Friday, December 21, 2012

Snowman Day and Winding Down the Year

Whew!  What a week!  We had a great time yesterday with Snowman Day (check out the pictures below) and then on Friday, we spent the afternoon making crafts!  I find myself with icing all over my shirt - I don't know how many people I had to tell that no, I did NOT have a cupcake attack. :)

I want to wish your family a very merry and safe holiday.  Thank you for all you do for your child's education!  I'll see you again in 2013!  (Wow!).

























Friday, December 14, 2012

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

We have stayed pretty busy this week!  Students have been working on their sparkle points to receive treats from the elves!  We also wrote letters to Santa, explored the Grinch's story and thought about ways to make him smile, and rescued Santa from being stuck in a chimney!

We also continued our study on graphs and created a survey, where we asked our classmates questions and had them vote on choices.  We took the data and created bar graphs and pictographs.  On Friday, we created questions about our graph and this coming Monday, we'll be able to have a "Graph Party" and go around the room, exploring the graphs and answering the student-created questions!

We had a pirate treasure hunt with verb tenses.  Students had a great time finding special envelopes and writing answers on their treasure maps!  There were also some "Argh!" cards scattered in, where students had to perform verbs, such as dances, sing pirate songs, and bunny hop to the teacher!

We'll finish our Elf Economics unit this week with a test on Wednesday.  The goods and services the students created were great!  Students enjoyed bartering (trading) not only their projects, but also goods that they had on special cards.  Did you know one of the bracelets was worth a chocolate cake AND a sheep? :)

One more week to go! Excitement has been building in the classroom, but we still have a lot to pack in this week!  Don't forget Snowman Day is THIS Thursday, and we'll have our class party on Friday.  Friday's also a 1pm dismissal!




Friday, December 7, 2012

Elf Economics!

We have had fun this week with our economics unit since it has a seasonal theme.  Did you know it's important for elves to know the difference between producers and consumers, or about capital resources?  It is!  Students are working hard on learning how to pass the "elf exam" so Santa can call on them in case of emergency!  It also ties in with our monthly behavior program.  Students are earning "sparkle points" each day.  To earn a point, they must behave and follow directions, as well as show evidence of learning and being kind to others!  Check out the ETC, or Elf Training Center, on our class wiki page!

Students are also excited about the Economics project, which is due this Wednesday.  Papers went home this past Monday in their homework folder, and is due in class on Wednesday, December 12th.  In the previous post, I had examples of past projects, which I've also shown to students to inspire them to create their good or service!

Can't find the sheet? I've uploaded it as a Word Document in Google Drive.  You can access it {here}.




We also got a chance to play with our iPod Touches, funded by a grant from our PTA!  We will be using the 3 iPods, plus the additional one we earned from Donors Choose, in small group settings with Math, Reading, and Writing. Have a great weekend! :)

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Senses, Triangles, and Economics - Oh My!

We culminated our unit on Famous Americans this week with Helen Keller.  What a fascinating American! To give students an idea of how she was able to overcome her own disabilities (being blind and deaf), we used our sense of smell and touch to figure out the "world" around us!

First, students had scent boxes, where they had to guess what the smell was!  Then, students felt in paper bags to guess ordinary objects, such as scissors, a calculator, brush, and pencil.


This week, we'll be starting our Economics unit.  On Monday, your child will receive a project assignment that is due Wednesday, December 12th.  Students must either choose a service (such as homework helper, nail artist, art teacher, etc.) or a good to share with the class.  We'll also be incorporating our study of barter/cash during that time as students trade goods and services!

Past examples of this project have included a homework machine, house built from Legoes, "beauty services" including nails and hair, doll clothes a student made, video game cheats (he would get you to a certain point in the game you couldn't get past!), and a pet sitter/dog walker.  I would like the student to actually create the project from clay, blocks, etc.  For the service, students can create business cards to give out to their classmates (hand made or computer-made). If you have any questions, please let me know!






Triangles:  Students brought home their triangle flash cards last week. They were so excited to choose the characters on their cards!  An information sheet was also sent home on how these cards "worked," and students have had plenty of practice!  They are based on related facts (fact families) and will help students increase their speed (fluency) of basic math facts to 20.  I also included the 10s as well.

As part of their homework, students will practice their cards one night and their math game another night - so two nights are now more "hands on" for students to practice their math skills!  They were VERY excited when I announced that.  Our next check on fact fluency will be in January!