Many Lights

"I know I talked earlier about me wanting to be a positive light in a negative world, but in reality, it takes more than one light to make a room bright. We can all be lights. We all light up the world and make good things happen."

One of our students used these words in her speech for student representative to the board, and they warmed my heart as her teacher. We want all of our kids to know they are creating the future, that they have active roles to play, and that they can change the world into a better place. On a small scale, we regularly remind them that we are part of a community at school and that we all help to shape the tone of our days.

Morgan's Pre-K and K Class:

*Celebrated the 100th day of school (Monday)and Read Across America Day (Wednesday)! * Worked with Tracy's math class to count out 100 popcorn kernels then was able to enjoy eating them! Everyone was very surprised to see how much more volume the popped kernels took up. * Used Bingo dabbers to create 100 dots. * Worked with Legos. * Took care of dolls and animals with the play food and doctor kit. * Worked with wiki sticks creating many beautiful designs, letters and numbers. * Started talking about our baby chick unit and made life cycle books! * Made shell tracings and rubbings. * Explored oil pastels, watercolors, slime, water, and sand. * Made balloon and sand squeeze balls. * Looked for "Cat in the Hat" hats numbered 1-100 and organized them on a hundred chart (with help from Tracy's class)!

* Started a new round of mini courses.

Tracy's 1st - 3rd Class

In math, our first grade class has been comparing penny collections, comparing numbers using greater than and less than, working with units, and using helper doubles facts to solve near doubles (ex: 5+5=10, so 5+6=11). Our second grade class was comparing lengths, working on number stories, experimenting with partial sums addition (thinking about the tens and ones places). Meanwhile, our third grade class is continuing to build their understanding of multiplication, looking at expand and trade subtraction for three digit numbers, and using area models to break apart multiplication facts (ex: 7x6 = 7x3 + 7x3).

In writing, we are working on fiction pieces. We talked about setting, characters, and the conflicts and challenges that make our stories interesting. They also identified the importance of details and adjectives in painting a complete picture of what's happening. We offered each other feedback about a few sentences from each story. Finally, we discussed breaking down the fourth wall, a technique many of the children are using for this piece.

Theresa's 4th - 6th Class

This week, we began fiction pieces in writing. I can't believe how far they have come this year. You will be proud at our next publishing party. We have been working on how to correctly punctuate dialog and where to place commas.

Our 6th graders have been preparing for a test. The test includes absolute value, defining variables, and evaluating algebraic recordings. The 4th grade has been working on algorithms for multidigit multiplication and division.

While all of the kids are reading chapter books, we supplemented this week's reading with Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.

Mini Courses for March

We are so very grateful for all of the teachers who are sharing their lights and helping us to learn new things on Friday afternoons this March. We are dancing, sewing, woodworking, fixing things, and cooking! It's a great collection of important life skills.