• Friday, December 17th - End of Second Nine Weeks
• Monday, December 20th - Monday, January 3rd:  NO SCHOOL/Winter Break
• Tuesday, January 4th - Classes Resume

Due to being out for a day together with the kids having a day off, I only saw my HA kiddos for one day per subject.  Thus, I was unable to get pictures of a few classes.  However, here is a picture of our class tree that some of the students, if they finished early, decorated with homemade ornaments. 😊

1^st Grade: First graders began the week by learning the definition of anagram.  When the kids came into class, they found that I had placed a dry erase board and four sticks notes on each of their desks with the letters PTOS, one letter per sticky note.  I asked the kids to figure out all the words they could make with these four letters.  The kids set to work and did a great job making words.  Once they finished, we wrote the words they came up with on the board.  I then explained that these words were anagrams.  An anagram is a word or phrase made by rearranging the exact same words or letters of the starting word or phrase.  Next, I had them pull out their letter tiles to see if they could make a new word from different words that I placed on the board.  Brian became brain and peas became apes.  We used our knowledge of anagrams when we read The Great Show-and-Tell Disaster.  The book is filled with anagrams and the kids had so much fun seeing the word change and looking at the pictures that also changed.  The teacher, Mrs. Eton became a monster! 

 

2nd Grade: We began our week with a worksheet on character traits.  We took the character Gregory from Despereaux and talked about his traits. The girls told me he was misunderstood, good hearted, nice, and he loved stories.  I asked them to use the book to support the traits with text evidence. They filled out the worksheet and next week we will continue with the character Miggery Sow.   

  

3rd Grade:  We took a break from studying Folklore and the kids did a grammar focus.  They were given a worksheet with a paragraph from Johnny Appleseed and asked to find the nouns, verbs, pronouns, and prepositional phrases.  The preposition song paid off when they used the words to the song to figure out the prepositional phrases.  They were also asked to draw a line from the pronoun to the corresponding noun.  We will go over the sheet in class next week and they will be given another grammar focus. 

 

4th Grade:  The kids are almost done filling out the Biography Summaries.  The questions in the summaries have really challenged them.  I spent time with each group, and I feel that they are on track to start building their final timelines next week.  We are also working on working in groups.  The kids told me that they had never done a group project like this.  Thus we discussed breaking up the work, what roles each will play and the fact that they need to communicate with each other.  One group is doing really well with this but the other needs a little guidance.  

 

 

1^st Grade: The kids brushed up on angles this week.  I placed a picture of a right, acute, and obtuse angle on the board.  Almost all remembered right angle but the acute and obtuse were a little harder to remember.  I asked the kids to use their arms to create the different angles.  We also talked about the degrees of an angle.  I told them that a straight line was 180 degrees and since a right angle is half of the straight line it is 90 degrees.  This amazed them!  We then moved on to talking our “90 degree arms” and opened them bigger to make obtuse angles and smaller to make acute angles.  I showed them with my arms how widening the angle also makes the angles degree bigger than 90 and narrowing the angle makes the degree smaller than 90.  Next, we concocted a homemade protractor.  The kids were given two straws and two pipe cleaners to put together.  Once finished we were able to use our new protractors for fun around the room and find right, acute, or obtuse angles.    

 

2nd Grade: The kids are moving on to a new unit involving 2D and 3D shapes.  We started by discussing 2D shapes.  We talked about vertices, sides, and the definition of polygon. Then we created 2D shapes with pipe cleaners and straws.  Each child was given a shape to create.  I asked them to create the shape on the projector for all to see.  We talked about the attributes of that shape and wrote them down on a work sheet.  The kids did a great job.  I continue to be amazed by my well behaved second grade Math kids.  They are always focused!

    

3rd Grade:  This week the boys were asked to recreate a 300s chart.  Once they finished this task, they were asked to make their own puzzles using the chart.  They were told to make four puzzles using graph paper with a key for friends and family to solve.  We will finish up with the charts next week.

 

4th Grade:  I passed out a logic puzzle on Wednesday that the kids will continue working on next week. After looking at the logic puzzle directions, the kids looked at me like I’d grown another head.  Students were given a funny scenario about The Frozen Cabbage Band where they needed to determine: the full name of each band member, the instrument each played, the brand of equipment each used, plus each member's favorite magazine. They were given seven clues and an organizational chart.  I did the first two questions with them and then set them free.  They struggled and stressed out at first, so I split them up into button buddies and walked around to answer questions.  By the end of class many were figuring out how to use the chart.  For those that were still struggling I will offer more support when we continue next week.