Thankful Thursday!

Button Buddies

Begin your Week/Month with the End in Mind:

• Friday, November 16th - Read-a-thon Kicks off, Student Council "Spirit Day"
• Wednesday, November 21st - Thanksgiving Break
• Thursday, November 22nd - Thanksgiving Day
• Friday, November 23rd - Thanksgiving Break
• Monday, November 26th - Thursday, December 6th - Holiday Food Drive
• Tuesday, November 27th - Student Council Meets 2:30-3:00
• Wednesday, November 28th - Meet with HA LA
• Thursday, November 29th - Meet with HA LA
• Friday, November 30th - Student Council "Spirit Day"
• Wednesday, December 5th - Meet with HA Math 
• Thursday, December 6th - Meet with HA Math
• Monday, December 10th - Projected date for HA classes to resume their normal schedules at Liberty and Brummitt, fingers crossed.

Welcome Board:

On Wednesday when students arrived, they were greeted with a message to take a bow if they are hosting Thanksgiving and do ten jumping jacks if they are going to a friend or family member's home.  This stirred up lots of conversation about their favorite food and they can't wait, etc.  Fun to listen to.  On Thursday, they were to give 3+ people a high five and tell them, "I'm glad you're here!"  A fun was to start everyone's day in high ability.  Who doesn't want to hear that before starting class =)

Fourth Grade Math:

The lesson starts out by reading a scenario where Tori and Jordan were visiting their grandmother.  They visited the attic on a rainy day and discovered fabric strips with markings that were coming off.  They decided to make similar strips out of paper strips and were able to create fraction strips to represent halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, eighths, ninths, tenths, twelfths, fifteenths and sixteenths.  We went one color at a time and talked before we folded.  We had a few "uh ohs" and needed another strip.  I noticed the odd numbered fractions gave them the most trouble.  I made sure they understood how to make a tri-fold because it plays a crucial role in an upcoming lesson.  They were also required to label their fractions, 0/3, 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3.  I had them write equivalent fractions below.  For example 3/3 = 1.  One student shared that he had a "whole" in his paper.  LOL!  As we worked with sixths, I had them put their thirds strip next to it.  They were able to write the equivalent fractions easily, but I noticed they didn't need the strip as we went on.  We finished up our strips on Thursday before actually explaining what equivalent fractions are.  We used a Think Frame to structure our ideas and make sure we knew what they were asking.  They did an awesome job using words, pics and numbers to make the reader understand!  We will take the Think Frame and translate it onto our paper next time we meet.

Second Grade Math:

We started right out of the gate testing their measurement skills.  They showed a non-numbered ruler measuring a tunnel for the meerkats.  Dru thought the tunnel was 4 inches and Teller thought it was 5 inches.  This stirred up a bit of a debate which was great!  First off, they didn't like that they started in the middle of the ruler which is good.  I passed out a larger version to each of them, so they could measure and count for themselves.  I still had a split decision, so we used a talk frame to work through it.  First, we decided what the question was.  What were they asking?  We had a student at the doc cam to fill in their paper as we talked.  It helps the others with spelling and knowing where to write.  The first thought was, count the tick marks, so Teller is right.  The next thought was, count the spaces, so Dru is correct.  Our final thought was they needed to measure from the beginning of the ruler.  Exactly.  After much discussion and thought, we came to the conclusion that Dru was in fact correct because the spaces need to be counted.  The first tick mark acted as a zero, so it doesn't get counted.   We had another student come up to the doc cam to then use our Think Frame to fill in worksheet.  We basically filled in the gaps to write back in a letter explaining our thoughts.  Writing to explain is crucial in high ability math.  Often times they know and understand, but it takes it to a higher level being able to put things into words and explain the why.  Day two we paired up in "button buddies" to work on a measuring packet.  Ask them what button buddies are!  They measured using a non-labeled inch and half inch ruler.  We talked about those that were in-between . . .they went to the closer number.  I had a few who needed to be reminded if it was the spaces or tick marks.  I worked closely with them to make sure they understood.  This is a great bunch who are kind and patient to each other.  Pairs worked at different paces, yet no one just gave the answer nor got upset with the other taking their time.  Fantastic.

Third Grade Math:

We are working on measurement in third grade, just as we are in second grade.  We looked at the packet they would be exploring with a friend before getting started.  I walked through "what we are measuring" and we talked about what length is . . . what width is . . . what height is.  One student asked for clarification and another student gave them the hint.  Length is long and width is wide.  Great way to remember it!  We discussed the unit of measurement of centimeters.  One student asked, "If it was more than a foot, would they add the feet and centimeters together?"  We talked about how those are separate units of measurements.  We talked about the abbreviation for centimeter and stressed that their answers needed to be labeled each time.  Since this was the first time using my "button buddies", I had to make sure they understood how it worked.  Basically, I have a tea cup filled with matching sets of buttons.  Each student selects a button without looking and then they pair up according to their matches.  Fun; they loved it!  Then they were off!  They visited different stations around the room and began measuring.  A few items they needed to stack their rulers because they were on the large side.  There was a space for them to measure two things of their choice.  A few of them gave themselves a challenge by measuring the coat closets!  Day two it was time for them to measure each other.  We previewed the worksheet before getting started.  We discussed how to go about measuring certain things like height and reach.  The key was to estimate then measure as they worked their way down the page.  The reason we don't want them to estimate all then measure is because their measurements should improve . . . and they did!