Inferences

We really need to work on our inferencing. We can make pretty good inferences, usually, however, today, we read a Chris Van Allsburg book, The Stranger, and really struggled to find the "hidden" meaning. Even after I gave them hints for where to look for textual evidence, they still went a little too 'creatively out there' with their thinking. We are going to continue to read books by Chris Van Allsburg and hopefully, they'll begin to understand his writing style and the subtle hints he leaves that need inferencing.

After special, in meeting, we shared one thing we are looking forward to this weekend and then played, "Guess my number," where they had to guess the number I was thinking of using only yes or no questions. They did really well! After read aloud, they worked on their informational report (many are still not finished), Counting by 7's kidblog post, Language of the Discipline and read. Next, 5th graders had their first, "Sci-Fri" (Science Friday) and played a sort of brain bowl game while 4th graders moved on to Science with the Ohio Energy Project. In Math, 4th grade had the Metric Olympics! and 5th grade wrote and solved fraction word problems. Our day concluded with finishing up financial literacy via $martpath. They enjoyed this so much that many completed multiple grade levels of understanding!

1/2 day

I was out this morning for a Rheumatologist appointment so Mrs. Canary was in for me. They seemed to like her and everything seemed to go swimmingly! They had meeting and shared the crayon color they would be and played a few rounds of "Would you rather?" Then, she read, Who is Melvin Bubble?, and then discussed how they would describe themselves and how others might describe them. They worked on writing their informational reports (I've shown examples but some are looking at me and needing some assistance so tomorrow we'll conference and I'll help clarify anything necessary), the kidblog post about Counting by 7's, Language of the Discipline with 3 words about their historical setting/time period and then read or visited the library. In Social Studies, the 5th graders continued working on their board games about landforms and the 4th graders finished their Galimoto toy designs and played them at recess~this was a big hit!
I was back for Math and 4th graders were introduced to the metric system with a couple videos about "Metric Man" and some explanation by Bill Nye. After a little discussion, we measured things! 5th grader kiddos worked with fractions and problem-solving. After lunch and recess, we finished our day with our financial literacy learning. Some even post-tested today. We'll finish this up tomorrow.

SEL with Mrs. Shantel

Mrs. Shantel from Syntero came in today to talk to us about stress and coping. Today, she shared about feelings, thoughts and actions. She'll be coming in once each month for the next few months to help us with our Social Emotional Learning.

After special and fun with Mrs. Shantel, in meeting, we shared what causes our stress. Then, we got together for ABBC. In Social Studies, 4th grade completed a STEM activity based on the book, Galimoto and 5th grade students brainstormed board game ideas for landforms. In math, in Mrs. Tanner's room, students worked with fractions to solve problems while in Mrs. Kelly's room, students worked with equivalent fractions. 4th grade students shared and scored all of their Food Truck projects. Finally, we completed our day with more financial literacy. Some like it so much that they are even moving on to the next grade level!

Life skills

Yesterday, a kiddo kept saying over and over that school doesn't teach life skills so he shouldn't have to come. Although I completely disagree with him, I decided to make sure he understood the connection and did some blatant life skills work this afternoon. We began a mini-unit on financial literacy! Today, they took a pre-test and then began with the lessons. This is more of an independent study type of thing that they can do on their own or with a partner. They seemed to enjoy not just the material but also the freedom to go at their own pace so this may be a way some other content is learned too.

After special, while 5th graders had their vision and hearing screened, in meeting, we shared Language of the Discipline--video game/Fortnite edition. They all enjoy sharing video game and especially Fortnite stories so I put my spin on it. Language of the Discipline is another Depth and Complexity tool where there is language/vocabulary used specifically for that subject that wouldn't necessarily make sense outside of the context or unless you knew about/were studying that context. They had a lot of fun when they said a word I knew nothing about-which was most of them! Then, we played, Fact or Fiction and they enjoyed this game too, although some were better than others at creating their statements. Then, we finished Counting by 7's. They really had some amazing things to say about Willow's transformation in the book. It was like we were at an adult book club-the conversation was great! For literacy, they worked on their Kidblog post about Counting by 7's, worked on writing their informational report, began their ABBC task for tomorrow's meeting and then also began looking for 3 words specific to their historical setting/event from their ABBC book (Language of the Discipline). Next, 4th grade had our culture museum (and 5th graders visited)! It was so much fun--thank you to those of you that made it! In math, 4th graders finished up their one-pagers (assessment on fractions and decimals) and decorating their food truck while 5th grade kiddos worked on fractions with Mrs. Clay and Mrs. Kelly. Also, in lunch today, it was Taste Test Tuesday! Students got to try fresh pears and edamame!

They like to share!

I enjoyed our mini-break but it was great to see the kiddos and get back into our routine. We sure are a sharing group! In meeting, we shared the BIG IDEAS of what we did over break. Unfortunately, some are still sharing the DETAILS, which is why it took us almost 30 minutes to share! We are almost finished with Counting by 7's and today, in our reading, Willow finished a gorgeous garden so now the name of the complex fits-Gardens of Glenwood. She also heard from Lenore and is being placed in a permanent foster facility the next day. Dell also showed some humanistic qualities by crying! Students have this week to complete a Kidblog post about the book. They should also be translating their research on their historical event/setting (for their ABBC book) into an informational report (4-5 paragraphs) this week. After working on these in literacy, we switched and 4th graders prepared for the culture museum tomorrow by critiquing each others' projects so that we know what we should try to elevate before tomorrow. (Students had at least 10 hours in school to complete this, by the way...) 5th grade students looked at landforms with the atlas. In math, 5th graders are making problems in Mrs. Tanner's room and had a "catch-up" day in Mrs. Kelly's room. 4th graders completed a "one-pager" assessment of fractions and decimals and decorated their food trucks. After lunch and a cold outdoor recess, we discussed coping skills/strategies to help regulate our emotions and made posters listing the tools that we can use for our own toolboxes. We also had an extra 15+ minutes to work on whatever needed.

Friendsgiving!

Well, it was worth the anticipation! Friendsgiving was amazing! Thank you so much! We had a ton of good food, played fun games and learned about different cultures and family traditions. Thank you for all you did to help make this a successful celebration!

In our meeting, we shared what we brought for Friendsgiving and why. (I noticed that our students looked specifically for each other's dishes too, so the why truly matters! They had connections and wanted to see them through!) I also shared with them what I am thankful for about each of them. We read some articles about Thanksgiving and worked on our research. In Social Studies, we finished up our culture projects and 5th graders continued presenting their region projects. In math, while 5th graders learned about fractions, 4th grade worked with decimals. After Friendsgiving, we read, All About Turkeys and made thankful turkeys.

Short week...

We only have 2 days this week so it seems like we are finishing up things instead of beginning new projects. We went back to the Explore schedule today, which for us, the big change is earlier lunch!! We eat at 12:27 now~woohoo! In meeting, we shared about our weekends and are trying to focus on sharing the Big Ideas and not all the little Details. (These are two of the Depth and Complexity icons we use in our learning to help us to go deeper and more complex in our understanding-which is why they are capitalized.) Then, we played, "What are you doing?" which caused a lot of laughs with Mischa's goldfish swimming and Jimi putting on makeup. :) The garden is coming along nicely, in Counting by 7's, and Willow, Mai, Quang-ha, Jairo and Dell even worked to make the apartment building look nicer. Unfortunately, Willow is feeling like a Sunflower and that she is "planted" for just a short time. We read for a short time and then looked at a sample and rubrics for our informational writing. Some may begin writing this week but all will need to begin this on Monday, once we return from our Thanksgiving break. We spent another day as historians researching and creating work products of high quality for our upcoming culture museum. In math today, 4th grade students either worked on completing their decimal project or worked on decimal activities. 5th grade students either wrote fraction word problems or worked on a Thanksgiving calorie project. After lunch and indoor recess, we took a survey about our feelings on the Arrow program (parents-you'll get your link tomorrow!), got caught up on any work we may be behind in and played our final Kahoot! that had been homework a few weeks ago...

Great day!

We had a great day today. Nothing too exciting, it was just a productive and pleasant day. After special, (how was their first week with their new specials?) in meeting, I shared chapter books I picked up from the library that they can begin reading for March Book Madness (marchbookmadness.weebly.com). They then shared which books they are most interested in. Some brought books home today and so they can read them over the Thanksgiving break. We were so into the books that we didn't have enough time to play a game. Oh well! In Counting by 7's, Willow actually began counting by 7's again! She hasn't done this since Before. She is also creating a garden! Then, we read and researched a bit before getting together in our new ABBC book groups. Once in our groups, we did a little book intro and gave some background information about the historical setting. 4th and 5th graders continued their research as historians. 4th is focusing on Ohioans while 5th is focusing on the Western Hemisphere. In math, 4th grade kept working on their decimal projects and 5th grade kiddos learned fractions. After another indoor recess, we had an extended quiet time and got caught up on Flocabulary: Week in Rap!

Short and sweet

It was a typical day so this will be short and sweet! After special, we went to the media center for a lesson with Mrs. Schultz about citing our sources when researching. We love working with Mrs. Schultz! When we came back to our room, we continued researching, or blogged for Columbus State or finished up our STAR assessments. Then, we researched our cultures/regions and in math, 5th graders either worked on fractions or took a post-test while 4th graders worked on their decimal projects. After lunch and indoor recess, we worked to balance our learning diets and played Zach's kahoot.

Ahhh...too much!

Have you ever just had enough? Well, I think some kiddos had today. At the end of the day, I tried to do more work with a balanced learning diet and some just groaned. So, plan B. We used our imagination and completed a creativity drawing instead. Sometimes, you just need a breather.

After special, in our morning meeting, we shared what we had for dinner last night. Some of the popular choices were tacos, pizza/subs, pasta (without sauce) and chicken. Emmanuel shared with us a more cultural dish of his that he had called Eba (pronounced Aba) with okra. He had to show us on the internet what it was but it sure did look good! Then, we played, "Pica, Ferme, Nada" which is a mystery number game. In Counting by 7's, we discussed how characters change and we really see changes happening in Willow, Dell and Quang-ha. In a way, we're kind of being like Willow by observing these! Next, we completed the Star Assessments. These are the computer tests the kiddos take in Reading and Math to show growth. It's really more of something for me than for them. They are boring but mostly painless. :) All historians researched. 4th grade mathematicians created a dream sports team or designed a business in a foreign country while 5th grade mathematicians began fractions.

Everything in moderation

This afternoon, I showed the kiddos MyPlate and we talked about eating healthy and from all food groups and that if we chose to eat only one thing, our health may suffer because we aren't getting all of the nutrients our bodies need. Then, I read the book, Unplugged, about a "robot" named Blip that was always plugged in to her computer until there was a blackout and she became unplugged and happened upon outside. She really enjoyed her time outside and made new friends and learned new games. When she went back inside and plugged back in, she realized that it is good to sometimes be unplugged. This led us to discussing a balanced learning diet. We may want to read all the time but we need to balance our love our reading with other subjects. So, where does technology fit in? We said it is like the salt or sugar. It can add flavor to any of our dishes but again, if we add too much, it takes away the nutritional value. They didn't really like this idea but understood it. :)

We are really enjoying our new specials and in our morning meeting, we shared what we are most looking forward to in these new classes. Then, we played a strategy game called, "Aunt Minerva." It was frustrating at times but very fun and caused us all to think! Ask you child about it! In literacy, we read an article on Newsela about the California wildfires and then wrote a short summary about what we read. We also read, visited the library, completed our doodles and continued our research on our historical fiction topic/event. We related this summary of the non-fiction article to researching and how we need to read to understand and then write a summary of the information. Hopefully, this helps them to not copy word for word from their sources and to better understand what they are reading. 5th graders began to present their region research while 4th graders kept researching. Some of the prehistoric culture groups are difficult to find information on. In math, we worked with decimals and 5th grade worked with fractions. It's like we flipped flopped! 

Happy Veteran's Day!

I know that yesterday was the real Veteran's Day but since we weren't in school, we celebrated today with a guest speaker. Captain Timothy Brown from the U. S. Air Force came in to speak with us today about the military and his time in the service. I love the way he compared military life (job, training, uniform, etc.) to civilian life. It was very easy for the kiddos to understand and follow. If you, too, are a veteran, "Thank you for your service!!"

Students had new specials today so please ask for any paperwork their new teacher may have sent home for you to peruse. After our speaker, we only had a few minutes to read or work on research. Both 4th and 5th grade students continued to research. While in math, 4th graders did many things! Some practiced with line plots, some decomposed fractions, some found fractions of ___, some completed a fractional string problem and then we moved on to decimals where some did some independent work with restaurant menus, some met with me and others met with Mr. Smith. 5th graders moved on to fractions today! After lunch and recess, we discussed our homework for this week: Thank You letter, flipgrid about math and Friendsgiving celebration.

Bye to this special, on to the next!

Although the weather was icky, our day was not. It was our last day of this special and kiddos made a flipgrid video thanking their teacher and sharing what they liked best. They are excited to begin their next special on Monday! After specials, in meeting, we shared charitable causes that are special to us (this stemmed from a charity event I had been to the previous night) and then played poppl-a game of counting. In Counting by 7's, Willow is becoming more and more like her old self and is beginning to recognize it and that it is ok to do so. (These things might seem like just a character to most but to some, learning about feelings and handling trauma through the lens of character, can be very beneficial for our gifted kiddos.) Next, we began reading our historical fiction books for ABBC as well as started researching the time period/historical event that the story is written around. We also worked on finding more words that fit the roots we've already doodled about. In history, 5th graders continued their research and 4th graders began their research for their culture museum. In math, both groups worked on assessing their understanding. It was indoor recess and after we had more fun playing the kahoots they made for math.

Category Challenge

I am so glad that we have added morning meeting back into our day. Nothing is more important than connections! We discussed our favorite animals and why they are our favorites and through this I learned a bit more about each kiddo-without them having to say it. For an example, one person said they really enjoy puppies because no matter what happens, they will always come back and love you. Another person said they love reptiles because they are different and a lot of people don't like them. These statements allowed them to share something about themselves without even meaning to or allowed them to be vulnerable without feeling vulnerable. Then, we played Category Challenge. It was a lot of fun-ask your kiddo about it!

A little bit more of Willow came out today in reading Counting by 7's. She's beginning to observe and study and even put on her red gardening hat and fed a hummingbird and decided to create a new garden! Next, we discussed how to begin researching the time period or historic event that is the setting of their books for Any Book Book Club. We'll be working on researching and informational writing while reading for ABBC. We also worked on our Columbus State blogs and doodle notes. Math was about adding fractions and multiplying fractions with whole numbers for 4th graders and their food trucks while 5th graders were practicing multiplying and dividing decimals. In Social Studies, or as historians, 5th graders began researching Native Americans while 4th grade finished up our Native American reading with 2 books about Thanksgiving. Ask your child about the second, less traditional, Thanksgiving book.

Morning Meeting

So, we decided that in order to better connect, we have re-instituted our morning meeting. We felt that we need time to just be a community. We will have meeting every day when we first get back from special and before interactive read aloud. Today in meeting, we shared about our day yesterday. Unfortunately, this took us about 25 minutes! so that is all we did. :)

The social worker came for her visit and everything went smoothly for Willow in Counting by 7's. Thankfully, as we read today, we felt that the old Willow is beginning to resurface. Then, in order to pick "just right" historical fiction books for our next Any Book Book Challenge, I shared some good titles to help them pick. We also began finding new words that fit the roots that we've already learned and made doodles for them to add to our word list. 4th grade read about the historic Native Americans of the 1700's and either wrote a letter or made a video message home as if they were European traders describing the culture. 5th grade students are working on the five themes of geography. In math, for our food truck project, we began adding fractions to consolidate ingredients and multiplying these fractions by whole numbers to prepare for the number of people we'd be serving (since the recipes are typically only serving 4-6 people.) I'm sorry but I forgot to ask what the 5th graders did in math today...you'll have to ask them. After recess and quiet time, we continued our work with our action plans for achieving our WEP goals. *Please ask your kiddo to see these as we all will work together to help achieve them!

Anxiety and the movie, "Angst"

I know we didn't have school today, however, I still did! One of the sessions I attended was a showing of the indie film, "Angst." The district was able to show the film to all of the high schools and will be showing it to middle schools later this week. It was a really good documentary about anxiety in today's children. I live with anxiety, as does my daughter, and this was a great look into how student's feel about their anxieties and how we can help them. Another session from today, I actually led, on twice-exceptional (2e) learners: students that have a gifted identification and something else. This something else could be: ADD, ADHD, anxiety, Autism, OCD, learning disability, etc. One of the things we did in our session was watch the documentary, "2e." (You can watch the movie through Kanopy using your library membership.) These two sessions alone resonated strongly with me as I saw our kiddos over and over again in both documentaries and sessions. I've also included a website about how anxiety shows up in some of our kiddos-check it out!

https://gozen.com/8-ways-a-childs-anxiety-shows-up-as-something-else/

Election Day!

Since we don't have school tomorrow, we voted today with KidsVoting! Students first filled out a voter registration form (which was PAINFUL--some kids have no clue of their address, middle name, city, zip code, county...) and then one by one went into the voting "booth" (the computer on my desk) to vote. After, they received their "I voted!" sticker! On Wednesday, we'll go in and see the results of the KidsVoting and compare them to the true election results.

After voting, we began looking for a historical fiction book for our next Any Book Book Club and in Counting by 7's, they continued preparing Dell's apartment for the social worker home visit. Willow and Quang-ha bonded a little too. Mrs. Tanner is out for the next few weeks due to surgery and Mrs. Clay is here in her place so ask your fifth grader what they did with her today. 4th grade students continued our backwards thinking with primary sources/artifacts and inferences. It was a little more difficult this way but I think we all began thinking like historians by the end of the class. In math, we (4th) kept trucking along with our food trucks. :) Most of them have their concept and their menu and are working on finding recipes. 5th graders are working hard to secure their deeper understanding of whole numbers and decimals with multiplication and division. After lunch and recess, we worked on creating our action plans for our WEP goals. Please help your kiddo to create a plan that sets them up for success!

Ugh...rain again?!

Yuck, another soggy day... We tried to outside for recess but it was raining (misting) and cold so we ended up coming back in. Luckily, we have many options for indoor recess!

Willow is still pretty numb and silent but we observed that she is still observing so hopefully, she just needs time. We are also wondering if Jairo Hernandez, the cab driver, will have a bigger role than he does right now. Counting by 7's has us all hooked because we fell in love with Willow and are feeling her deep depression right along with her. Then, we finished our "Nothing Ever Happens on ___" story before reading/visiting the library. We also discussed government and civic rights and responsibilities like we have been reading about. We will be voting through KidsVoting on Monday so we also looked at the ballot we'll be voting on. I encouraged students to do some research on the candidates so that they can be informed voters. They'll be filling out a voter's registration form and then casting their votes. On Wednesday, we'll be looking at the results of our KidsVoting and how/if they felt their voice was heard. Although their votes don't count in the real election, they are pretty excited about this. In fourth grade, we shared out what we discovered about the mound builders and began looking at what possible artifacts were discovered that caused archaeologists to infer the things they did about the groups of early people of Ohio. In fifth grade, we continued with understanding regions as part of the five themes of geography. In math today, 4th graders tried to narrow down their concept for their food truck. Some are struggling with this "narrowing down" idea and want to offer way too much for a food truck. Fifth graders both practiced division in their rooms. After recess, our day ended with our potato head electronics celebration! 

Is excitement contagious??

So, in math, our 4th grade students are doing so well with the basics of the units-they understand but still need depth. Mr. Smith and I came up with this idea for a real-world project-based learning idea and began it today. We were super excited and so were they!! I'm not going to tell you what it is-ask your kiddo! :)

After special, in Counting by 7's, Willow ran away to the library where she hid and slept. Mr. Dell Duke was asked to help find her and he immediately went to Mai who knew where to look. It was at this time that Pattie, Mai's mom, decided to take Willow in until they can find a better placement for her. Willow, once vibrant, is now very sullen (and hard to read.) We also read and met on our government articles, discussed our -dict root doodle note and continued writing our "Nothing Ever Happens on ___" story before reading or visiting the library. Stories are due tomorrow...is your kiddo finished or almost finished?? As historians, Mrs. Tanner worked with the five themes of geography while in my room, we continued learning about the early people of Ohio. 5th grade math was full of practicing division with decimals. Our day concluded with playing the kahoots the students made last week for homework. (Well 13 of them made.)