I hope all the Moms are having a great weekend!

Kindergarten LA

Knuffle Bunny: Tuesday we finished our level 4 questions. Level 3 and 4 questions require even more thinking, making answers different, but also correct. Level 4 questions are opinions. We discussed how everyone can have different opinions and still be correct. The students then drew an item they loved as much as Trixie loved Knuffle Bunny. They needed to list three reasons why they loved their item. We will finish these next week. 

Kindergarten MA

Games and Graphs: Tuesday we played a fun 10 more/10 less math game. Each student had a card, the card said “I am *a number*, who has 10 more (or ten less) than *a number*?” The kids did a great job and had a lot of fun! Wednesday we worked on graphing again. Everyone had a bar graph and a different colored pencil. The students needed to go around and ask their classmates what they wanted to learn more about, such as space, maps and places, animals…ect. 

This was a fun activity and helps me get to know my students and their interests.

1^st Grade LA

Persuasive Paragraph: Tuesday the student wrote their persuasive paragraphs “Should parents buy their first grader a cell phone?” I am currently reading them and they are great!! Wednesday we completed our currents lesson’s homework rather than sending it home. The students were given a sheet of punctuation marks one could type on a key board. They needed to put 3 together to create an emoticon and share what emotion it was. We had so much fun!! The creativity in the class was going strong, I was seeing flowers and all kinds of non-emotional pictures and that was great to see. 

The purpose of this ‘homework’, like all homework during the year, has been to introduce the next lesson. 

With next week being High Ability’s last week, we will not be getting to the punctuation lesson, but the homework seemed fun and allowed me to touch base on punctuations.

1^st Grade MA

Unit Assessment: This week we took our Unit Assessment test. This test was over all the lessons we covered this year. It was given at the beginning of the year as a Pre-Test. 

I will be grading the Post-Assessment Test and comparing it to the Pre-Assessment.  All of the Unit Tests will be going home next week.

2^nd Grade LA

Answer Me This:

HOMEWORK: READ UP TO CHAPTER 43. ANSWER CHAPTER 42 QUESTIONS ONLY. THERE ARE 5 OF THEM.  

Wednesday we read with a buddy, I want to make sure we finish our book before High Ability ends next week. Thursday we worked with partners and answered review questions over Book the Third. 

I like to let the students work with a partners. This seems to help if they ever have a misunderstanding during their reading. As I walk around I am able to see students share their thoughts and opinions more than if it were a class discussion.

2^nd Grade MA

Chapter Check-Up and MORE TESTS: Last week we finished chapter 2!! On Monday the students took the Chapter Check-Up. This test shows me how well the students understood what we did in class. THEN……these rock stars went right into their Unit Assessment test. This test is over all the lessons we cover throughout the year. It was given at the beginning of the year as a Pre-Test. We will finish next week and I will compare it to the Pre-Test. All Unit Tests will go home at the end of the year.  

SHOUT OUT TO THE THIRD GRADE BABY CHICKS!!! 

THEY ARE THE ABSOLUTE CUTEST!!

3^rd Grade LA

Tic-Tac-Toe: This week we are trying to finish our tic-tac-toe projects. I will have the students take home at least one of their projects to complete. Next Monday we will be putting the finishing touches on any projects before we share them with the class Tuesday.

HOMEWORK: Finish Tic-Tac-Toe project and bring back MONDAY. If there are pictures, they need to be colored in. Please use your best handwriting.

3^rd Grade MA

Unit Assessment:  This week we took our Unit Assessment test. This test was over all the lessons we covered this year. 

It was given at the beginning of the year as a Pre-Test. I will be grading the Post-Assessment Test and comparing it to the Pre-Assessment.  All of the Unit Tests will be going home next week.

4^th Grade LA

*4^th Grade field trip, no class Tuesday*

Mystery Homework: With a field trip to the fairgrounds, I only had the students on Monday. Everyone continued writing their mysteries. The mysteries MUST contain the 5 elements chosen during class and be at least a page and half hand written. Some of these elements are pretty crazy. I can’t wait to see how their creative minds incorporated them into their stories. We will be reading our mysteries to the class next Monday. If their story was not completed, they will need to do so before Monday. All but two students will be bringing them home.

4^th Grade MA

*4^th Grade field trip, no class Thursday*

Unit Assessment:  Wednesday we took our Unit Assessment test. This test was over all the lessons we covered this year. It was given at the beginning of the year as a Pre-Test. 

I will be grading the Post-Assessment Test and comparing it to the Pre-Assessment.  All of the Unit Tests will be going home next week.

Hello May

Searching for educational enrichment this summer? Consider Duneland's High Ability Summer School! With the theme of "Do What the Romans Do," the 13-day program in June will focus on reading strategies and literature comprehension. It is open to current 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade HA students. The gold sign-up flyer went home a few weeks ago. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity!

Kindergarten LA

Knuffle Bunny: This week we read Knuffle Bunny and applied our ‘Four-Level Questioning’ to it. ‘Four-Level Questioning’ introduces students to the idea that a question can have more than one correct answer. We discussed Level 1 questions, questions that usually have 1 correct answer. An example question would be, “Where did Trixie and her dad go?” Next, we discussed Level 2 questions. These questions give us answers that could look a little different due to more thinking required for the answer. Our Level 2 question was “Why doesn’t Trixie’s dad understand what is wrong with her on the way home?”

Kindergarten MA

Graph Fun: On Monday we finished our skip count charts. Tuesday we had fun with graphs. The kids took clipboards and walked around asking their classmates what their favorite activities were on the weekend. Our class total was: Play outside: 3 students and 1 HA instructor, Watch a movie: 4 students, Sleep late: 2 students, Visit a friend: 2, and Go shopping: NO ONE.

1^st Grade LA

Persuasive Writing: This week I asked the students, Should parents buy first-graders a cell phone?  Believe it or not, the class was split!! I then separated the class into their ‘YES’ and ‘NO’ groups.Together the groups needed to brainstorm and fill out their graphic organizers and come up with 3 reasons to support their opinion. We will start writing these next week.

1^st Grade MA

Let’s Go Ask: Last week we were measuring with beaks and realized this may not be a very accurate way to measure. On Monday, we went around asking different staff members if they have ever heard of Imi or Zani (the birds in our math lessons). 
We then asked if they have ever measured using bird beaks, NOT ONE person said yes! However, the students did find out everyone they interviewed measured with inches. We decided this is because an inch will always be the same and everyone already knows what an inch is. As for beaks, they can be all different sizes. 
We then read the story Inch by Inch, and started measuring parts of our hands and items around the room with 1 inch straw pieces. This allowed the student to become familiar with what an inch looks like and to use as a ‘benchmark’ later in the lesson.

2^nd Grade LA

The Tale of Despereaux: Homework: Read up to Book the 4^th and REVIEW chapter titles. If you did NOT finish your journal entry, that needs to be done as well. On Wednesday we reviewed our homework reading and discussed the new character, Miggery Sow. We found connections between her, Despereaux, Roscuro and their fascination with light. 

On Thursday the students needed to answer a question the narrator asked at the end of chapter 28, “Do you think that it is a terrible thing to hope when there is really no reason to hope at all?” If they did not finish it during class, they needed to take it home and finish it. I told everyone I’d like to see at least half page answer.

2^nd Grade MA

Scavenger Hunt: This week everyone finished their scavenger hunt worksheet. Those who finished early worked on a Think Beyond card. These cards are simply extra trivia from our current lesson. This class loved them!!

3^rd Grade LA

Tic-Tac-Toe: The students are continuing their fairy tale projects. They are doing a great job working on them. I am giving them the choice to bring parts home to work on. 

Tuesday they may need to take a little home to work on. No big deal, the will have 6 days to work on what they bring home.

3^rd Grade MA

Can a Yeti come to school? : The students were read a scenario from our math books. This scenario told the student they were going to have a Yeti join their class. The building inspector from the story shared the federal regulations that there must be 20 square feet of area for each student or teacher. 

The class was divided into 3 groups, each needing to find a different 20 square foot rectangle. We then discussed which 20 square foot area would best represent how much space the Yeti would occupy in the class.
  

4^th Grade LA

Mystery: This week the students began writing their mysteries.  Five of their elements were chosen from lists they created with partners. Some of these elements are a little crazy! I can't wait to see how they incorporate them.

4^th Grade MA

Vocabulary Madness: We have finished our math book!!! We will be retaking the assessment test the students took at the beginning of the year to compare progress. As a review, I took ALL the vocabulary words we’ve learned over the year and spread them on the floor. I then had students go around matching words to the definitions and bring them to me. The student with the highest score was able to pick a prize from the prize box!! Great Job Sam!!!!!

~SPIRIT WEEK~

Wednesday was Twin Day Fun Day. I loved seeing all the twinning going on!!

*I was out of town Monday, therefore most of my LA classes only met once this week and 2^nd grade MA met once.*

  

Kindergarten LA

We did not meet this week. I was out of town Monday and Tuesday my classroom was being used for ISTEP.

Kindergarten MA

Missing Numbers: Wednesday and Thursday the students finished their missing number worksheet. The students needed to fill in the missing numbers of addition problems. Once they finished, they began working on a ‘Count By 5’s' worksheet. 

While you may think this seems easy, it got some what tricky. Kindergarten does an amazing job counting by 5’s starting at 0. This work sheet started like that. However, the next row had the students start later in the 100’s chart (i.e. 35), next, they counted by 5’s starting at 6 and also counting backwards by 5. 

To say the least, I have very bright students in this class!!!! And.....great taste in shirts! 😉

1^st Grade LA

Wumbers & Acronyms: Tuesday the students made up some of their own wumbers and shared them with the class. They came up with some great ones!! They also realized some number sounds were in a lot of words, such as 8 heard in b8 or 10 heard in bri10. Next, I introduced acronyms. Some students we not familiar with this word. Once we talked about some common examples, ASAP and FYI, they understood. We will discuss this in more detail next week and see how they may relate to wumbers.

1^st Grade MA

Measurement: Measure twice cut once, is what my dad always taught me. Last week we measured out 5 ft. on the floor with yard sticks. We then measured with bird beaks; we wanted to see how many bird beaks were in 5 ft. Our problem… all 3 groups came up with different answers. This week we REMEASURED, carefully to see if we could get our measurements any closer, 2 of the 3 groups matched. It was a great opportunity to discuss how using the same unit of measurement, a hand cut bird beak, could result in different answers. The students came up with some great theories to explain their differences: the beaks were not cut out exactly the same, there could have been gaps or spaces between beaks while measuring, or groups may not have measured in a straight line. These theories will be leading us into next week’s lesson, the importance of having standard units of measurement.  

2^nd Grade LA

All-Star reader of the week!

Tale of Despereaux: HOME WORK: READ UP TO CHAPTER 31 AND GET PAPER SIGNED. On Wednesday we discussed what was assigned to read over the weekend. The chapter titles in the book give amazing clues as to what the chapter is about. Last week I asked the students to make sure they could read a chapter title then summarize the chapter. I always have the same 4-5 students raising their hands. This week, after your child has read, it would be great if they could summarize their chapter reading to a parent, grandparent, older sibling or even a sitter. Being able to retell what they have read helps so well with comprehension.  

Along with their homework log, everyone should also have their “My Questions” worksheet in their books. While reading, if your child has a question or a word they do not understand, they can write it down and ask the class next time we meet. 

I love this idea, many times if one person has a question, others do as well. I then give opportunity to the class to help answer any questions their classmates have come up with. This is a win-win situation for all, questions get answered, and comprehension is practiced.

2^nd Grade MA

Scavenger Hunt: Tuesday, the students started a scavenger hunt around the room. They were looking for items with specific area in centimeters, inches and feet. We will be finishing this next week.

3^rd Grade LA

Tic-Tac-Toe: This week I introduced our Fairy Tale project. The class has read 3 different fairy tales. They then had to pick 1 project from 3 different rows, using a different fairy tale for each project. 

A few examples are: a Venn diagram comparing good guys and bad guys, drawing a map of the fairy tale from beginning to end, making it look like a treasure map, or create a flow chart to retell a fairy tale . These will be done in class for the most part. Only if class time is not being used wisely will anything need to be completed at home.

3^rd Grade MA

Think Deeply: Chapter 2 Lesson 2, You Break Me Up is complete! That means time for a Think Deeply. A Think Deeply is not the students favorite part of the curriculum, however they do a great job showing me if a student can explain what the lesson was about. Like in reading, comprehension is improved when a student can retell what is going on.

4^th Grade LA

Last of Lemony: This week we listened to the last of the Lemony Snicket mysteries. I have had them taking notes during these stories. This was not only help them solve the mystery, but to also notice when/how the author was placing clues and red herrings in the story. Next week they will begin to write their own mystery.

4^th Grade MA

Review: The students have finished Chapter 2!!!! Wednesday we reviewed with Kahoot, always a fun way to review. Thursday I had all of the chapter vocabulary flash cards on different tables. The students needed to find a word, match it to the definition, and then bring it to me. Of course these guys did a stellar job!!!!!