Our Week – December 6

This will be a short note this week.  As I write, we’ve only had two days in the classroom.  We are continuing to learn about estimation, rounding. We’ve begun to learn about weighing with grams and fractions.  We are continuing to research and are using our notes to create informational displays for a museum we hope to hold in early January.  We are beginning to explore mapping and our world in a global geography unit.

Learning More About Place Value with Rounding

We’ve continued to explore of estimation.  We hope to answer these questions: What is an estimate? Why do people estimate? When could we use estimation?  Can we find examples where estimation is used outside of school?

As we make estimates, we will be learning more about place value and rounding up and down to the nearest ten and the nearest hundred. We’ve learned that to round you look at the digit to the right of the amount you are rounding and then use the rule – 5 and above round up, 4 and below round down.   We’ll be developing this understanding over the next few weeks.

Exploring Fractions

This month our calendar pattern is designed to help us discover more about fractions and equivalence.  Through the pattern so far we have learned about halves, thirds, and fourths. The class has been learning a lot of about fractions in music with Mrs. Oliver too.  They’ve been creating rhythms by combining whole, half, quarter and eighth notes. It’s not easy to do and takes a lot of concentration.

SEL  – Strengthening Relationships

 In Open Circle we have been learning ways to strengthen relationships.  We’ve been practicing giving and receiving compliments.  We’ve been learning how to speak up for things we believe in or feel strongly about.  We’ve been finding ways to share our opinions and to accept differences of opinion. Through role-playing activities we’ve learned the difference between advocating and telling – safety is a big part of our decision making process.  We’ve practiced ways of being a supportive friend by encouraging and looking for the good in each person and each situation.  We’ve spent time talking about what a cooperative classroom looks like, sounds like and feels like.

Bits and Pieces –

  • We’ve learning about rubrics and we know what is expected for our inquiry project.
  • We’ve finally discovered what the problem is in The Mystery of Pine Lake. We’ll be learning more about the elements of a mystery.
  • We’re finishing our Humphrey book clubs. Three have finished and the last two will finish next week. Both the reading and the responsibility to a group have been challenging.  The children deserve to feel proud of themselves for their dedication and effort.
  • We were also able to finish a few blog posts this week.  Thanks for checking them out and leaving comments.