Dear Parents, Friends and Families,
Such a busy time of year! However, we have really kept our eye on the ball and persevered with some challenging work.
In English Language Arts we have finished reading Maniac Magee. We used that as an introduction to practice Academic Conversations that Leigh Doherty spoke of in her last blog. As she said, these are purposeful conversations that follow a process that supports intentional discussion. In our case, I introduced the idea of paraphrasing back to a classmate what was heard in response to a question about the reading. Restating what someone else has said goes a long way to promote active listening, clears up misunderstandings about content and keeps the conversation on track. (So you are saying that… ,etc.)
Most students got a chance to model this skill with one other classmate and we will continue to use this as we finish reading our books throughout the year and answer questions in our book discussions.
Another way we reviewed Maniac Magee was to do one (or two) word descriptions of different characters. I’ve attached a photo of the list of adjectives used to describe Maniac himself (everywhere, witty, unique, free, open-hearted and impossible) because I thought they reflect a great window into their understanding of the complexity of that character.
In math the students are feeling quite solid in their multiplication and division skills so we took a foray to a different project this week with more of a holiday theme. According to the gifts given over the 12 Days of Christmas, what was the total number of presents given? More than one way to solve that problem, and we had a great variety of them to share. Neal and Aiden used what they called the ‘rainbow pattern’ as did others though not with the same name. I also included a photo of an answer to another problem solving assignment that came back with at least 50 right answers and we could have gone on.
The class has begun a special drumming class with Mr. Suters today and that will continue throughout the trimester every other week alternating with the 3rd grade.
Thank you to Ken Dow who was our intrepid Lunch Bunch parent this week on the day of the snow storm! Delicious lunch including a spectacular variety of berries to enjoy on that snowy day.
I also include a few shots from the class working with Mr. Evans on pottery upstairs and a special visit we had from Paula Meade who shared the story of Hanukkah and some delicious Hanukkah treats.
Thank you all for getting in the Holiday gifts and cards on time this week, I know how long the list is this time of year! I will be sending home most everything from the cubbies tomorrow including extra clothes.
I wish you all a wonderful, restful, peaceful holiday break wherever you may be.
I look forward to continuing the good work this class is poised to take on next year!
Happy New Year!
Katharine
To view slideshow on a mobile device, click the link below:
https://www.flickr.com//photos/bcdtech/sets/72157691000521095/show/