Week of August 24th
In ELA with Ms Andrea… we continued progressing through the steps of our new writing program, Releasing Writers. So far we’ve gotten through the P & O of POW. This week we read two nonfiction texts: “Nests” and “Elephants.” After reading, we figure out the who/what/where (and potentially when or why) and use them to write our “gist” – in a complete sentence. Next we analyze a question about the text and (P) plan our response.
For the organizing (O) step, we fill in a TIDE graphic organizer. T= topic, I = important info, D = details, E = ending. Luckily, there are many versions of this because we found the information given in the “Elephants” text fit better into a TIIIE organizer. 🙃 Next week we will incorporate the W – writing!
In phonics this week we reviewed consonants. We created a word book to hold all of the high frequency words we’ll learn this year – so far a, I, the, at and look. We’re also marching on with Handwriting Bootcamp – perfecting those strokes and strengthening hand muscles! 💪
Ms. Emma’s ELA group… practiced s-blends in phonics, spelled new vocabulary words, played grammar games, attended handwriting bootcamp, and read a TON! We began our writing journey with our new writing program, “Releasing Writers”. It begins with the importance of positive self talk that we can repeat when things start getting tough. Reminding each other that writing is tough but they are tougher truly carries them far. The students did wonderfully working through their first writing prompt of the year by following the steps of POW (Plan, Organize, Write).
Ms. Emma’s math group…. built their own number line and explored all the patterns within it. They noticed some numbers were odd and some were even, but what does that really mean? We discussed how to divide numbers into two groups and practiced this skill when playing “Odd Todd/Even Steven”. We also built stronger subsidizing muscles when playing an animal dot card memory game and “Roll and Circle”. Sprinkled throughout the week we did many logic puzzle journal entries.
In Ms. Andrea’s Math Group…The Betas were very busy this week! In math, we continued our exploration of odd/even numbers and built the world’s tallest ice cream cone! It was filled with dozens of scoops featuring even & odd numbers. We also worked on ordering and comparing numbers using the symbols <, = and >. We played Mystery Number using clues like, “My number is greater than…” On our last day with the mystery bags we worked with a partner to count the number of items in several bags and record the number using digits and words.
In theme…we got a visit from a geology professor and expert, Dr. Larson!!!! He brought many interesting rocks and graciously answered our questions. We were sure to pass along a thank you card signed by the Betas, but in case you see Ms. Kelly around, be sure to thank her for sharing her husband with us!
We also explored tectonic plates! WAIT be really still. Can you feel the ground moving underneath you? Me either…but it is! SUPER slowly….
Betas learned the outer shell of the earth that we walk on is called the lithosphere. Underneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere (try saying that 10 times fast). This layer is super hot magma, and lets the lithosphere above it move around. The lithosphere is not one big solid piece, it’s broken into plates or huge slabs of rock that puzzle together to make the land we walk on and the sea floor. When the plates move around it causes different things to happen to the land such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and mountain ranges. This means tectonic plates have been moving the earth’s surface around for 3 billion years! We explored the ooey gooey magma of tectonic plates and hard lithospheric crust through chocolate frosting and graham crackers.
Humans didn’t miraculously discover tectonic plates overnight, it took many years and many geologists for scientists to agree that the ground beneath us is always in motion. Betas studied two pioneers of the continental drift theory – Alfred Wegener and Maria Tharp. When discussing Wegener, the students were experts at piecing together the continents to fit into one huge super continent named Pangea (Just like Wegener)! When discussing Tharp, Betas made detailed maps of the oceans floor (Just like Tharp)!
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