Happenings

• January 28th: Virtual Variety Show applications due
• February 11th: Virtual Variety Show
• February 18th - 21st: Winter Break/NO SCHOOL

Progress Reports for Second Grade:

Mrs Koedyker is working on sending home letters to all second grade parents in the district.  It'll give parents a better understanding of how their child previously qualified for High Ability.  It will also give you a good idea as to how students qualify for High Ability in third grade.  Meanwhile, here's the link to Duneland's High Ability webpage.

1^st Grade Reading/ELA

On Tuesday we continued our focus on lipograms.  We finished writing our sentences summing up what happened in the beginning, middle and end of the story.  Then the kids were split up into groups to remake the sentence using a lipogram.  They all understood what they needed to do, however, a few of the words that needed replacing proved challenging.  We talked about those words and we even looked a synonym for the word “replaced” that did not contain an A.  We discovered the word supplemented fit the ticket.

 

1^st Grade Math

 

When they came into class, the kids were given a worksheet that had a two loop puzzles partially filled in.  We began by reading the directions that included multiple steps.  They had to draw a shape in all three sections of the Venn diagram, draw a shape that belonged outside the diagram and label both loops.  We went over possible shape attributes and then discussed how the kids can use these attributes to figure out the labels and the shapes that they needed to draw.  Since spelling can be a challenge, to help, I put a word bank of the attributes on the board.  They worked on their own, while I walked around to offer help.  Usually covering up one loop and asking them to tell me the attribute gave them the confidence to push on.  The next day I passed back the worksheets with sticky notes for things they needed to correct or complete.  I then introduced the kids to a website that let them make their own two loop puzzle.   

 

2^nd Grade Reading/ELA    

The girls finished up The Tales of Despereaux.  We then launched into diagramming a sentence.  The kids knew their verbs and nouns but were unsure about prepositions.  I showed them the School House Rocks video on prepositions.  They thought it looked old and creepy, which made me a little sad since School House Rock was my jam! Despite the creepiness, it did help them understand prepositional phrases. 

 

2^nd Grade Math

After last week’s bubble fun, we launched back into our workbook to complete a Think Deeply.  This one asked the kids to describe the difference between a square and a cube.  We made a T chart to compare.  The kids wrote about the number of sides, edges, vertices, faces, and if they were 2D or 3D. The next day the kids were given a bag a tangram shapes accompanied by a worksheet.  The worksheet asked them to use a specific tangram block to discover the number and type of faces and the number of edges and vertices.  This activity helped to solidify these concepts. They used the blocks to build a given shape and then counted to complete the worksheet.  We will continue with this activity next week.  

 

3^rd Grade Reading/ELA

We continued to work with fables.  The kids completed a vocabulary web on the word fable.  Once finished we added fable to our folklore poster.  We even had time to expand our knowledge on parts of speech with a Mad Lib.  The kids cannot get enough of these, so it is always fun to reward them for staying on task with a Mad Lib!

 

3^rd Grade Math

Together in class, we completed the arrow math unit with a Think Deeply.  The boys did a great job on the arrow Math which made the Think Deeply a breeze.  They did whine a little about having to write complete sentences and not just putting numbers and arrows.  I explained again that there will be times where they need to explain the Math.  The next day we jumped back into long division, which the boys are really starting to get!  I told them that if they worked hard, they could play a Blooket.  That was all the motivation they needed, and we finished the class with a fun Blooket on multiplication and division! 

 

Last week sudents were taking InView/Cognitive Skills Index (CSI) Test which is used for placement in fifth grade classes. It is the Potential-Based (aptitude) Measure. The other pathway is through end of year NWEA, Performance-Based (achievement) Measure. To read more about fifth grade placement click this link.

4^th Grade Reading/ELA

The kids have basically completed the timeline posters.  Important events and pictures have been glued down and one group has the title attached.  We will finish the timeline at the start of next week.

 

4^th Grade Math

Those that did not finish the two variable problems from last week, paired up to finish.  The rest of the class continued where they left off on their Zacarro worksheets.  Depending on where they were at, they were paired up into groups.  A few were able to complete the genius level and the rest are not far behind.  I have been impressed with the kid’s determination to figure out the challenging Zacarro Math.  A few have come back multiple times thinking they had the answer only to be told to try again.  Not one of them has given up.  What an awesome bunch of future Mathematicians!