Our Week at a Glance

Questioning  This week we have been discussing how good readers ask themselves questions before, during, and after they read.  We’ve also talked about how to identify “thin” vs. “thick” questions. Today, we sorted out questions that parents asked us at Back to School Night!  Thanks for your great questions, parents!

Place Value  We have been talking more about identifying words in standard, word, model, and expanded forms.  On Thursday, we had a whole math hour of stations where we rotated around the room to play games, sort and match forms, and translate model into word forms.  Some stations were harder than others, but we’ll all be great at these soon!  We also learned about comparing 4-digit numbers by playing a game called “What’s My Number” and using the greater than, less than, and equivalent to symbols.  Your child brought their math notebooks home this weekend to teach you how to play.  Can you beat them?

Making Scientific Observations  Although we were dealing with a crazy schedule of MAPS testing and a half-day on Wednesday, we were able to work on our observational skills.  We discussed how using our five senses and being mindful without judgement helps us to be observant of the world around us.  We used descriptive language to describe the attributes of items we couldn’t easily see and identify by sight in mystery bags.  Then we opened the bags and added any other visual descriptions needed.  We also classified pumpkins/gourds and students by specific characteristics.  Good scientists use observational skills to classify and better understand their world!

MindUp We continued our study of the brain and how we can help our amygdala to stay calm and open so we can learn our very best.  This week, we focused on deep belly breathing.  Ask your child to tell you about how their diaphragm and lungs work when you are deep belly breathing.  The pictures below capture it. I promise we didn’t have nap time this week…no matter how bad we all needed it!

Family Above all else, we have been working on building a family community and learning how to love on each other.  I caught this young man teaching another to tie his shoes.  This is love, people.  This is love.

First Class – Present Class Thirteen years ago, I taught my very first class at Donahoe Elementary. They were a special kindergarten group of whom, many are still in contact with me. My sweet Kaitlyn (pictured in center), who is now a senior in high school, came to observe me for a day and made me boo hoo when she told me she wants to be a teacher one day, too.  I had to have a picture of these two beautiful worlds colliding.

I’m blessed to have this group of smarties!