This Week in LL38.....

     We had lots going on last week.  We tried to stay warm inside on Friday with the frigid temperatures outside.

     With all the snowy and cold weather, it made sense to have our first "snowball" fight of the season! There's nothing better than an INDOOR snowball fight on a freezing cold day! Our snowball fight helped us review and practice the difference between factors, prime, and composite numbers.

Here is a video our one round....

Factors Snowball Fight 

Checking our answers and discussing our thinking with partners.

Reader's Workshop
  This week we started to think more deeply about a text focusing in on the theme or message of the story.  We learned that authors will write a story to try to teach the reader about an issue or concern that matters to kids.  We brainstormed some examples of issues/concerns that matter to kids.  This helped us to think a little more about A Day's Work by Eve Bunting and what she is trying to teach kids in her book.  To deepen our thinking about books, we also look for objects or details that repeat in a text. In this story we were able to notice that the relationship between the grandfather and his grandson was an important one that kept repeating.  It was amazing to see how deep the kids were thinking about this text after many conversations about theme!

Ideas/Concerns that Matter to Kids

Calling all MYSTERY READERS…

On Friday, December 23rd we have a full day of school.  To kick start our winter vacation, we are going to be participating in a fun reading activity called, “Booked In.”   We are going to spend a large part of that day reading some great books.  To add to the fun, I thought it would be great if we could host some MYSTERY READERS.  

What is a MYSTERY Reader?

We are looking for parents, grandparents, or siblings to volunteer to read a favorite picture book or poem to our class on the morning of Friday, December 23rd.  The mystery will be that the students will not know who is coming in to read to our class.  It will be a great surprise for all of the kids.  

Here is what you can do….

☺  Volunteer as a mystery reader…let me know via email or a sealed envelope if you are available to read a picture book or poem on the morning of Friday, December 23rd.  

☺  Shhh….keep this a secret from the students!  ☺

If you can’t volunteer to read that day, it is completely fine.  I know that this is a very busy time of year.  Please let me know if you are available to be a Mystery Reader by Tuesday, December 20th so that I can put together a schedule.

Small Group Morning Work.... 

     For morning work on Wednesday we worked on a word problem in small groups.  After discussing the problem with their group, each group decided how to start solving the problem.  It was interesting to see the different approaches and strategies that groups used to solve this problem.  After solving the problems we listened to some groups share their strategies.  We were able to notice similarities and differences in the approach.  This helps us think flexibly as mathematicians!

The problem:  A kangaroo eats about 105 pounds of food a week.  If a kangaroo eats the same amount of food per day, how many pounds of food does a kangaroo eat a day?

Writer's Workshop

     We are quickly approaching the end of our Literary Essay unit.  Many of the kids are starting to tape their Beyond the Cover book trailers.  We will be posting them later this week for all to listen to!  Be on the lookout for an email with the link to the website where they will all be posted.  

I hope everyone has a great week!  

~Jen