Math
This week, Ms. Andrea’s math group wrapped up Unit 3 with some tricky word problems. They ran the gamut – some had three addends, others had two steps to solving. The problem that challenged us most had an unknown start. To solve, first we created a subtraction sentence with a missing “big daddy,” then we turned it into an addition problem to solve!
The crew ROCKED their unit assessment and previewed their next unit with a pre-assessment. We are so excited to finally learn how to regroup! At the end of the week we launched Unit 4 by practicing solving double digit addition and subtraction problems using mental math and a 120 chart.
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Ms. Kelly’s math group has been subtracting across zeros this week (example- 500-287) and what we thought was going to be super hard, especially when we’re just learning, turned out to be not so bad. Actually, we kicked some zero’s behinds! Plus we got in some extra practice with both addition and subtraction with friends as we come very near to closing the addition and subtraction chapter for a while. One more week and we move on to multiplication!
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Literacy
Book Clubs are awesome because they attend to their book club text with more motivation, depth and stamina than they do with other independent reading selections. They look forward to discussion days and bring insightful observations and compelling questions to the table. They leave discussions with new and shared understandings and thinking, and that is co-created within the club. They read with more passion and perseverance. They hold each other accountable through the shared experience. Yay Book Club!
We began a new writing unit this week. An opinion piece! But first we needed to make sure the kids could distinguish between fact and opinion. And what better way than moving our bodies as we learn! Move to the left side of the carpet if what Ms. Andrea says is a fact! Move to the right if it’s an opinion! After practicing together, the kids tried distinguishing between fact and opinion on their own with a fact and opinion sort. The Beta’s enjoyed taste testing a few types of Halloween candy and recorded their observations using all five senses. Then they practiced forming opinions about their favorites and backed them up with specific reasons. We also took a look at advertisements. Ads often tout some very big statements about their product. And even though there could be some fact, often it is laced with opinion! The BEST! A must have! Once in a lifetime! The Betas created an ad about an ancient Egyptian product, inserting lots of opinions to try to hook a potential buyer in!
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Theme
We are exploring the day in the life of different people in ancient Egypt. We learned about farmers and soldiers and we all agreed after reading that the soldiers’ jobs were much more demanding! We thought it would have been the opposite and the farmers had it harder! Even though there were great periods of peace and the soldiers didn’t need to fight, they were still training hard AND they were put to work lugging stones up mountains for a pharaoh’s tomb or digging irrigation canals for the farmland.
We worked on our Peep houses- making beds, tables and stools so the Peeps can relax a little! And after learning about a day in the life of an ancient Egyptian craftsman, we chose a trade for our Peeps and got busy making! Mini jewelry, bows and arrows, pottery, furniture, rugs, tools and even food to barter with. When we were finished making our goods, we displayed them in front of our houses so our things would look more enticing to others.And then we did some bartering! One loaf of bread for a watermelon? How about a rug for that necklace? A plate and bowl for this stool? The Peeps all came out on top with everything they needed and felt like they got a fair deal!
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