Plenty of Projects

Today was a day of projects! We are just about finished with our political party projects. Today the students worked hard to get their final posters and presentations ready for Monday. I am really impressed at the extra research many of the students did about their causes and beliefs--particularly related to the environment, endangered animals, space exploration and technology. The kids are also really good about using the many resources around them to help them gather the information they need--i.e., computers/Internet, encyclopedias, family members, atlases and almanacs.

We also spent quite of bit of time outside this afternoon. We put on our writer's hats, grabbed our favorite pen and pencil and found that magical spot outside in the sun where we could be alone with our thoughts and memories. The students focused on zooming in on a particular memory and using their five senses, metaphors and similies to help them draft their memoirs. Their own teacher even spent time doing the same writing exercise. Look for a copy of her memory on the web soon! Tonight the students have a challenging task of drawing out their memory in detail. Sometimes drawing and visualizing what we want to say helps us find just the right word!

I am also excited to share a new math idea that we are working on for next week. Mrs. Chang has been really helpful and supportive to our classroom during math time. We are going to be offering the opportunity for more independent/self-teaching for those who are interested. We will be drafting weekly math contracts for each student. Each week, the kids will be in charge of completing the lessons we (the teachers) have specified (based upon their math pre-test), learning new math vocabulary and completing a game or an Investigation sheet to reinforce specific skills. We will also be offering the opportunity for small group guided learning with a teacher as an option for those who are interested. It is so exciting to be able to target each student individually and to have each person work at his/her learning level. I will be explaining this more to the kids tomorrow. If you would like to lead an extended learning math group once a week, let me know.

P.S. Good luck to Mrs. Chang. She will be doing the Twin Cities 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk for the Cure. Over the course of three days, she will be walking 60 miles to raise money and awareness about breast cancer. We will miss her at school tomorrow. Let's all keep our fingers crossed for warm, sunny weather:-)

Homework tonight: Read for 20 minutes, do your drawing of your memory, keep your Basil book project and mystery book assignments in the back of your mind:-)