Being stuck at home recovering from the stomach flu equates to some much needed catch up time. Fortunately, for y'all, that means getting our blog up to date! The kids have been loving their role as Instagrammer of the Day, so I'm writing today to fill in a few highlights with shots that I've taken over the past few weeks (for the second time, since blogger didn't save my original post...)
The first two collages are of our first Page Turners meeting. Most of the shots are from our reading forts, and one in the second collage is of Kari sharing from The Long Winter. The kids were totally enthralled with the part of the story that she shared and with the photos of the real Laura.
The first two collages are of our first Page Turners meeting. Most of the shots are from our reading forts, and one in the second collage is of Kari sharing from The Long Winter. The kids were totally enthralled with the part of the story that she shared and with the photos of the real Laura.
A few weeks ago we attended Living Ag at the WF Fair Grounds where students were immersed in everything ND agriculture. The shots here are just a few of the ones that I posted on our Instagram feed as we toured each booth. Student favorites were definitely the live animals, honey, and dairy, and we also learned about corn, soybeans, beef cows, pork, and ag related jobs.
Jeff Thomas of Cornerstone Bank is our Junior Achievement presenter this year. He is teaching the class about entrepreneurship and all things small business. The students have learned about qualities that are important to entrepreneurs, how to design a business plan based on available resources, and how profit and loss can be impacted by a number of factors.
We wrapped up our study of the 5 geographical regions of the US (yesterday). We worked through the NE and the SE together, and then broke into 3 groups to study the Mid-west, Southwest, and the West. Students researched together using our text and then presented to the other two groups. Now we dive into studying our home state of ND!
Pulled out the selfie stick to show off the books we're reading for Page Turners! As each student finishes they are working on creating a Word Cloud to share about one or more of their characters. Excited to see them all next Thursday!!!
Last, but not least, this week (before I got sick), we started Math Workshop. I have never seen such excitement for math. Students work in 4 teams and rotate through 4 math activities each day: Mrs. Clarey (their daily lesson), At Your Seat (an assignment), Technology (using the iPads or the Smartboard to work on a variety of skills), and Hands-on (math games). They love math workshop because they get more opportunities to be involved and play math games everyday (research supports academic games for both engagement and skill mastery), I love math workshop because all students are engaged the entire hour, downtime is minimized, all activities target the learning goal or standard we are focusing on (or "beefing up" weaker math areas), and I can tailor my instruction to the 5 or 6 students seated at the table with me. You'll have to pull up this picture and ask you kiddo which team they are on and how their rotation flows. :)
