During our math block, we are all working with number operations.
Students working with Ms. Buerger are focusing on using place value to add two digit numbers with one digit numbers. We'll move to working on subtraction next. Learning to use an open number line for both addition and subtraction is a strategy that we are becoming more comfortable with. Students are also working to compare tow-digit numbers by showing an understanding of place value. Students working with Mrs. Kopp are continuing to practice multiplying and dividing numbers one to one hundred, as well as, solving real-life and multi-step word problems. They are also working on connecting their understanding of multiplication in order find the area and perimeter of a given shape or space. Mrs. Moll's math group is working on strategies to use when adding and subtracting two and three digit numbers. Students are using a variety of strategies to show how they solve problems and how they break numbers apart using place value and landmark numbers. Lessons involve using a time line to show the years different family members were born. They then used the time line to solve problems to determine the ages of the family members at different times of their lives. All three rooms are reading many biographies. We are learning about the various contributions of important people. Who invented the shoe-lasting machine? What is a shoe-lasting machine? How are contributions Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King related? Students are using several resources to help answer the questions they have as they read about or hear a story about a well-known person. We are working to find and use evidence to support our thinking. Ask your child who they've learned about recently. You might be surprised!
One website we use is PebbleGo. Students are able to access it through our school website. In homerooms, all three classes are learning about how things have changed over time. We are looking at health, housing, food, jobs, transportation, education, recreation, clothing and communication. Each homeroom is researching two areas and will come up with a way to show the other classrooms what they've learned. On Monday, we had the chance to participate in a program called Google Expedition to go on a virtual field trip. The experience allowed students to go back in time and see a covered wagon and how people lived and traveled in the past. It was a great connection to our reading of Cassie's Journey.
We hope that projects are coming along and will be ready next Tuesday, April 12. As with the last project, we will send home the self-assessment for your child to complete. We will also send a copy of the project via email or a flash drive for you to watch with your child. The 76s and 87s continued a PALs tradition of making hats. We read several books about hats. Students enjoyed decorating their hats and could hardly wait to wear them! Each of the 76s and 87s also wrote about their hats. We hope you had a chance to see all of the hats hanging in the hall during conferences. This year the 87s presented the play "Caps for Sale". The 76s made and sold paper caps for the other PALs to buy. Learning about money and practicing counting and making change are skills we work on when we do our hats. Last Thursday the 1-3 PALs had the opportunity to participate in the Hour of Code. The Hour of Code, held world-wide, is a one-hour introduction to computer science designed to show people that anyone can learn the basics of coding. The Hour of Code at Stoner Prairie provided an chance for our students to explore a variety of activities including: a Sphero course, an Ollie partner communication challenge, coding with paper, markers, and Ozobots, Dash robotic grid challenges, Code.org (Minecraft, Star Wars, and Frozen), and new iPad apps to explore coding in multiple forms. There was also a family Hour of Code held last Thursday for families to try the different activities. Special thanks to Mrs. Huttner for organizing the "Hours" of Code again this year! We enjoyed our time at Seminole Glen Park today. After walking over to the park, the boys and girls spent some time playing on the playground. We had lunch and then the kids were divided into three groups for the three activities planned by the 98s. The activities included cooperative kickball, capture the flag, and a scavenger hunt race. The students rotated through each of the activities before it was time to head back to school. What a fun way to enjoy the beautiful day!
76ers Ms. Johnson-Corless is working with 76ers. We start our math time with calendar skills, looking at how many days we have been in school both in tens and ones and what that amount looks like on the ten frames. We also count by 5s and are working on counting numbers forward and backward to 120. Giving your child a number and asking them to count forward or backward within 120 would help to solidify this skill. We have been comparing numbers and dot patterns using the vocabulary greater than, less than, and equal to. We have done some work with ten frames finding combinations of ten. We will continue to find combinations of other numbers. As we are counting objects, we are focusing on accuracy and being able to share what strategies are being used (grouping objects, counting one to one, or counting on from a given amount). A continued goal is for students to be able to show their thinking on paper using numbers, pictures, or words. 87s Ms. Buerger is working with the 87s. Students are working to solidify their understanding of fives and tens in order to work with a twenties frame. Ask your child about the double decker bus and how the driver keeps track of how many passengers are riding. We are using different stories to learn and practice addition and subtraction strategies. Being able to compose and decompose amounts into groups of five and ten is a focus. For example, seeing 8 as 5 + 3, or 7 as 5 +2, is a way to visualize and become more automatic with the basic fact 8 +7. We will work on identifying and counting combinations of coins. Making connections of counting various groups of coins with our work with fives and tens will be a focus. 98s
Mrs. Moll is working with the 98s. They started the year with lessons from a math curriculum called iMath or Inspirational Math. The key concepts of these lessons were: *Having a growth mindset for mathematics is important. We can all learn math to any level we choose. Believe in yourself! *Math learning is best when we have opportunities to make connections between pictures and numbers. It is good to draw and to try to understand mathematics visually. Seeing patterns and making connections with patterns and numbers is an important piece to math. *Speed should not be a priority with math. Taking time to dig deeper, reflecting, making connections, and taking time to make sense of the math is more important than being fast. *Patterns are everywhere and they are very important in math. Patterns help us connect numbers and visuals which is really good for learning. *Mistakes help your brain grow! We learn from making mistakes and reviewing how we solve problems. Students challenged themselves to think about and apply these concepts as they worked through different activities which included: Four 4s, number visuals with the hundreds chart and dot pictures, paper folding, Pascal's Triangle, and growing shapes. It has been great to see the kids open their minds to trying new things and extending on what they already know. During the next few weeks we will be working on place value with larger numbers. Each Friday we have Book Buddies. All 1-3 PALs are paired with a 4/5 PAL in order to have the chance to share books together. Students spend time reading and talking about favorite books. It's a great opportunity for the 4/5s to show leadership and for the 1-3s to get to know an older student. Students are also working with their book buddies during our monthly workshops.
Our first science unit is called Structures of Life. We've started out by working with seeds. Students made estimates of how many seeds they thought were in various fruits. Those fruits included cantaloupes, peppers, watermelons, tomatoes and cucumbers. They then counted the seeds and wrote down properties of their seeds. Ask your child which fruit seeds their table group counted and how many there were. The vocabulary words we worked on include property, fruit and seed. Ask your child to name some properties of certain foods they eat in the next few days. Next week we will be sprouting seeds and recording the changes the various seeds go through over a span of time.
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