Math –
Ms. Andrea’s math group launched into a new math unit on time! We created a large clock together, then each made our own with moveable hands. These Betas remember so much from last year! This year we will focus on precision. We practiced reading clocks and drawing hands on analog clocks to the hour, half hour, quarter hour and every 5 minutes. We also learned a new game, sorting activities based on when we do them (AM/PM). Next week our discussion of time and schedules will continue, along with practice telling time down to the exact minute!
| 
| 
|
|---|
Ms. Kelly’s math group jumped right back into multiplication. We revisited the Commutative Property. Not only does this property work for addition (2+5=7 so 5+2=7), but it works for multiplication too! We also used the associative property for multiplication. We learned this property for addition way back so these guys had no problem using it for multiplication! The kiddos were given personal multiplication charts this week and many are utilizing it for faster independent work!
|
|
|---|
Reading –
Ms. Kelly’s spelling crew explored all the ways we can spell the long E sound. We tackled e-consonant-e, vowel Y (like in baby) and vowel teams ee and ea. We hunted for the various spellings of our long E sound in words, performed “surgery” on some big words with long E, slicing them into more manageable pieces, or syllables (We are getting darned good at coding the syllable types!!), practiced writing words with these patterns, and read texts with many words using the long E spellings.
Ms. Andrea’s spelling group learned two new R-controlled vowel digraphs: /ar/ and /or/. They are found in plenty of words, several of which were on our spelling lists this week. The Beta 2s challenged themselves to collectively miss fewer than 20 words on their spelling check-in this week and they did it – but shhhh! They won’t find out until Monday that they earned their prize of watching a Silent E Ninja music video :)
Book clubs are busy navigating dictionaries, tirelessly recording their thoughts on their novels, and engaging in small group discussions..
| 
| 
|
|---|---|---|
|
| 
|
Writing –
Our burgeoning Tall Tale writers are experiencing the genre of tall tales through the eyes of a reader, writer, and storyteller this quarter. Before we can write a Tall Tale we are reading several different stories and participating in activities which will help the kiddos develop an understanding of the elements of tall tales. By giving them opportunities to interact with these stories they will then use what they have learned about tall tales through their reading to create an original tall tale of their own!
We began our study of Tall Tales by listening to and summarizing the tale of Paul Bunyan. We built upon their understanding of Tall Tales by reading another variation of Paul Bunyan as well as a nonfiction account of how the tale might have originated & who it’s based on. We compared both versions of the Paul Bunyan tales as well as the informative text. It’s so interesting to notice differing details and exaggerations between the versions of the tale, while the overarching theme of the story remains the same. We likened the tradition of passing stories (often orally) down generations to a game of telephone, except at the end you still understand the story.
We ended the week with a Tall Tale featuring a heroine: Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind! Her adventures delighted us with their exaggerations and humor – especially when she battled an alligator gang! Sally Ann was born in Kentucky and, like Paul Bunyan, proceeded to travel around the wild country.
 |
| 
|
|---|
Theme –
New year, new quarter, new theme! Westward Expansion! The United States had been growing rapidly. In search of new land to plant crops and raise livestock, people had been expanding to the west past the Appalachian Mountains. As these lands became crowded, people needed more land and the obvious place to expand was to the west.
Thomas Jefferson wanted to buy the settlement of New Orleans from the French. It was a major seaport that was fed from the Mississippi River, making it important to many American businesses. He sent Robert Livingston, the U.S. Minister to France, to try and buy the land. In 1803, France offered to sell the ENTIRE Louisiana Territory to the United States for $15 million- 3-4 cents per acre. What a deal! The Louisiana Purchase was huge. It totaled 828,000 square miles and all or part of what would later become 15 different states. It doubled the size of the United States and made it a major world nation.
|
|
|---|
