epic.”  We’ve made our marks – and now we’ll see where they take us!

Our Week – September 15th-ish

Mrs. Eaves Weekly Newsletters

Happy Dot Day!

It is surprising to realize this is our first full week of school – from Monday to Friday.  Many in the class have spoken of how tired they are, because, along with a full week many have been going to practices and games as well.  Despite these feelings, they have been kind and caring, hardworking and interested. We couldn’t ask for more.

Collecting Habits for Success

We’ve been reading a variety of biographies to see if we can discover the habits these famous people have that have leading them to success.  We’ve read about scientists, Carl Sagan and Albert Einstein, athlete, Michael Jordan, artist, Henri Rousseau and farmer, Snowflake Bentley.  We discovered that no matter what their passions, they all had certain habits that helped them succeed.  Here’s our list.

  • They were determined.
  • They asked questions.
  • They believed in themselves.
  • They used imagination and creativity.
  • They never gave up. They persevered.
  • They tried hard.  They practiced, practiced, practiced.
  • They wondered.
  • They kept experimenting.
  • They had patience.
  • They did what they loved.

We may add more to our list as we learn about other famous people next week, but for now we have a pretty good beginning.  What will we learn from Jane Goodall, Wassily Kandinsky, Billie Jean King and Rachael Carson? How will we use what we learn to set goals for ourselves in third grade? We’ll see and share with you at our first student-led goal setting conference in late fall.

Weather Science

We’ve continued with our study of weather.  We’ve learned more about the water cycle and terms like evaporation, condensation, transpiration and precipitation.  We spent time exploring the details of storm clouds.  We learned how we could make weather predictions based on the clouds we see in the sky and knowing the direction the wind is blowing.  It’s pretty complicated, but also fun.

Exploring Math Problems

Most families will notice many math problems in your child’s collection of work this week – or not. We’ve completed our baseline math assessment this week.  Some of the students only had time to complete those problems.  Others began math problems, but did not have time enough to complete them.  They’ve come home unfinished.  That is fine at this point.

You also may be wondering about the size of the amounts and the number of steps in the problems.  I have been learning about the class and who they are as mathematicians.  I want to challenge them to do new things and to think in new ways. Our first inquiry in math is a review of 2-digit addition and subtraction.  While doing that we’ll sprinkle in problems with larger amount where they can strengthen their number sense and knowledge of place value. Hopefully by the end of next week we’ll have become more settled into our math routine and strengthened our problem solving routines.

Bits and Pieces –

  • Picture Day is September 18, 2018.
  • Our field trip to Camp Lincoln is on September 20.
  • We’ve begun learning about multiplication.  We learned how to play Circles and Stars.  If you have time, have your child teach you how and play.  It’s fun and great practice!
  • This week in Open Circle we discussed the importance of listening and treating each other with manners and respect.  We’re working to manage impulses and to consider others before we take action.
  • Our challenge with Mr. Caron was a surprise.  We first thought we were going down the Nature Trail, but the rain kept us in the classroom.  The challenge there was all about concentration, focus and anticipation.  It was simple, but difficult at the same time.
  • We’ve begun to remind ourselves about what we know about writing narrative stories.  The children chose “one time” they felt was important to them and write about.  This is our starting point.
  • We’re learning how characters change and develop throughout a story while we are reading Phineas L. MacGuire – Erupts.  Ask your child to tell you about Mac and Ben (aka- Mac R).  See if they’d like them as friends.  Ask them to tell you about Althea.  Sometimes it’s challenging to be in a new school or to have your best friend move away or to get too caught up in a competition.  There’s a lot we can learn about ourselves from this book.