Fabulous Weather Weekend

Fabulous Weather Weekend

 The weather was BEAUTIFUL, we needed the rain too! I hope everyone took the time to go outside and enjoy it!
~Great Running Weather~

Bailly's SUPER Word of the week:

School Spirit: enthusiasm and loyalty to one's school

1st Grade LA

Connections Continued: This week we defined the word categories as a group of things or ideas that are similar in one or more ways. I divided the connection cards we worked with last week among our table groups. Each table had to put the cards into categories and explain to the class why they chose that category. We have some creative thinkers in this group!! On Tuesday we discussed our unit generalizations. I explained we needed to find statements that were always or almost always true about connections. This activity needed a little guidance, it's a pretty abstract idea for a first grader, but they got it!! Last, for fun the students were shown different common signs and symbols. They needed to tell the class what it meant by the connection they made when they saw it. The best part of our class happened as we walked back to everyone's classes. There was a sign on the floor by the water fountain (can you make the connection😉), one of the kids yelled, "A CONNECTION"! Not exactly the best hallway behavior; but when a student gets excited to share what they've learned, I'm not going to complain!!

HOMEWORK: If your child did not turn in their 'Coat of Arms' packet this week, it is NOT too late. We will start to assemble everything on Monday.

1st Grade MA

Meeting Imi and Zani: Since our assessment test is over and done with we were able to start our math unit! The first week is introducing the students to Imi and Zani and learning our mathematician speaker and listener roles. Imi and Zani are 2 birds from the Amazon Rain Forest who create math games for the Amazon Birds Consulting Company. We will communicate with them over the year via letters and Think Deeplys. The birds will send letters asking for our help and we will send our ideas and responses through our Think Deeply writings. I will explain what a Think Deeply is in the next couple of weeks. This all makes our learning a little more entertaining. We were also able to jump into SHAPES with a "What's the Same About These Shapes?" worksheet. Our math curriculum is geometry based, shapes will become our best friends by the end of the year!

2nd Grade LA

Categories into Generalizations: On Monday the students shared their connection category examples with the class. We were able to see how connections could fit into more than one category. I then asked the class what other observations or GENERALIZATIONS they noticed about our connections. We figured connections: 

~show a relationship among objects, places, ideas, and people

 ~can be intellectual, physical, emotional, or social

~can change or stay the same over time

These generalizations are important and will be displayed in our room all year. Every lesson we will identify connections in poems, books, characters, ect. These generalizations of connections will be the back bone in our lessons. 

Next week we will continue where we left off. The students were placed in 3 groups based on one of the 3 generalizations they choose. Together, they will write 3 examples or reasons why they believe their chosen generalization is true. 

2nd Grade MA

Think Deeply: We started off the week with a sample Think Deeply. A Think Deeply is how we use words to explain what we have learned in our lesson. It enables the students to use their new math vocabulary to help explain their ideas. In this TD students had to identify from 2 groups which one consisted of ONLY triangles. While they found no difficulty in that task, they then needed to explain WHY a group was only triangles. They needed to use vocabulary such as polygons, triangles, vertices, and sides. They also had to include characteristics of these words such as closed vs. open shapes and simple vs. not simple shapes. We did this as a class to make sure everyone is using detail, vocabulary, and key concepts in explaining their math ideas.

3rd Grade LA

Your child should be able to tell you
 how this is an interaction.

Interaction Generalizations: We came to the conclusion that  interactions have three generalizations:

~Interactions can be accidental or purposeful.

~Interactions can be negative or positive.

~Interactions can have a fleeting influence or can leave a deep and lasting impression.

Once we were able to develop these generalizations the class was divided into 3 groups. Each group needed to give an example of BOTH parts to each generalization. A couple were having difficulty distinguishing between an interaction and a connection (what they studied last year). Making a list of NON-interactions helped a lot. The class was able see and discuss how a connection did not always mean an interaction. 

3rd Grade MA

Think Deeply: It's early, but we started one already. Third graders are going to be expected to write a little bit more in their Think Deeply this year. I will be expecting each lesson's new vocabulary to be used along with any new concepts or visuals. AND let us NOT forget the ever important PQA!!!!!!! The first TD we started together. Next week I will allow the students to finish then partner check. This will be a great time for the class to learn from each other through great examples OR guided help. I will be walking around listening and making sure everyone understands what the third grade expectations of a Think Deeply are.

4th Grade LA

Interview HOMEWORK: On Tuesday everyone was given an interview sheet for homework. The students were supposed to interview an adult about a 'Change' that occurred in their life. This is supposed to be a multi paragraph paper. Please make sure, if you are the one being interviewed, they use ALL the lines. Details are great to have when writing. It is due Monday. HOWEVER, I will take them on Tuesday because we will be journal writing about Change on Monday.

4th Grade MA

Fractions and Behavior: Going into my second year, I am finding 4th grade math to be my most challenging yet entertaining class. I'm not sure if it's the age or the age/subject combination but this class reminds me so much of the last year's (that's not a bad thing). I've had the students start bringing their Bailly Bucks to class. This bunch is a bit talkative. When we are in a small area with limited time it becomes very hard to accomplish everything in my plans. With that being said, the Bailly Bucks are working GREAT! I've seen a huge improvement in behaviors!! 

Now about those fractions. We are almost done with our equivalent fraction folds. On Thursday the students finished their 1/5 strips and needed to go on to 1/10 strips. All of the equivalent fraction strips we are making will be used in our next section. Making these strips allow the students to see the relationship between fractions, such as: 1/3, 1/6 and 1/12 or 1/5 and 1/10. 

*My tablet was not saving pictures for whatever reason this week. It is fixed and ready to go for Monday*

Blink

BLINK...AND THE WEEK WENT BY!!
(So did the weekend!)
Short weeks go by so fast!! BosFASTic Fast.

Bailly's Word of the Week

FAMILY = relatives or members of a social group who care about one another. 

1st Grade LA

Graphic Alphabet and Connections: This week we started our Language Arts curriculum. Tuesday I read  The Graphic Alphabet. In this book the author/illustrator designed each letter form to become the word it represents. On every page I covered the word and the class had to tell me based on connections, what the letter picture was. Doing this made the children form a metal connection in order to solve the picture puzzle. Next, we did a matching game where everyone received an index card with a word written on it. They had to move around the room and find their connection word. A few examples were, dog/bone, fish/water, brother/sister; everyone did a great job!!

You will notice throughout the year our curriculum emphasizes A LOT on connections. 

HOMEWORK:

You should have received a packet from your students on Tuesday. In the packet there were 2 sheets of 'patches'. Your child is to draw 6-8 black and white pictures that represent personal connections. The packet also included 4 'Coat of Connection' sheets where your child will explain their personal connections. You will NOT need to cut these out and make them into a booklet. 

Please Remember this should be STUDENT lead, PARENT guided. 😉

1st Grade MA

TEST TIME: This week in math we took our beginning of the year assessment test. This test shows me how familiar the students are familial with concepts we will be learning in HA. I informed the students there may be questions they are unsure of and to simply try their best!! The students will take this same test at the end of the year to see the growth they've made. Therefore, I will not send this test home until the end of the year along with the post test. 

2nd Grade LA

CONNECTIONS: Like last year, a lot of our curriculum will be centered around connections. On Tuesday, we discussed connections and categories. The students worked in pairs and had to place given connections into categories THEY created. They realized many connections can be placed in more than one category. They also discovered one person's connection may or may NOT fit into another person's category. We will talk about our connection categories next week.

2nd Grade MA

TESTING AND INTRODUCTION: Wednesday the students took their assessment test. This test is to show me how familiar the students are with the material we will cover this year. I will give the same test at the end of the year to see growth they've made. For this reason the test will NOT be sent home until the students are given the post test at the end of the year. 
Thursday was our introduction into our new math. We went over the expectations of how a math speaker and a math listener should act. In math we spoke about 'adding on' to people's ideas to help figure out problems. We did a fun activity 'adding on' to a class story, you should ask you child about it!!!   

3rd Grade LA

INTERACTIONS: Tuesday was a fun day! Our Language Arts started off with the concept of interactions. The class was placed into pairs and had to act out 3 different interactions they were given on strips of paper. The rest of the class tried to figure out what they were acting out, charades if you'd like. After everyone went and we wrote our ideas on the board I had them try to guess what they all had in common. They were all INTERACTIONS. 
We will dig deeper in this topic next week. 

3rd Grade MA

ASSESSMENTS AND SARAH: Wednesday the students took their assessment test. This test is to show me how familiar the students are with the material we will cover this year. I will give the same test at the end of the year to see the growth they've made. For this reason the test will NOT be sent home until the students are given the post test at the end of the year. 

Thursday we started our math unit with 'Repeating Patterns'. The students were asked if the name 'Sarah' was repeated 30 times, how many times would the letter 'S' appear, how many times would the letter 'a' appear? The students realized they could use multiplications with number patterns rather than writing the name 30 times!!!!

4th Grade LA

CHANGE: Like last year, the concept of change will be the basis for our curriculum. Tuesday we discussed the definition of change. I gave the students 5-10 minutes to come up with as many examples of change as possible. I then split the class in half and had them try to categorize their examples. They will share these categories next week and we will develop some generalizations about change. 

4th Grade MA

ASSESSMENT AND FRACTIONS: Wednesday the students took their assessment test. This test is to show me how familiar the students are with the material we will cover this year. I will give the same test at the end of the year to see the growth they've made. For this reason the test will NOT be sent home until the students are given the post test at the end of the year. 
Thursday we jumped right into our math unit on equivalent fractions. Thursday we took 12" strips and folded them in halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths. Next week we will finish our strips with 7 more equivalent fractions, discussing how we were able to use the last strip to help us divide the next one. 

BOSFASTIC BOSTER

As learned through Leader in Me, we have the ability to create our own weather. This past year, I have learned we not only have the ability to create, but TO BE our own Superhero.

Here's to a great year of learning, achieving and succeeding as Superheros do. 

OUR FIRST WEEK!!

It was great seeing all the new and familiar faces this week!!  Since I only have the students for 30 minutes a day, it is imperative to spend this first week on introductions, schedules and classroom procedures. With such limited time, we have to run like a well-oiled machine.
Our first day of classes I introduced myself, my likes, my hobbies, my children and my expectations. The students also filled out a "How I Learn" worksheet. This gives me a little incite as to who works better alone, with partners, with quite music, in complete silence, ect.

Of course, once business was taken care of, the 'Get to Know You' games and activities came next. We have some new faces in many of our classes and a couple new faces to Bailly in general. I feel it is extremely important to not only welcome them, but to make them feel a part of the Bailly Family. Some of the classes worked on a get to know you Bingo, where they needed to find classmates who matched the statement a square. An example would be, "who went swimming this summer?" My older math classes were given a directions sheet to follow. I informed them, not following classwork directions could be the difference between getting a problem right or wrong, no matter how much they understand the topic. It was quite funny to see their reactions when they realized the direction they skipped. Definitely ask them about it!!  
One of the last get to know you games we played was the Circle of US, with the goal of finding SIMILARITIES in our classmates. We sat in a circle, one person without a chair, standing. The person standing told us their name and a fact about them they believed to have in common with their classmates. Next, everyone who shared that fact had to get up and find another seat. The last person standing started it all over again with their name and a new fact. The goal was NOT to be the last person standing, but I found many were WANTING to be without a chair. They put their own twist to the game..... I expected nothing less. 😊

~Enjoy some pictures from our first week.~

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade