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| Where's that baby? (Click the image for a closer look) We charted our due date predictions and found minimum, maximum, range, median, and mode. The due date was 4/17, but my 2 year old son was 12 days late. Looks like all but 3 students' predictions have already been disproven. :) I'll keep you all posted! |
Lots of learning continues in room 264. Here's the latest:
Math
Continued working on Unit 9, which is focused on:
- Naming equivalencies among fractions, decimals, and percents.
- Using data tables, organizing and tabulating survey data, & ranking and comparing percent data
- We'll soon introduce multiplication and division of decimals by whole numbers by first ignoring decimals, doing x or /, and finally estimating to determine where to place the decimal
- Example 2.4 * 9 --> Figure the problem: 24 * 9 = 216. Then estimate: 2.4 is ~ 2. So 2 * 9 = 18. The answer must be a little larger than 18. Use this to place the decimal so that 216 is now 21.6
Writing
- Students are now working hard to finish up their fictional narrative story rough drafts
- They're putting all that they've learned over the course of the year and this unit to use
- Many have done significant revision, rethinking and reworking of their story mountain plans
- Next up is revising, editing and publishing these stories--I can't wait!
- Be sure to ask your student to tell you about the story they are writing. What does their character deeply desire? What do they struggle with? Ask how your student is planning to show, not tell these things.
Social Studies
- Students read a Pacific Rim text, and then researched and took notes in order to learn more
- We read a narrative story called, Zapizapu. Ask your student to tell you about the message of the story and how it connects with Pacific Rim. Also, what was the story map that we did afterward?
- We did a whole class pictorial in order to learn more about Japan. We pulled the information and put it on a mind map and later our process grid (the place where we'll record information from different categories about 5 different Pacific Rim countries)
- We started team tasks and expert groups. Ask your student to tell you more about these.
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| Narrative--Zapizapu. Ask your student all about this story and the story map we created. |
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| Japan Pictorial--have your student explain some facts about the country of Japan and our process for creating this pictorial. |
Reading
- Learned more about making inferences when we read
- Students read Baseball Saved Us, a story set during WWII at a Japanese Internment camp in the U.S. We made ties to the Puyallup Fair Grounds, which we learned earlier in the year were used for this purpose, Pacific Rim & our studies of Japan, and also our study of genres--this was a Historical Fiction
- I've begun expert groups. I generally pull just one student from each table group. We read a text about a particular country, highlight important information, discuss, make quick sketches, and mind map the information. Later, experts will teach the rest of their table group and we'll play the process grid game to see what we can recall.
- We finished our read aloud: A Wrinkle in Time. Ask your student what genre the book is and why. What is the message of the story? In what ways is life on earth better/worse than on the planet Camazotz?
Also... "Optional" Family Field Trip: Over the years, I have enjoyed shopping, eating, and wandering through Seattle's International District. One of our essential focus questions for the Pacific Rim Unit is "How the countries on the Pacific Rim are connected to Washington". This includes through immigration, trade, and cultural exchange. If you have the time and inclination, I would encourage you to have an educational afternoon family outing in that area. The International District is packed full of opportunities to learn more about the cultural influence that some Pacific Rim countries have had on our region. Just visiting the Uwajimaya grocery store is impressive in itself!
