So far this week...

I feel like it has been a long time since I have posted on the blog, yet it has only been 2 days! Students are still LOVING the body/brain breaks we are having, especially the Just Dance clips. They dance along and I try to keep up!

This week we have begun two digit/three digit addition! I have SLOWLY began to transition from whole-class practice and base ten blocks to shared practice, where students work along side me on the SMART board with their own whiteboard. Soon we will be ready to try some independent practice. Students are learning to create FRIENDLY numbers.
      For example: 43 + 29 looks a little scary!
      But if students regroup this number sentence by combining the tens and the ones... it looks              
      much friendlier to work with! We love to add numbers when one ends in a zero!
      60 + 12
      Students can see that when combining their ones, they made another ten, so we move it to    
      join the other tens:
      70 + 2
      Immediately, students shout out 72!

This process is a little more time consuming, but it promotes mental math and better mathematical understanding than the traditional vertical addition. TRUST ME! I my own mental math abilities have greatly improved since I began teaching horizontal addition and subtraction. Gradually, students will be able to write down fewer steps and in their head see that 43 + 29= 60 +12= 72.

Warming up with Math Lines- Making ten

In Theme Studies, we have explored soil. As part of that lesson, we mixed potting soil with sand and rocks and a bit of water. After sometime, we could see the layers settle!

We then studied the life cycle of a plant. Through a video clip, a sorting game and a graphic organizer, students understood that a cycle repeats and that a plant begins as a seed, grows to become a seedling, then an adult plant and finally a plant with flowers, which releases seeds and continues the life cycle!

Checking out our bean plants

Of course, we have also been working on our Mother's Day gifts ;)

We revised, edited and are publishing our current writing pieces, a project called: The Most Important Thing About Me, based on the book: The Important Book. Here are some pictures we took to go with our writing:

Spelling words will come home tonight, with our test taking place tomorrow.

LIBRARY TOMORROW!

Tomorrow we are having both a popcorn AND a bake sale (for Kick Balls for Kids). Popcorn is $2 a bag and items at the bake sale start at 25 cents.

~Ms. Burland