Paper Crane

This week, one of our Wonder's stories was about a group of students making paper cranes for an art show. We watched a fun YouTube video on making paper cranes. I thought it looked really cool, and doable, but not with one teacher and 17 kiddos. So.... I told them I'd post the video and they could try it with parent help. If you brave it, send your paper cranes to school for us to see!

Pronouns

This past week we talked about pronouns and how they replace a noun. As an, at home, challenge, have your child write a sentence first using a pronoun and then replace it with a noun. Have he/she bring it to school to share. Example: They ran, like the wind, through the neighborhood looking for adventure. Our three dogs ran, like the wind, through the neighborhood looking for adventure.

Project Lead the Way

We have been learning about pollination and seed dispersal. Here, the kids are moving the pollen(flour) from one plant to another. We have learned about the parts of the plant that aid in this process. Here is a video we watched that does a great job of explaining seed dispersement. The song has a great, catchy tune that the kiddos loved!

Telling Time

In math, we have begun working on telling time. During an activity, the kids started talking about what time they were born and then that led into a whole A.M./P.M. discussion! I actually love when they begin applying a skill we are learning to real life moments. So... I told them I'd send them each home with a clock face to fill in with the time they were born. Please help your kiddo fill it out and then return it to school.

Directed Drawing

Kids love doing "directed drawings".  I love them...it's the only time I fell like I have some artistic ability. In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday I have attached a video for the kids to draw The Cat in the Hat, at home. Have them draw it and bring it in to share with their classmates.

Valentine's Day

Double Digit Addition

The kids have been working hard on strategies that help then solve double digit addition problems. We get to the traditional algorithm but before that the focus is really digging into what is happening when the numbers are added together. Some of the strategies that the kids use are: open number line, break-apart strategy and hundreds chart. Break apart strategy seems to be the preferred method for solving and really allows them to see regrouping. Give your kiddo some of the following number sentences and ask them to solve them using the various methods. It's really interesting to hear them talk about how they are solving it!!! 56+23   47+29   75+15

We are on an "off" week of Wonders so rather than skipping another week of spelling, I chose to work on some high-frequency words. That is why there are only 10 this week. As a fun activity, have your child "scan" the newspaper for the spelling words and see how often they come up. They can use a hilighter to mark them as they find them.