Today we got to meet our kindergarten buddies! Our 5th graders were such good role models and helpers as they met with their buddies for the first time this year.
We have been continuing our activities and discussions on effective collaboration this week. We completed a "Marshmallow Challenge", deciphered codes as a team to open locked boxes, and tried our best to lower a meter stick to the ground as a team. We also discussed the responsibilities we have to each other as a community of learners.
In math we have been exploring different configurations of boxes with the same volume. Students worked with a partner find all the possible boxes that could hold 24 oranges. How did they find them all? Some groups figured out a system, while others thought about factors of 24. Next week we will build on our new knowledge and discuss multiplication strategies that can simplify more difficult problems.
In reading we are settling into our good fit books and starting to focus on building our own ideas about our books as we write about our reading. Students should be spending 3-5 minutes after they read in the evening to reflect about what they just read and possibly build on previous ideas.
In writing we jumped into our first writing unit: personal narratives. We will spend the next week and a half generating lots of small stories that we can then choose from to turn into a published piece. We are still working to increase our stamina for writing without losing focus, but we are making progress!
Here are some pictures from this week and last:
In math we have been exploring different configurations of boxes with the same volume. Students worked with a partner find all the possible boxes that could hold 24 oranges. How did they find them all? Some groups figured out a system, while others thought about factors of 24. Next week we will build on our new knowledge and discuss multiplication strategies that can simplify more difficult problems.
In reading we are settling into our good fit books and starting to focus on building our own ideas about our books as we write about our reading. Students should be spending 3-5 minutes after they read in the evening to reflect about what they just read and possibly build on previous ideas.
In writing we jumped into our first writing unit: personal narratives. We will spend the next week and a half generating lots of small stories that we can then choose from to turn into a published piece. We are still working to increase our stamina for writing without losing focus, but we are making progress!
Here are some pictures from this week and last:
Have a great weekend!