So Much to Celebrate!

The week was busy celebrating 40 years of Title IV, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday and the collection of 3,000+ books for the Hamlin book drive!

Sea Creature Study

We continued our Sea Creature Study by learning about Humpback whales. The girls watched a video which focused on the migration and life cycle (birth->adulthood, not death) of the Humpback whales. The video showed amazing shots of whales feeding in Alaska, breaching in Hawaii. We also learned a new whale song which the girls have been singing throughout the week.

Math Games

IMG 7034 from Lisa Dutton on Vimeo.
This week the girls continued to play Count & Compare Pennies and Ten & More Sea Creatures. They were also introduced to the following games.
Sock Boxes & Coins: The object of the game is to collect 20 pennies, using a spinner with combinations of 1-3 pennies and a nickel. The girls practiced recognizing pennies and nickels by name and value, counting and exploring quantities to 20, exploring counting strategies and comparing quantities.
Race You to 15 Cents: The object of this game is to trade 5 pennies in the race to get 3 nickels. The girls practiced recognizing pennies and nickels by name and value, trading 5 pennies for a nickel, counting quantities to 15, counting 5's to 15 and comparing quantities.
Mystery Numbers: The object of this game was to sequence the Ten & More Ten-Frame and Number cards, write numbers 10 to 20 and use the numbers they had written to help identify the mystery number Ms. Hamre had hidden. The girls practiced ordering and comparing quantities from least to most, reading and writing numerals 10-20 and sorting by elimination.
Spin & Write: The object of this game was to use a spinner to determine which number (11-18) will win. Once a number has one, the girls practiced writing their numbers by completing the math sheet. During this activity the girls practiced recognizing and counting quantities between 10 and 20 as well as reading and writing numbers from 11-18.

Brandi Chastain Visited!

On Monday we were visited by Brandi Chastain! She shared a wonderful video/documentary of her life as a soccer player, spoke with the girls about her struggles and triumphs and even had time for questions. On our way out she gave everyone a hug or a high-five! What an amazing experience!

IMG 7029 from Lisa Dutton on Vimeo.

IMG 7032 from Lisa Dutton on Vimeo.

I Almost Forgot...

On Friday we welcomed a few slimy, squiggly and spotted Leopard Frog Tadpoles! Although we are not yet learning about frogs (a unit we will begin after the President week break), we will be feeding and caring for them for the next few weeks as they approach the next stage of their life cycle.

Back to Blogging

What a wonderful week it has been! Ms. Hamre and I spent the week reading one-on-one with the girls to find out where they were as readers. While we were reading with the girls, we learned which reading strategies they were comfortable using, and those that they need support with. During Reader’s Workshop the girls were given the opportunity to find books they thought were “Just Right” for them. They chose these books based upon whether or not they felt they could read them. Next week Ms. Hamre and I will give them Just Right books that we will be choosing for them. These books will be used during guided reading lessons and will be just above their independent reading level.

Here are some photos of the girls with their Just Right Books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader's Workshop

Before launching the Reader's Workshop we asked the girls how they wanted Reader's Workshop to look, sound and feel. Here are their responses. 

Reader’s Workshop Should Be…

Quiet, dark and peaceful –Mx.S

Calm bodies- G.H

Reading quietly –A.L

Quiet so I can concentrate –S.G.

Play quiet music –S.O

Whisper when you want to talk to a teacher –S.W.B

Read with peace –M.S

After our first Reader's Workshop we asked the girls what they liked and didn't like about it. 

 Here are their responses.

It was great because it was quiet! –G.A

It was peaceful with peaceful music –Mx.S

I had the perfect book –L.N

I could read my own book because it was perfect –S.O

I liked it because the lights were kind of off and kind of on. –M.B

The book that I had was perfect for me and we got to learn how to read -S.W

The books were perfect –E.L

The books were too easy –A.S., G.A

The lights were too bright –Mx.S, S.W, A.Y

I needed more time –S.W.B.

The books I read were just right for me, I want them to be harder –M.S

We made a few changes to our Reader's Workshop the following day and the girls have been happy as can be!

Math

In Math this week we began Volume II of Bridges. The girls played the following games during Math time:

Beat You to 20, a game that is similar to Beat You to 10 and focuses on counting strategies.

Ten & More Sea Creatures: A game that uses the double ten-frames as a way to count quantities between 10 and 20. The double ten-frames are designed to help the girls both count on from 10 and skip count by 5s.

Count & Compare Pennies: A game that uses ten-frames filled with pennies. The girls quickly compare the quantities in their ten-frames (similar to the card game War) and spin to see if the high or low card wins.

Pattern Block Puzzles: The girls used triangles, trapezoids, rhombus and hexagons to fill the same shape three different ways.

Shark Week!

IMG 6970 from Lisa Dutton on Vimeo.
As part of our Sea Creature unit the girls learned about sharks last week. We sang the song Have You Ever Seen A Shark during Number Corner (math meeting) and the girls wrote interesting facts about sharks during Writer’s Workshop.

Here are some of the interesting facts that the girls learned this week.

Did you know…

-Big sharks eat seals. A.W.

-The Great White shark is the most dangerous shark. –G.H.

-Did you know that people kill 1,000,000 sharks each year. –Mx.S

-That sharks never loose the fight. –A.Y.

-That sharks do not breathe through their nostrils. –S.O

-When a pup is born, it will swim to find its food. Sharks have nostrils on their head. –G.A.

-Sharks can move their tails side to side. –S.G.

-A cookie cutter shark swims very fast. –L.N

-The Whale Shark is bigger than a bus. –Aa.S.

-A Great White shark is as big as a speedboat and a Great White has a bunch of weird stuff in his belly. –D.B.

-Sharks eat stingrays. –W.F

-The biggest shark is a whale shark. –S.W.

-Sharks have nostrils on their head. –E.L.

-1,000,000 sharks are killed each year. –N.S.

-The Great White shark is the most strongest. –M.B

-Sharks could swim almost 20 (miles per) hour and you could find anything in a white shark. –S.W.B.

-If a shark does not keep swimming it will sink. –E.H.

-A shark is born as a pup and sharks do not breath (with their nostrils), they smell food (with their nostrils) instead. –G.A.

-Sharks eat anything and their nostrils are on their head, and that they never sleep, and they are the only creature that eat sting rays and that they sink to the bottom if they stop swimming. –A.C.

-There are 300 types of sharks. –A.M.

-Whale sharks have 3,000 small teeth. –A.L.