Weekly Photos Here
How the World Works has definitely been a fun Unit of Inquiry so far. We completed a scavenger hunt looking for wheels and axles, levers, pulleys, wedges, inclined planes, and screws in our classroom, the blue room, and our eating area. We watched a read aloud of the book ‘Stuck’ by Oliver Jeffers. I sincerely recommend you read this book, as it is very funny. This book was the beginning of an inquiry, how do we get down the tree using simple machines? In groups, students try to figure out ways to get the people, animals, and objects out of the tree they are stuck in.
Book week was a great success. Students from Grade 6 came down to Grade 2 and read to our students in groups. We had our book swap on Tuesday. Our students brought in old books to swap them with books others students brought in. The game Where’s Wally was played in groups during our morning recess. And last but not least our students were able to dress up as their favorite characters on Thursday. And we ended the festivities of Book Week with an assembly.
Student Led Conferences were a success. Students were in control of their own parent meetings. They discussed their goals in the future. They shared their strengths, what they are proud of, and what they need help with. They were able to show off their flip books, showcasing all their research skills. When the talking was completed students showed off their classroom, pointing out where everything went, explaining where everything is, and whatever workbooks they wanted to share. I am very proud of the students presentation skills from the experience.
Next week How the World Works will continue while we dive deeper and deeper into simple machines. I will soon send the home projects home, so keep your eyes out for it. This UOI you will look for simple machines in the home, identify one of each, and answer some questions. Questions such as, does it make your life easier, and can you live without it?
In English next week we will be introducing the vowel teams au and aw. Our writing focus is procedural writing. For 6+1 Traits Writing we will look at grouping together ideas and details to make your writing easier to read. We will be labeling simple machines and describing them. Our comprehension text will be an informational text about simple machines. So much reading and writing happening in the classroom, it’s amazing.
For math, subtraction with borrowing will be introduced with two and three digit numbers. Please practice this with your children at home, as the concept can be quite confusing for some students. In the class we utilize different strategies. These strategies are base ten blocks, expanded notation, number lines, hundreds charts, your fingers, and standard. Ask your child what strategy they like to use. What makes sense to you? Show your children what you did when you learned how to subtract.