In Math this week, we started by using pentominoes and trying to fit them together onto a grid. A pentomino is a shape made from 5 squares. Each square must touch at least one edge of another square, and the edges must all be lined up evenly. Using pentominoes improves spatial skills, but I used this activity this week for a variety of reasons. One reason I use it is that I find it to be an excellent way for students to start working cooperatively at the very beginning of the year. Students worked in small groups of 3 or 4 to create a rectangle using all 12 of the pentominoes. I also liked that this is an activity where students can fail safely and try again, building a growth mindset. It sounded pretty simple, but after students got together and tried multiple times and ways, we learned that it was much harder. It took the groups quite a while, which was great, because they were really: thinking, talking to each other, sharing ideas, speaking their thought processes, working together, and being persistent. While this activity was great for the students, it was also great for me! It gave me the opportunity to observe the students and start learning about them - how they approach tasks, how they interact with others, who takes charge, who will sits back and watches/listens. It's a fantastic learning time for me. We also began our first unit in Math this week on counting. Students rotated around the room to different sets of counters and practiced using different counting strategies to count them (making groups; counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s; lining up objects; stacking objects). They also had to write down the number of objects that we counted. If your child cannot count or write numbers to 20 (without reversals), please work on this skill at home. We also played number BINGO to see if students could recognize numbers from 1-30. Another Math tool that we learned how to use this week is a 10 frame. A ten frame is a simple graphic tool that allows students to “see” numbers. Understanding that numbers are composed of tens and ones is an important foundational concept, setting the stage for work with larger numbers. A strong sense of "ten" is a prerequisite for place-value understanding and mental calculations. Arranging counters in different ways on the ten-frame prompts students to form mental images of the numbers represented. Using a ten-frame, students can easily see that 6 is 1 more than 5 and 4 less than 10, or that 8 can be seen as "5 and 3 more" and as "2 away from 10." We practiced by putting the letters of our name in a 10 frame and seeing how many less than 10 our names were, and how many more letters we would need to make 10. We have also been working on mental addition through the use of subitizing cards. Subitizing is the ability to see numbers without counting. Subitizing is directly related to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (our curriculum), which stress conceptual understanding and number sense over rote memorization of mathematical procedures and facts. With subitizing cards, students use recognized patterns to discover properties and skills such as conservation, compensation, unitizing, counting on, composing and decomposing numbers, as well as understanding of arithmetic and place value.space. What I do, is show a card with a dot pattern (photos below) and call on several students to tell me how they knew what number was on the card. There is no “right” answer. Looking at the cards below I heard the students say:
In Language Arts, we began 'The Daily 5' program (you can find out more about it in our resources section of our website). Students learned about how to read to themselves and build reading stamina. We are currently trying to build up to 10 minutes of independent reading stamina. We've also been working on assessing students knowledge of letters, words and sounds through games. We enjoyed some time outside hunting and finding different letters and sounds. We hope to enjoy our outdoor classroom more next week. Our current Unit of Inquiry (UOI) is on 'Getting Along.' We began it this week by reading 'Have You Filled a Bucket Today' (attached below). This book is about mutual respect and happiness. I feel like this is the golden rule to getting along with others. Students then wrote and illustrated ways that they can fill, or dip into buckets. I encourage you to read this story again at home with your child and discuss 'bucket filling.' We also worked on getting along by completing a STEM challenge together with our new design and tech teacher Mr. Joe. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEM is important because it pervades every part of our lives. Science is everywhere in the world around us. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives. Engineering is the basic designs of roads and bridges, but also tackles the challenges of changing global weather and environmentally-friendly changes to our home. Mathematics is in every occupation, every activity we do in our lives. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, they will develop a passion for it and hopefully pursue a job in a STEM field. We used the design cycle to plan and build the tallest tower using given materials that would hold the weight of an apple. Students began by planning and designing a tower together. Once their design was approved by Mr. Joe students were told to build their towers. After they built them, they had to evaluate their designs, learn from mistakes, redesign, and plan how to improve their towers and make them better. It was so great to see students authentically communicating and working together to develop something as a team. I look forward to another great week of learning!
Please feel free to use the comments section below, or send me an email if you have any questions or comments about our learning this week.
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March 2018
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