Team 22 Highlights 3/23/18

Reading

In Reading, the students have continued to prepare for the MCAS. This week, we focused on "main idea". The students watched several video clips on this concept and then read, with a partner, a number of short excerpts. After completing these readings, the students worked together to find the main idea.

The students created and filled in their own "Main Idea Table". For this, students wrote out the main idea of the reading on top of the table and then added details (inside the legs) from the reading which helped to support the main idea.

Math

The students' fraction pizzas are now all on display in our hallway!

Our class is starting to wrap up its unit on fractions and we will be completing our final assessment of the module at the end of next week. The students have been working so hard during our whole-class mini lessons and in their rotations during math workshop. Students have been using a variety of different strategies to show their work. They most enjoy being able to explain the thinking process they went through in order to solve example problems.

Science

On Monday and Thursday this week, we were lucky enough to have parent volunteer, Mrs. Lavakumar, come into our class to introduce the students to an application called "Makey Makey". Makey Makey is an invention kit that allows users to connect everyday objects to computer programs using a circuit board, alligator clips, and a USB cable. After learning a bit about how to use the program, the students split up into a number of small groups and worked together to connect the circuit board and clips to pieces of tin foil. The students were able to choose from a number of computer games to try out and used the pieces of tin foil (touching them just as they might touch arrows on a keyboard to change direction). 

Writing

In writing, the students have continued to work on short answer and open response questions based on the MCAS practice readings they complete during the day. The students have been typing up their responses on their chrome books as they will be expected to do the same on the MCAS exam which will be computer-based.

Social Emotional Learning

On Wednesday, March 21st, we held a Day of Kindness at Dunning. During our Circle, our class brainstormed different ways we can show kindness to our friends. Each student had a chance to share one way he or she can spread kindness in our classroom to create a positive community. After sharing, the students received a strip of paper and were instructed to write down and illustrate one good deed they could do in school. The students then worked as a team to connect their strips of paper and staple them in order to create a "chain of kindness" to be hung in our classroom!

Glow Stick Party!

Toward the end of the day on Friday, the students in room 22 celebrated earning all of their class panda paws with a glow stick party! Students played class games, danced along to music, watched fun music videos, and sang along to some Disney favorites!

Have a great weekend!

Best,

Miss Weinstein