Language Arts

First Grade:  We started assembling our Shields of Connections!  The kids were super excited to cut out

and glue down their badges and then add color to the shield. In preparation for Tuesday, we discussed presenting and the grading rubric.  I asked them to speak loud enough, to occasionally look at the audience, and to make sure that the shield did not cover their face. 

On Tuesday each child presented in front of the class.  It was so fun to hear the connections they created.  We all learned more about each other.  I was so proud of them. They truly rocked this homework assignment!  

2nd Grade:  This week we read the poem “Eldorado” by 

Edgar Allan Poe.  I told the kids that it is a little complicated and it has some crazy language, but I know they can handle it. We went line by line and I asked the girls to contemplate the meaning of each line.  Some lines had vocabulary that was confusing but other lines were easy to decipher.  It was fun to hear how they felt about the poem and what they believed it meant. The girls figured out that the beginning was happy and optimistic, and the ending was sad.  After discussing the entire poem, we took their ideas and together filled out a reading analyzer. A reading analyzer helps with understanding. I am very excited for next week.  We will begin a book study of The Tales of Despereaux! 

3rd Grade: We continued with our unit on myths by beginning a study of “The Changing Faces of Story.”  I told the kids that all people everywhere have their own ways to think about the beginning of the universe. To model this, we started the week by reading a Babylonian creation story. Seven Greek, Norse and Native American myths regarding the beginning of the universe were placed around the room.  The kids took turns reading each of these stories.  When they had finished reading, I asked them to put their names on two stories they liked. Based on which stories each choose; they will be placed in pairs to re-tell the story next week.  On Tuesday we read a separate myth and then worked on filling out a story map.  The kids will be filling the story map out with their partner next week. 

4th grade:  Due to the varied schedules of Camp Goodfellow from school to school, we have had a few 

stall days.  Since each elementary school teaches the same curriculum, from time to time we stall in order to keep each HA Instructor on the same page.  The kids love these fun yet still educational days.  After watching a video about pronouns, we worked on Mad Libs.  Mad Libs are a great way to practice up on parts of speech.  They are also a whole lot of fun!  The class was rolling with laughter as their peers presented their own unique Mad Lib.  Ask them about 3,333,333,333 minutes past curfew!

Math   

1st Grade:  We continued our work with shapes by investigating polygons and playing a fun Math game called Zani Lingo!  Zani Lingo is like bingo with polygons.  The catch is that instead of calling out the shape, after rolling a die, I called out the number of sides.  The kids then had to decide what shape this described.  If they got four shapes in a row they called out “Zani Lingo!”  The lucky bingo winner was rewarded with their choice of a super smelly sticker!!  On the second day of Zani Lingo, button buddies were chosen and the kids played in pairs.

2nd Grade: This week we manipulated triangles!  By 

using lines of symmetry and 3X3 squares in two colors, the kids were asked to re-create a pattern.  They first folding the squares along all lines of symmetry and then cut out the resulting triangles.Once the triangles were cut they had to figure out how the puzzle of shapes could fit together to recreate the pattern.  The kids rocked the first day.  the second day was a little more complicated.  On day one the kids were given guide lines to show all the triangles.  On day two they were given a shape that did not show the guidelines and it was up to them to figure out how to recreate the shapes. Some struggled but with a little push they all managed to figure it out

3rd Grade: We continued our discussion on patterns within a name by challenging the students to solve their classmates name games.  We then moved onto the fish challenge.  This was another question from the pre-assessment.  We figured out how to solve it algebraically. The fish challenged asks the question, if a certain number of tables are placed side by side and one person can sit at each side of the table, how many people can sit at a specific number of tables.  We modeled the problem with whiteboards and foam squares to represent tables.  Then we made a chart to show the relationship between tables and number of fish.  At first the kids wanted to just place down the number of tables and count the sides.  We discussed how that is a method, but what would happen if you needed 316 tables?  The boys were then asked to look for patterns and to come up with an algebraic equation to solve the problem.  It took awhile to figure this out but once they saw the equation, T+T+2= # of fish, it was like a light went on!  On our second day they were given the fish challenge.  This was a worksheet that asked how many fish can sit at 75 tables.  They needed to remember to use the equation to get the answer.  Once they discovered the answer they were then asked to do the same for larger and larger number of tables.  The kids got so into it they even asked if they could take the chart to finish at home!  It was so rewarding to watch them getting into this challenge.  

4th Grade: This week we started our new Math unit!  We began with an activity where I told them I was thinking of a number between 0 and 300.  I asked them to figure out my number by asking questions.  The catch was that I did not want them to just guess numbers.  They were asked to think about questions that could narrow the number down.  It did not take long before kids started asking if it was less than another number or if it was an even number.  It did not take long before my number was discovered. The second day we did an activity called “work backwards”.  The kids had to think of a number between one and thirty.  Next, I asked them to take that number and multiply it by 3 and then add 4.  The kids got to take turns telling the class their starting number.  Then the class had to figure the starting number out.  On our second day, I placed a two lists of mathematical numbers, variables and equations on the board.  Then I asked the kids to notice the differences.  After pointing out what they thought I told them that one is a list of expressions and one is a list of equations.  We then started a Think Deeply sheet together.  We will finish the sheets up next week.