Investigating Place Value Through Challenge Problems

   Students use what they know to solve a complex problem.  The focus of this lesson was not to get the correct answer but rather to think about all of the foundational skills we have learned and use them to solve a more complex problem.  47+26=

Indoor recess fun with new games

Students enjoyed the game a student donated to the class in honor of their  birthday.  Robot Turtles is a great game to introduce the basics of programming.  They did an amazing job, reading the directions, teaching their friends and playing the game.   

Making Card for the Community

The students loved making cards for the Grand Traverse Commission on Aging to distribute this holiday season.  Spreading kindness one action at a time...

   

Reindeer listening Activity

Students listened to directions and drew their interpretation of the directions on this directed art activity.  They turned put adorable!  They will make great decorations in your homes for many holiday seasons to come!

     

More STEM sharing

We sneak opportunities in where ever we can for the students to share their S.T.E.M. projects.  Here were a few students presenting about their October projects on Candy.  Don't forget the challenge for November/December is to make a game and bring it to school on Thursday December 22 to play with your friends.  

   

Leaving marks on people's hearts

We started a lesson that has been done in schools across the nation from Kindergarten to college.  We had a class meeting and talked about hurtful vs helpful actions and words.  The students all shared something they have done or said and dropped the apple to represent the harm the receiving person's heart felt from those actions or words.  We looked at the apple, the outside was still intact and appeared to be fine.  

"It really doesn't look any different Mrs. W."
"An apple is still an apple."

We returned to that apple today at our class meeting and cut it into several pieces.  The students shared with their peers about what they saw.

"It's mushy."
"It's brown and yukky."
"I would not eat it."

We talked about how often times students do not show emotion when hurtful things are said or done to them.  We talked about how the apple looked pretty "normal."  Then students started making the connections about how the apple was treated that way over and over and some people are treated like that too.  They realized that what seemed like a small hurtful action to them could have a lasting impact on others.  We ended the conversation by thinking about ways to spread kindness in the community.  How can our actions and words build up others and not bruise their hearts?  Be sure to ask your child about their kindness calendar created last week, how many kind deeds can they do?  How do we create habits, we practice the skill over and over and soon it becomes second nature. Shaping good humans one day at a time! 


      

The Polar Express

We loved watching the Polar Express at the State Theater as our class Holiday party.  When we returned to school, we read the book and compared the two.  We took a survey to see which the students enjoyed more.  17 students liked the movie better and 5 enjoyed the book more than the movie.  It was a great day!


   

Candy Corn Contest

We have been reading The Candy Corn Contest as our read aloud for the past two weeks and the students wanted to have a contest just like the book.  I filled two jars with candy corn and for every book they read at home, they could make a guess at how many candy corns were in the jar.  The winners for to take the candy corn home the day before Thanksgiving break, some planned to eat the candy corn, others planned to use toothpicks and build with them.  Three students tied with their guesses of 200 and shared the 223 candy corns from their jar and another student won the 2nd jar with a guess of 320 and the jar contained 337.  Tomorrow we find out what happens to the winner in our book.  

Traverse City High School Food Pantry

Friday we surrounded the amazing outpouring of generosity from our Westwoods Community.  What started in our classroom, quickly spread building wide.  People caught wind of the good we were looking to spread here in the Traverse City Area.  We have been reading books about kindness and generosity and the students have been loving brainstorming all of the amazing things we can do daily to have an impact of the lives of others.  

Mary Preston, the volunteer at the Traverse City High School Food Pantry cried as we unloaded the final boxes of food and daily necessities.  She has been running the pantry for 10 years and said she has never see the need this high and the shelves so bare.  Thank you for making a difference in the lives of many.  

They accept donations year round at Traverse City High School  3962 Three Mile Road North, Traverse City, MI 49686.  Checks can be written to Traverse City High School Food Pantry.



 

Native American Month

Lois Beardslee, a local Native American author and often a guest teacher at Westwoods, shared about her culture on Friday.  She practices rare traditional Ojibwe (Chippewa) art forms, such as sweetgrass basketry, porcupine quillwork, birch bark cut-outs and bitings, and beadwork.  Mrs. Birdseed (as the students call her) loves storytelling and sharing about her culture and her upbringing as a Native American woman.  She taught the students how to make some traditional art using symmetry and objects from nature.  Mrs. Birdseed brought in some birch syrup for the students to try that she tapped and boiled with her family on the northern shore of Lake Superior.  The students asked great questions and loved hearing her stories.  You can check out some of her books on Amazon by clicking here.


    

Vertical and horizontal equations

Students are starting to explore horizontal and vertical equations.  This exploration has created several in depth discussions about the symbols (+/-) and what our understanding of these symbols might be.  Several students has misconceptions that that when you change from a horizontal equation to a vertical equation that the symbol does not need to be consistent.  We used pictures, manipulatives  and conversation to help clean up the misconception and make the connections that vertical or horizontal, these equations represent problem.  We practiced reading equations both horizontally and vertically and we will continue to work on this concept as the year continues.





 

Flexible seating options continue to increase

Students are loving having choice in their seating, adjusting when necessary and finding a place where they learn best.  A HUGE than you to all of the donors to our Donors Choose grant.  I can't wait to see the long term impact of students self regulating and making choices about themselves as learners.  


  

Veterans Day visitor

Mr. Hawkins invited a special guest to the classroom in honor of Veteran's Day.  His father, also Mr. Hawkins, shared with the students that Veteran's Day is an opportunity to thank those who protect our freedom.  He talked about the different branches of the military and how Veterans could have served in any of the branches.  Mr. Hawkins shared his father's Army uniform and his American Flag.  





 

S.T.E.M. Sharing

Students have started sharing their October S.T.E.M. projects with the class.  They have loved sharing their ideas, planning, materials, failures and plans for their next projects.  There is not a due date for these so if you are still working on them, send in those pictures as you finish up, we are loving it!