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THORSday: Memorial Day for Thor
2/20/20
So many people came together to make our THORSday special, fun, and a true memorial. Thank you to everyone who emailed with support, sent in items, and gave tribute with green clothes! All day we wrote in green. Thor pictures were projected. In the afternoon I showed a Thor Memorial Video and then students completed some Thor-related memorial tasks. 1. Memorial Poster: Thanks to Estelle for designing this! 2. Rock Signing: Thanks to Daniel and Delaney for bringing in rocks. The rocks will mark Thor's grave. 3. Signing the paper that will wrap the "coffin." 4. Writing a Cinquain Poem about Thor. During all of this there were various green treats. Thank you for the following students' families for sending in green items: Emmy (green drinks in fancy bottles, gummy frogs, rubber play frogs), Delaney (cupcakes), Lola (green plates and napkins), Estelle (green flowers, sugar peas, pistachio bread, and green candy), and Charlotte (green grapes).
THORSday: Memorial Day for Thor
2/20/20
So many people came together to make our THORSday special, fun, and a true memorial. Thank you to everyone who emailed with support, sent in items, and gave tribute with green clothes! All day we wrote in green. Thor pictures were projected. In the afternoon I showed a Thor Memorial Video and then students completed some Thor-related memorial tasks. 1. Memorial Poster: Thanks to Estelle for designing this! 2. Rock Signing: Thanks to Daniel and Delaney for bringing in rocks. The rocks will mark Thor's grave. 3. Signing the paper that will wrap the "coffin." 4. Writing a Cinquain Poem about Thor. During all of this there were various green treats. Thank you for the following students' families for sending in green items: Emmy (green drinks in fancy bottles, gummy frogs, rubber play frogs), Delaney (cupcakes), Lola (green plates and napkins), Estelle (green flowers, sugar peas, pistachio bread, and green candy), and Charlotte (green grapes).
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Valentine's Day Party
2/14/20
Thank you to the families who helped make our party a fun event!
Valentine's Day Party
2/14/20
Thank you to the families who helped make our party a fun event!
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Thor's Clean Habitat
2/13/20
Thor's Clean Habitat
2/13/20
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Art Museum Field Trip
1/22/20
While at the Art Museum, students looked at pieces of art and learned about how art expresses stories and history. Art can also be viewed in many ways, showing different perspectives of the artist and of the viewers. We viewed art from Egypt and India, as well as other pieces. For the first time ever (in the 20+ years I've been going to the Art Museum), students were able to express themselves after viewing art! Each student wrote his/her name using ancient symbols and drew a symbol that represents him/herself. After viewing various art pieces in one of the rooms, students were given emojis and were asked to identify a piece of art that represents that emoji. It was a great trip!
Art Museum Field Trip
1/22/20
While at the Art Museum, students looked at pieces of art and learned about how art expresses stories and history. Art can also be viewed in many ways, showing different perspectives of the artist and of the viewers. We viewed art from Egypt and India, as well as other pieces. For the first time ever (in the 20+ years I've been going to the Art Museum), students were able to express themselves after viewing art! Each student wrote his/her name using ancient symbols and drew a symbol that represents him/herself. After viewing various art pieces in one of the rooms, students were given emojis and were asked to identify a piece of art that represents that emoji. It was a great trip!
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Book-a-Day Reading
1/6/20
We had a special reader today, thanks to a Power Prize Box coupon! What a great story read by a wonderful young lady!
Book-a-Day Reading
1/6/20
We had a special reader today, thanks to a Power Prize Box coupon! What a great story read by a wonderful young lady!
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Gingerbread Week Video
12/16/19 - 12/20/19
This is a video slide show of: building the houses, decorating the houses, Gingerbread Math, and Gingerbread Fun. The individual pictures are below.
Gingerbread Week Video
12/16/19 - 12/20/19
This is a video slide show of: building the houses, decorating the houses, Gingerbread Math, and Gingerbread Fun. The individual pictures are below.
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Gingerbread Galore
12/20/19
I placed a box of bags in the middle of a circle. Each student took a bag, with instructions to not open it. I read Gingerbread Friends aloud. Every time I said "gingerbread," students had to pass the bag once to the left. At the end of the story, students opened the bags and found a plethora of gingerbread goodies!
Gingerbread Galore
12/20/19
I placed a box of bags in the middle of a circle. Each student took a bag, with instructions to not open it. I read Gingerbread Friends aloud. Every time I said "gingerbread," students had to pass the bag once to the left. At the end of the story, students opened the bags and found a plethora of gingerbread goodies!
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Gingerbread House Math
12/20/19
Gingerbread Math covered: calculating the area and perimeter of a gingerbread house, the circumference and area of a round sugar cookie, and gingerbread problem solving stories. Thank you to the volunteers who helped out with the stations!
Gingerbread House Math
12/20/19
Gingerbread Math covered: calculating the area and perimeter of a gingerbread house, the circumference and area of a round sugar cookie, and gingerbread problem solving stories. Thank you to the volunteers who helped out with the stations!
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Gingerbread Houses - Decoration
12/19/19
Gingerbread Houses - Decoration
12/19/19
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Gingerbread Houses - Construction
12/18/19
Gingerbread Houses - Construction
12/18/19
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Muffles' Truffles
12/18/19
Our last day of Muffles’ Truffles involved the distributive property - and of course - a delicious treat of muffles.
Muffles' Truffles
12/18/19
Our last day of Muffles’ Truffles involved the distributive property - and of course - a delicious treat of muffles.
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Muffles' Truffles
12/5/19 - Winter Break
We started a new enrichment unit for multiplication and problem solving. The unit is called “Muffles’ Truffles.” The focus of this unit is the development of the open array as a model for multiplication and division. The unit used a series of investigations based on the context of Muffles’ Truffles shop. Muffles makes and sells truffles. His truffles are so scrumptious that the demand increases and he needs to hire a helper, Patricio. This story leads students into investigations. The first investigation (currently being solved) involves students figuring out how may boxes would be needed for various quantities of truffles and how many pieces of candy would be left over to make mixed assortments. This exploration is leading to wonderful insights about place value, multiplication, and division. Ideas will be presented and explained during Math Congress (when groups shared findings with the rest of the Math community) early next week. The pictures below are of students working through the math. The video below is what we envision the land of Muffles' Truffles to look like - just your imagination.
(Ignore the ice cream and picture truffles!)
Muffles' Truffles
12/5/19 - Winter Break
We started a new enrichment unit for multiplication and problem solving. The unit is called “Muffles’ Truffles.” The focus of this unit is the development of the open array as a model for multiplication and division. The unit used a series of investigations based on the context of Muffles’ Truffles shop. Muffles makes and sells truffles. His truffles are so scrumptious that the demand increases and he needs to hire a helper, Patricio. This story leads students into investigations. The first investigation (currently being solved) involves students figuring out how may boxes would be needed for various quantities of truffles and how many pieces of candy would be left over to make mixed assortments. This exploration is leading to wonderful insights about place value, multiplication, and division. Ideas will be presented and explained during Math Congress (when groups shared findings with the rest of the Math community) early next week. The pictures below are of students working through the math. The video below is what we envision the land of Muffles' Truffles to look like - just your imagination.
(Ignore the ice cream and picture truffles!)
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The THOR LOTTERY
11/21/19
Two families were willing to take care of Thor over break. Here's a video of the lottery, and of the winner's reaction. Thank you to both families for your willingness and excitement to Thor-sit.
The THOR LOTTERY
11/21/19
Two families were willing to take care of Thor over break. Here's a video of the lottery, and of the winner's reaction. Thank you to both families for your willingness and excitement to Thor-sit.
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The Big Dinner
11/13/19 - 11/22/19
(and a few days after Thanksgiving break)
Today's math inquiry had to do with a family-go-to recipe, Sweet Potato Casserole. I am basically required to bring it to every big family function. I can't eat it any more (because it has gluten, dairy, eggs, and loads of sugar), but I still make it for my family! I shared the video below (close to my secret recipe) - which was a hit. Many students asked for this video to be posted, so here it is! Afterwards, students used a ration table to determine how much money I would be spending on sweet potatoes.
($0.99/pound: solve for 2, 3, 5, 10, and 9 pounds)
The Big Dinner
11/13/19 - 11/22/19
(and a few days after Thanksgiving break)
Today's math inquiry had to do with a family-go-to recipe, Sweet Potato Casserole. I am basically required to bring it to every big family function. I can't eat it any more (because it has gluten, dairy, eggs, and loads of sugar), but I still make it for my family! I shared the video below (close to my secret recipe) - which was a hit. Many students asked for this video to be posted, so here it is! Afterwards, students used a ration table to determine how much money I would be spending on sweet potatoes.
($0.99/pound: solve for 2, 3, 5, 10, and 9 pounds)
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Book-a-Day Reader
11/19/19
This student pulled from the Power Prize Box a special coupon. He got to pick the book, read it aloud to the class, and lead the class discussion. This was fun! :)
Book-a-Day Reader
11/19/19
This student pulled from the Power Prize Box a special coupon. He got to pick the book, read it aloud to the class, and lead the class discussion. This was fun! :)
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The Big Dinner
11/13/19 - 11/22/19
(and a few days after Thanksgiving break)
This inquiry-based unit focuses on “the development of multiplication, including automatizing the facts, using the ratio table, and developing the distributive property with large numbers.” Students are grouped in pairs or trios to strategize, solve, prove, and present their findings to the mathematical community. You can read much more about this in an upcoming newsletter. The video below provided a funny kick off to the context of a big dinner.
The Big Dinner
11/13/19 - 11/22/19
(and a few days after Thanksgiving break)
This inquiry-based unit focuses on “the development of multiplication, including automatizing the facts, using the ratio table, and developing the distributive property with large numbers.” Students are grouped in pairs or trios to strategize, solve, prove, and present their findings to the mathematical community. You can read much more about this in an upcoming newsletter. The video below provided a funny kick off to the context of a big dinner.
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Thor's Clean Terrarium
11/15/19
Thor's Clean Terrarium
11/15/19
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COSI
11/14/19
Thank you to the PTO for providing such a fun scientific morning! After an all school assembly, grade levels got to explore stations around the gym with two things in mind: science and fun!
COSI
11/14/19
Thank you to the PTO for providing such a fun scientific morning! After an all school assembly, grade levels got to explore stations around the gym with two things in mind: science and fun!
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Halloween
10/31/19
What a fun day! Halloween Math (Candy Corn Towers, Halloween Arrays, Halloween Multiplication story problems), costumes, a parade, our class party, and yummy treats. Thanks to everyone who helped out!
Halloween
10/31/19
What a fun day! Halloween Math (Candy Corn Towers, Halloween Arrays, Halloween Multiplication story problems), costumes, a parade, our class party, and yummy treats. Thanks to everyone who helped out!
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Art-to-Go
10/16/19
Art-to-Go
10/16/19
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Thor
Week of 9/9/19
Thor communicates by barking! He is giving his encouragement and hellos. You can't see him in the video (he's hiding), but you can hear him.
Thor
Week of 9/9/19
Thor communicates by barking! He is giving his encouragement and hellos. You can't see him in the video (he's hiding), but you can hear him.
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POPSICLE DRILL
Friday, 8/30/19
This afternoon Mr. Robinson announced that we would be having our first POPSICLE DRILL in honor of a successful first full week of school. So, right after our first school fire drill, we enjoyed a special treat! Thank you to the PTO for providing the fun drill!
POPSICLE DRILL
Friday, 8/30/19
This afternoon Mr. Robinson announced that we would be having our first POPSICLE DRILL in honor of a successful first full week of school. So, right after our first school fire drill, we enjoyed a special treat! Thank you to the PTO for providing the fun drill!
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The Four 4's Math Lesson
Thursday, 8/22/19
I love math that involves deep thinking and problem solving! While I do use the Envision series, it is NOT the sole method of instruction. After reading the book “This Plus That,” about equations, I introduced the challenge: solve fore each number 1-20 using four 4s only. For example: 4+4+4-4=8. This lesson is a great match for learners at all levels! Some students were multiplying and dividing. I’ll leave the chart up for awhile so we can add equations to it as more are solved.
The Four 4's Math Lesson
Thursday, 8/22/19
I love math that involves deep thinking and problem solving! While I do use the Envision series, it is NOT the sole method of instruction. After reading the book “This Plus That,” about equations, I introduced the challenge: solve fore each number 1-20 using four 4s only. For example: 4+4+4-4=8. This lesson is a great match for learners at all levels! Some students were multiplying and dividing. I’ll leave the chart up for awhile so we can add equations to it as more are solved.
Check out this video of our classroom! I've been working hard to make our classroom GRRRRRReat!
Here's a sneak peek at our year of adventure.
(This was made a few years back, so the room looks a little different.)