This week in Math we focused on strategies that we can use when adding numbers. After reviewing “Friends of 10” and the zero rule, we moved on to doubles and doubles +1. The aim is twofold: for Betas to understand the relationships between numbers in fact families and to develop fact fluency with addition and subtraction facts to 20 so that they don’t have to exhaust their brainpower solving smaller problems. Soon, we’ll learn to solve more complex problems and it will be beneficial for students to be able to draw on their fact knowledge or use mental math.
In phonics this week we reviewed long vowel sounds. We learned that if a vowel comes at the end of a syllable, that syllable is usually open and the vowel sound is long. We practiced syllabicating words with open and closed syllables. Our sight words were: four, for, into, our and thing.
This week we learned about adjectives, fragments and run-on sentences. We’ve been using some time during our Morning Meeting to search our morning message for parts of speech – nouns, verbs and adjectives, so far. We worked with partners this week to write and correct many sentences. As a group, the Betas completed a Halloween mad libs on Thursday and absolutely loved it! It was a hoot.
We had two force & motion labs this week! First, we explored friction. We hypothesized what material would allow the toy car to zoom the farthest down a ramp: a silicone mat, wax paper, carpet or sandpaper. After making an educated guess we tested each material out. We measured and recorded the distance after we used each material. As many predicted, the car moved farther (for most of our Beta scientists) when zooming down the wax paper. Why? Less friction!
Next, we had a lab- Investigating Inertia! (Inertia means an object will continue its current motion until some force causes its speed or direction to change.) The kids paired up with a toy car, a washer and their journals and tested what would happen to the washer atop the car when the car hit the journal, and then recorded their findings. It was a great example of why we should always wear a seatbelt!
We investigated potential and kinetic energy on Thursday by creating marble runs using pipe insulators sliced in half (perfect tracks for marbles, and nice and pliable!). Oh boy did these guys have a blast! We will be spending more time on this next week!!!
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Halloween Fun!
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