General News
We are wrapping up our outlines (due Monday) for Theme research on kids’ individualized self-selected history of the earth topic. Mr. Steve will be sending out a refresher video to help support kids as they learn how to make an outline.
Reading/Writing Update
Science meets storytelling! This week we worked on a really fun assignment! We continued our exploration of famous Earth scientists, but this time we added a creative fiction twist. After reading articles about modern-day scientists, students identified character traits, challenges, and moments of growth in their lives. We took a deep dive into Jane Goodall’s story by mapping out the key “epoch moments” of her life (our theme connection!) and brought those moments to life through vivid imagery and emotion in our own writing. Students then selected their own scientists to research and will soon create their own imaginative retellings. Some of our chosen scientists include Charles Darwin, Florence Bascom, Marie Tharp, Sylvia Earle, Jacques Cousteau, Katherine Johnson, and many more!
Math Update
Year 1 kids sharpened their skills for multiplying fractions. We started out with finding fractions of a set and then moved onward to multiply fractions using models. Finally, we learned how to wield the standard algorithm (technically a 6th grade skill) and practiced simplifying fractions BEFORE multiplying to make our lives easier. Next week, we’ll start dividing fractions using models to begin and we’ll end with a classic “copy-change-flip” (the standard algorithm) (We’re learning that some of the “rules” you get taught when younger don’t always apply: multiplication doesn’t ALWAYS make a number bigger, just as division doesn’t ALWAYS make a number smaller!) Year 2 kids dove into making equivalent ratios and then explored finding a unit rate (We perused some online shopping sites to see that usually vendors do the work for you when finding out the unit rate for a product.) We ended the week learning how to solve proportions and Ms. Lorrie can’t WAIT to start doing some fun projects with this skill in the upcoming weeks: we’ll work with scale factor and then we’ll invent some crazy digital creatures out of our bodies using what we’ve learned about proportions. So fun!
Theme Update
We started the week (as you saw from our most pressing Delta Airlines announcement!) going back in time to explore the four major eras of earth’s history: the precambrian, paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic. We unwound large (to-scale) timelines and kids played a card game where they aimed to sort the important events into chronological order. The next day, we visited stations and used both print and digital summaries of each era for kids to complete a graphic organizer. (When they finished studying an “era” they came to the passport office and received a stamp to show they had mastered learning about that particular time period.) Mid-week, we dove into an informational lesson about the purpose of creating an outline and we walked kids through the step-by-step process so they can feel confident to turn in their own outlines on Monday. At week’s end, we practiced our “silly walks” for a gallery activity where we sorted important events based on their eras and proved that the Deltas have digested their learning. We’ll make some awesome floor-to-ceiling infographics next week!
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