Friday, February 27, 2015

Using place value a variety of ways!











We are wrapping up a place value unit in math.  Students are learning how to manipulate a base 10 system and represent numbers a variety of ways with manipulatives, tens frames, tallies, and drawings.  Ask your child to show you the many ways they know to represent numbers.  

Spanish Fun

Here is a quick video of some Spanish fun.  The students LOVE Mondays and Thursdays because Senora Hazen create fun and engaging activities for them to practice their Spanish skills.  

Spanish Greeting

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Donors Choose

We are knee deep in our Opinion Writing Unit and wanting additional mentor texts to use to help us learn more about opinions, what makes an effective opinion and how to disagree with other's opinions appropriately.  We also are exploring characters and using what we know about characters to help us strengthen our reading comprehension.  We have made a Donors Choose Grant for new materials to help us on our journey.  If you would like to help, please feel free to donate at the link below.  This week only use the promo SPARK and an anonymous donor will match your donation.  Yes, you heard correct, match!  Thank you for helping us explore new texts to push our thinking in both reading and writing.  

Mrs. Walter's Donors Choose Project

Monday, February 23, 2015

Here is a great resource for indoor movement activities

Check out Go Noodle and create a FREE account to access hundreds of fun body movement activities to have fun with your child(ren) inside on these frigid days!

Don't forget about the TCAPS 24/7 site, they update this often with new learning opportunities for all abilities and interests.  

Monday, February 16, 2015

Valentine's Day Fun

Here is a fun video of our morning!  Mother Nature couldn't keep us down in room 45!  We traded snowshoes for Beach attire and a dance party!


Valentine Day Fun


Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Spreading the Love for Reading ❤️




My heart swells with joy as I look at all of these amazing resources donated to our classroom this year to help spread the love of reading.  We are so blessed to have such amazing friends, families and extended families that constantly support us.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Demonstrating evidence of our learning





Students provide evidence for their thinking when using place value to compare ones and tens within numbers.  A simple, I just know it, doesn't work for explaining your thinking in our classroom.  Students are working hard to dig deep into their thinking and explain actually how they know something or figure something out.  I am in awe everyday over their dedication to this task and the pride they take in discovering their thinking patterns and problem solving skills!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Taste testing






Students sampled five types of chips on Monday as the launch to our new writing unit on Opinions.  We lined up the types, tried each of them and then made a decision about our favorite and gave reasons why we enjoyed that one the best.  Today, students will sample their favorite again before writing their opinion on the chips and details about what they liked or didn't like.  
We tried Garden of Eatin' Butternut Squash Tortilla Chips, Lay's Dill Pickle Chips, Garden of Eatin' Blue Corn Tortilla Chips, Garden of Eatin' Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips, and Great Lakes Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips.

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

PolyCom with Australia on Slime











Students partnered with schools around the country and a presenter in Australia to learn about Slime.  We watched the slime being made and then had an opportunity to explore it ourselves.  

Want to make slime at home?

Cover your table or surface with a waterproof table cloth.  You need cornstarch, water and food coloring.  First drop a few drops of food coloring into the water.  Watch as the food coloring sinks to the bottom (the food coloring is more dense than water).  Next add a few spoonfuls of water to the cornstarch and mix with your hands.  Slowly add water until a nice slime consistency is formed.  Explore what happens to the slime as you add pressure (close some into your fist, it should harden) and then release the pressure (open your fist and it should liquefy).  Tap your finger on the mixture, watch what happens.  

Here are some fun videos about Cornstarch Slime





Visitors from West Middle School



Monday special visitors from West Middle School came to our classroom to read us a story and talk with us about the book.  We heard Stellaluna.  The students enjoyed this fun experience.

Counting Money





We are done exploring money for fun and have started into the real fun of learning to count money.  Students are learning a variety of ways to make our daily totals.  Today we practiced counting money to $.30  Students shared their ideas with peers, checked their work and revised their thinking based on their conversation.  

Help your child practice this new skill at home.  We are just exploring pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.