Monday, January 26, 2015

Planning, Practice, Painting, and MORE!!

Hello everyone,

Please enjoy these snapshots from last week with your child and leave a comment with your thoughts and impressions!

Open Choice Time:

Water Coloring
Homework Share Presentations and Documentations
Construction
Estimations
Equation writing with 10 Friends
New Games and Puzzles
























P.E. with Clara

Practicing passing the ball to a friend.






Art with Niki

Using different painting techniques









Robotics with Clara





Less or More Game:

I introduced a new game this week called:  Less or More.  I keep a secret number in my mind and friends have to guess if it is less or more than a certain number.  If it less than their guess, I cross off all the numbers that are more than their guess.  If it is more than their guess, then I cross off all the numbers that are more.  The goal is to cross off as many numbers at a time so that we can get to the secret number on the 100 chart.



Family Reader:

Thank you to Bridget, Sienna, and Hailey for sharing your favorite books from home with us!



Upcoming Events

We looked at the calendar as some friends were excited about the upcoming holiday, Valentine's Day, as well as the 100th Day of School.  We are in the works of organizing how we would like to honor these days together.


All-School Assembly

Bill's 5th Grade class shared their thoughts on energy use and production through a powerpoint presentation and reading facts to make us think about how we can help the Earth. 




In Other News:

Lock-Down Drill

This week, our school practiced having a lockdown drill in case of emergencies.  We prepared by discussing the safety agreements which were to listen for Donna's voice over the PA system, stop what you were doing, quickly and quietly get to the classroom and stay together away from the doors and windows.  When we did this drill, we played on the playground until we heard the message to go into a lockdown.  The kids did a great job of moving quickly and quietly into the classroom and staying safe together as I locked the doors and turned out the lights.  We talked about how in real life, emergencies can happen at any time and we could not always be "ready" but it's good to practice.  In case of a REAL emergency, we might not all be in the classroom together.  We might have to get into ANY classroom or safe place (office, bathroom, MPR, etc) and stick to the safety agreements:  move quickly, quietly, and get somewhere safe.  Wherever we end up, just stay where you are and do not come out until we come to get you or you hear the ALL CLEAR message.  We agreed that it was a scary topic to talk about, but feel it is better to be a little prepared and practice.

Journaling Inspiration:

This week was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  We discussed what we KNEW, what we were WONDERING about, and after we watched a video, we listed what we LEARNED about this special man.



This brought us to the discussion of what is fair and what is unfair.  The children worked together to generate a list of synonyms to describe these two concepts.  In their journals, they are writing about what they feel is unfair in their lives, today?  Come check out their work in progress when you can!


Have a great day,
Love, Gaby