Project-based Learning

The last two weeks...wow, have they flown! We have been busy beavers!!!

In writing workshop we have asked some tough questions about our characters. What is the problem they are facing (bummer!), and what do they really want. Our characters need to be believable and real, not too perfect or plastic. We developed story arcs (or plotlines...our plan for how our story will take place) and challenged ourselves to write multiple possible endings. We are now taking those story arcs and beginning to draft scene by scene. Our task will be big as we work to SHOW what our characters are going through using action and diologue, not summarize and relay the "play by play" like a sports announcer. The mentor texts we used this week were A Bad Case of the Stripes and Milo and the Mysterious Island. 

The first three stories we studied in our reading lessons were all focused on scientists and their work with animals. As a culminating projects we read a biography of Jane Goodall and her work with chimpanzees, which we will use to write a spotlight about her life. In order to take notes on only the most important information, I taught the class how to write notes "Tarzan style." We watched the clip from the movie Tarzan and Jane to compare how Tarzan and Jane communicate. Tarzan says very little, only the most important word, while Jane takes what Tarzan says and elaborates...greatly! Each time we determined a "Tarzan word" we wrote it on a post-it note. Next week we'll use these notes to launch our writing.

During math we are continuing to work with concepts of multiplication: finding factors, writing multiples, identifying prime and composite numbers, and applying multiplication strategies to games (like Factor Captor) and problem solving situations. 

The obvious favorite activity of the last few days has been our immigrant collage project in social studies. Unit 3 focused on 5 major waves of immigrants who settled the US: Native Americans, Spanish Americans, European Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans. Students are working in 4 groups to become "experts" on one of these groups, create objects to share with the class, and prepare a presentation to present to their classmates. Early next week we will put the finishing touches on our presentations and present to our classmates. The following week we will invite our first grade buddies for a visit and share our presentation with them as well!

This week's book recommendations (each title is linked if you want to find the book online)! #1 - Frindle. Anything by Andrew Clements is fabulous and usually pretty humorous! If you like this one there are many more by him to choose from! #2 - The Burger and the Hot Dog. Hysterical poetry about food! #3 - Top of the Order. John Coy is from the Twin Cities and has written many great books for boys. My family used to spend our annual summer vacation at a resort with several members of his extended family. A few years I was lucky enough to meet him when he was the visiting author sponsored by Valley Reading! This book is part of a series of books on boys playing sports. 

This week I introduced the class to a website called Wonderopolis. Each day they feature a new "Wonder of the Day." GREAT source of informational reading, and many of the challenging words have definitions that pop up if you hover over them. They have over 1500 Wonders and I believe all the past ones are still on the website!!! Yesterday we read about how fast bullets travel. SUPER interesting!!!

Last, but not least, and certainly not least important...last week Mrs. Fillippi visited with the class during her  lesson about creating a plan for being successful in school and achieving our best. She visited about making a plan for homework. After she left we brainstormed a list of "homework" activities that should be part of our weekly routine. Over the next few days off I would highly recommend visiting with your kiddo about what type of weekly plan you might develop for doing these things. We didn't establish a routine as a class since I know everyone has activities on different nights of the week. The following activities can and should be completed weekly as often as possible: 10-20 minutes of keyboarding, 10-20 minutes of practicing math facts, Weekly Word Writing, and 10-20 minutes (once we get our small groups going) practicing spelling words. You could choose one per night (i.e.: math facts on Monday, typing on Tuesday, etc), but it might be better to plan for 2 shorter sessions of 2 of these activities each night since shorter bursts of practice more frequently will lead to better retention of skills (i.e.: 10 min each of typing & math). 

Sofie's yummy birthday brownies!

Settling In

Wow, this week has really marked a turning point in our group. I finally feel like we've figured out our stride as a community of learners who are beginning to work together as a team. We still have many collaboration skills to work on, but I have been nothing short of impressed this week. Consequently, it was pj day on Friday!!!

First things first - planners. In the Back to School Night folder I shared that these will be completed daily, and students will be "checked out" prior to leaving. Planners are a tool for students to use to keep track of homework and take responsibility for their learning. I consider it my job to check them out and hold them accountable for getting accurate information home. I consider it their job and your job to read through the planner together at night, which typically takes 10 seconds or less. When you do read it, please sign the bottom. While I don't check for signatures in the morning, I do occasionally glance through while checking students out. I appreciate knowing that at-home accountability is in place. Thanks!

Next topic - homework. ALWAYS be spending time reading (average goal of 30 minutes or more per day) and running around. I am a firm believer in fresh air, being active every day, and putting down devices to interact with our friends. Other things to watch for...I generally send 1-2 math Home Links per week, and beginning this week you can expect to work on quick fact practice. If possible students should practice keyboarding for 15 minutes twice each week. If you don't have a computer at home please let me know as I'll send a photocopied keyboard home for practice. The bulk of our work IN class is out of a variety of journals, which means it's bound in a book and stays in our desks. While that is super convenient for me since I can look at all their work whenever I need to, I realize it's not as informative for my families. This is one of the reasons I love our blog; you can see what we are working on.

Writing Workshop - This week we dove headfirst into developing elements of our realistic fiction stories. The first collage shows our warm-up activity, when we practiced the art of storytelling using familiar fairy tales. We then spent the next few days developing our main character inside and out. What personality traits do they have, what do they love to do, what things drive them crazy, how do they feel about themselves and how do others see them, what do they wear, how do they treat others, etc. I've seen some fabulous characters sketches and can't wait to read the stories that will grow up around them. 

Social Studies...continuing to hone our map reading skills as we completed two more geography challenges. Learning about geography is so much fun and always makes me want to travel. 

Math...I have our Unit 1 assessments all graded and ready to return and...oops!...forgot to send them home on Friday. So sorry!!! They will come home Monday, I guess. If you haven't seen the Unit 2 Family Letter you better go backpack diving. Our next unit will focus on multiplication and geometry. Already we've identified the formula for finding the area of rectangles (area = length x width), investigated square numbers, and created arrays. 

First home "Book Study," I CAN Statements, Rules for Discussion

Happy second week of back to school season! Today I sent home our first at-home assignment (dun, dun, dun...). No worries, though, it should be a snap! These book studies are something that I'm designing and creating as we go, so if there are any that you love or are difficult to complete at home please send me a quick email! I'd love your feedback! 

If you already saw the pamphlet today after school, I only asked students to begin Task 4, which is logging their daily reading minutes. We will chat about the other tasks tomorrow or later this week as time allows. There are two purposes for this first book study. 1 - to better allow me to get to understand each student's reading interests and habits, and 2 - to set the tone for the year and establish a healthy habit of regular reading at home. The project will be due two weeks from Friday (Sept. 19). You will notice toward the end that there aren't enough blanks for every single day between now and the 19th. That's ok! If you want to log below the last line feel free, or just stopping at the bottom line is fine too. If you miss a few days and don't fill every single last one, that's ok! Life happens!!! Just encourage your child to read a little extra another day. I would much prefer honesty here than "padding the numbers." 

Next photo...a few of the learning targets we will focus on first. White are for math, and the first was our focus today. The pink is what we will begin with in reading. 

Last, but not least! Now that we are jumping into our first novel study (Because of Winn-Dixie) and Writer's Workshop we will work with other students in groups or partners DAILY. As part of our CARES rules we created our Rules for Discussion to make sure this time is always positive and productive! 

I can!

You will probably begin to read and hear statements that begin with the two words "I can..." quite often around Westside. Our Common Core standards have been rewritten in "kid-friendly" terms, and we are using a few each day to focus our learning and set goals for our time. They are so helpful, and I've been so amazed at how much more ownership students take in their learning when they know where we're going. It's hard to arrive at your destination if you don't know where you're going!!!

A few "I can..." statements from this week:
I can identify characters in a story and define setting.
I can explain how illustrations contribute to the words in a story.
I can use graphic organizers to plan my writing.
I can recognize when I need to double consonants, drop e, or change y to i when adding suffixes.

There are many more, but these stand out to me tonight after today's lessons!

Quick notes:

• Powerschool Gradebook: First few grades have been entered. Be sure to check through your Parent Portal access, and if you have any questions or need help setting up your account please contact Kristie in the office!!!
• Scholastic Book Order: Orders are due Friday. Either send a check and order slip by Friday, or order online using code GTTYN. Internet link was in the email I sent this afternoon!
• If you haven't yet, read my blog page titled "Homework." We are working on establishing activities at home to support learning in school and healthy living. Daily homework is to read, be active, and do a Home Link if one was assigned.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our blog and remain involved in your child's time in school!!!