Happenings: 

Thursday 10/14 -   6:00- 7:30     PTO Trick-or-Treat

Friday.     10/15-    3:00                 Report cards available online

LANGUAGE ARTS

1ST GRADE:  On Monday, to refresh their minds on connections, I asked the kids to give me an example of a connection from their home.  I was super excited when each kid gave a valid connection!  We then moved on to a lesson on cryptography, the study of secrets.  Each child was given an encrypted secret message.  We talked about the message and the kids came up with some ideas as to what it meant.  They said that the message looked like words, but they did not all have any vowels and did not make sense.  One said it looked like a sentence.  After this discussion, I pulled out a cipher wheel and explained that this sheet was a Caesar Shift Cipher.

I told them that they could only decode the message if they knew the secret code and possessed the secret cipher wheel.  We spent a lot of time talking about how to use the cipher wheel to figure out the secret message.  It took a while for all of them to get the hang of it but eventually they were all rocking it and deciphering or enciphering secret messages.  

 

2ND GRADE: I am super excited to have begun a book study with the girls!  We are reading The Tale of Despereaux. On Monday we discussed how they felt about reading such a big chapter book.  I assured them that they could do it and that we would work through it together.  Since the Mother in the book is French, French words occasionally pop up so we also talked about using context clues to figure out words they do not know.    After reading chapter one in class I asked the girls to read chapter 2 for Tuesday night homework. All the girls came prepared on Tuesday we had a great discussion about what they read. I then read chapter 3 to them and discussed the expectations for their homework assignment.  We talked about how important it is to come to class prepared and how if they do not read they cannot participate in class and will be banished to the dungeon (or their classroom) to finish reading the pages.  For Monday, October 9^th, they need to read chapters 4-9.

3RD GRADE:  On Monday the kids were placed into pairs according to which myth sparked their interest.  They spent the class working together to fill out a story retell sheet. The kids rocked the retell and finished up ahead of schedule.  That meant Tuesday was a day for fun.  A student brought in a copy of a mythology picture book that we looked at, read out of and discussed.  

4TH GRADE:  My fourth graders were out both days enjoying their trip to Camp Goodfellow!  

 

MATH

1ST GRADE:  This week the first graders started to work on writing in Math.  Writing is a little uncomfortable for first graders.  They are used to numbers and problems but the HA curriculum goes further and introduces them to explaining what they have learned.  Last week the kids played Zani Lingo.  This week we worked on explaining the options of chip placement if a 4 was rolled. The kids were given a worksheet where some shapes already had chips on them.  They needed to choose the quadrilateral shape that would give them a Zani Lingo.  Some kids figured it out right away but others needed a little more help.  After each kid picked a shape we analyzed the shape to decide if it would produce a Lingo.  I asked; does it have 4 sides, are there 4 shapes in a row, and finally does it produce a Zani Lingo?   Each kid used a Think Frame to organize their thoughts in order to answer the question.  Once complete they moved those ideas over to a Think Deeply sheet.  The Think Deeply asks a question that the kids have to answer.  Using the Think Sheet makes it easier to answer these multi part questions.  We show how to complete their thoughts by using words, numbers and pictures.  This is a skill they will continue to use in HA through all grades.  By 4th grade they will be comfortable writing both.      

2ND GRADE:  This week we continued our work on lines of symmetry.  The kids were given the final project in our multi-colored mosaics.  They have moved on from recreating images on a 3X3 square to making their own 3X3 square.  Using two colors of paper cut into triangles the kids were asked to create a design that had at least one line of symmetry.  I’ll admit that this was difficult for them and only 1 out of 6 mosaic attempts was a success.  But hey, they gave it an awesome try and every kid managed to fit the triangles into the square.  The hard part was lining up the two colors to show symmetry.  I told the kids that what mattered is that they know how to find a line of symmetry.  The second day of HA we started a new activity that incorporated symmetry.  They rocked finding the lines.  We worked on this together and will continue with the activity next week. 

3RD GRADE:  This week we finished up our fish table challenge and moved onto filling out a Think Frame that we used to answer a Think Deeply.  It was hard for the boys to explain in writing how to solve the problem.  They wanted to just say multiplication or addition.  I prodded them to think deeper and tell me how you would explain to a person the way you solved it.  The boys decided that first you would need to tell them the formula.  They put the addition formula (T+T+2=Fish) then the multiplication formula (2T+2=Fish).  We decided that you would need to say, you double the number of tables and then add two for the table ends (or according to one student the “king” seats).  We then used this information to answer the Think Deeply question.  

4TH GRADE: We continued discussing the similarities and differences between expressions and equations.  We used the information we learned last week to fill out a Think Frame.  Since my 4th graders did not have in person instruction last year, I decided to walk them through the Think Frame process. The kids started by filling in parts of the frame on their own. They were asked to define an expression and equation and to give examples of each. We used the information from the Think Frame to answer the question on the Think Deeply.  They had to give a written definition of expression and of equation.  The kids worked with button buddies to answer these questions and I walked around the room to gently guide them.  As the year progresses, the kids will find it easier and easier to explain the Math on a Think Frame and Think Deeply.  I have to admit that we have been so engrossed in our fourth-grade lessons this week, I completely forgot to take pictures.  I apologize and will try my best to grab some shots next week. 

Have a great weekend!

Mrs. Kline