2nd/3rd: Week of 1/27

Math –

Ms. Andrea’s math group practiced estimating & measuring like crazy! We also had several discussions about measurement, how and why we do it and why accuracy is important. We looked at inches, feet and yards as well as centimeters and meters. Paxton chose to measure a popcorn kernel – that was the only time we delved into millimeters :) We measured some pretty large items by learning a new skill: “marking our spot” and there were calculations to be done – mostly inches into feet but also inches into centimeters! The Beta 1s practiced ordering sets of items by length, including themselves! And we were finally able to dedicate some time to finishing off our early finishers’ extension packets from Semester 1. It was a full and productive week!

Ms. Kelly’s math group wrapped up their multiplication and division units with a division assessment at the beginning of the week and quickly moved right on to the land of area and perimeter! We have started with perimeter. We know that perimeter measures the distance around a shape by adding up the lengths of all its sides.These guys have already tackled some tricky perimeter problems by the end of the week!. Some of our challenges offered the TOTAL perimeter and only gave one side’s measurement. Our goal was to find the measurement of the other sides. At first we didn’t know what to do- but when we slowed down and talked it through with one another we figured it out!! Math rock stars y’all! ⭐️

Reading –

Ms. Kelly’s spelling crew has moved on to another long vowel. The long vowel I. Like all long vowels, there are multiple spellings for this one sound and we are tackling each through word chaining, word sorts, reading decodable texts with these patterns and more!

Ms. Andrea’s spelling group learned the 1-1-1 Suffix Rule: double the final consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel if: the base word has one syllable, one short vowel sound, followed by one consonant.

Book Clubs are hard at work. Two of our groups are finished! We will shake up the groups a bit and start with fresh novels next week. :)

Writing –

The Betas are in the beginning stages of writing their own Tall Tales! We reviewed the elements of a tall tale so we remember to incorporate these elements to create more than just any ol’ story. Tall Tales need to take place in the 1800s, so the main character needs to be someone who would have lived back then. Setting is key in a tall tale. It must be placed in the “Wild West”. In the mountains, near a river, on the plains. And of course our hero or heroine must have a super human ability, but not magic! Super human strength or speed perhaps. We got thinking and jotted down some ideas about our character and where the story may take place, just to get our creative juices flowing.

We also read our last Tall Tale- John Henry. The story of John Henry is about a steel driver who raced against a steam drill to prove that Black workers could be just as productive as machines. John Henry won the race, but died from exhaustion. We used this tale to review the elements of tall tale characters in general, summarized the story and mapped where John Henry was born.

At the end of the week our budding Tall Tale authors continued to build their stories. We focused on the conflict and resolution. The conflict and resolution in a tall tale follows a certain pattern. The conflict typically involves the trials and tribulations of surviving in the untamed west- conquering huge forests, wild animals, mountains, rivers, extreme weather. And the conflict is always resolved by the hero or heroine using his or her exaggerated human ability to fix the conflict/problem. We took a stab at creating a conflict and resolution on our graphic organizer. This rough sketch will get our wheels turning so we can begin to add more detail next week!

Theme –

Our wagon families are ready to roll! We kicked off Theme this week by discussing our pros & cons lists for traveling west from our P&P. Although many people cited very good reasons NOT to go, in the end the arguments in favor turned out to be more compelling and a few Betas decided they would make the journey after all.

Wagon families have worked hard to make items they’ll need to outfit their wagons. Essentials such as food and tools were top of the list. We’re geared up to start the trek.- It’s our DESTINY!

Manifest Destiny was the 19th-century belief that it was the divine mission of the United States to expand westward across North America. People who held that belief thought that it was the duty of Americans to spread democratic and Protestant ideals across the continent.

American journalist John L. O’Sullivan coined the phrase in an 1845 newspaper editorial. In it he spoke of America’s “manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our multiplying millions.” The roots of the concept, however, can be traced to American and European writers of the colonial period. They professed the belief that God had ordained them to supplant the pagan practices of native peoples in the West. Manifest Destiny thus provided justification for the United States to acquire territory all the way to the Pacific Ocean and beyond.

After learning about the popular belief that motivated pioneers in their pursuit of the West, we designed and created our own posters to urge others to join the adventure.

The soon to be Beta pioneers are experiencing what many did at the time- Hurry up and wait. “Hurry up and wait” during westward expansion refers to the situation where settlers would need to quickly pack up their belongings and travel long distances to reach new land, only to then face extended periods of waiting due to factors like slow supply lines, the need to establish infrastructure, or waiting for other settlers to arrive before they could safely move on, creating a sense of rushed movement followed by prolonged inactivity.

Because of this hurry up and waiting around, boredom could settle in. So to relieve some of that boredom kids would play with toys. One popular toy was the Buzz Saw. Noise making toys have fascinated children the world over for centuries. The buzz saw is one of the most popular noise makers of all time. It produces a buzzing sound similar to that made by a circular saw. They were made from wood chips, buttons, and circular-sawn or turned wood. In the days of the one-room schoolhouse, boys at school would often run a buzz saw into the pigtails of girls sitting at the desks in front of them! Even though ours are made of cardboard and don’t make much of a sound they are still a fun and colorful distraction, which is something kids on the Oregon trail needed!!!

We also used our waiting time to make some extra provisions. The kiddos prepared apples for drying so there would be plenty of snacks aboard our wagons!