Kiker's Strength-Based Learning Cohort

Last week, we took a mathematical look at the "Twelve Days of Christmas". The song gave us an authentic opportunity to work together and practice solving multi-step problems with the use of addition, multiplication, and some calculator skills. How much would your true love really have to pay to shower you with twelve days of gifts? Check out the pictures below for our calculations!   There were a lot of gasps when we discovered just how much would actually be spent...we will definitely have a different perspective the next time we listen to the classic holiday song!

We had front row seats!!!! Here's a picture we took when we got back...

We did a poetry exercise today that will help our writing in several ways - first off, every line had to be completely focused on the topic. Secondly, they had to start each line with a verb - a PRECISE verb, that is. We used our Thesaurus to help us find more elaborate verbs, or the Visual Thesaurus on the iPad. The poems are called, "How to Be a...." We looked at a Mentor Text about snakes, and then did one together (How to Be a Student in Mrs. Forrest's Class). Even though we had brainstormed the verbs together, they ordered them and added on to them so that each was really different! You could hear their perspectives in them for sure... Next, we were turned loose to create our own, knowing that we'd be evaluated on our precise verb choice and focus...here are a few:

We've discovered a program called ipadio (pronounced like radio) that allows voice recording to be uploaded on the web. We thought we'd give it a try with a few reminders for the week. Enjoy! :) Mrs. Blake

While the Fourth Graders were off in San Antonio, Third Grade was hard at work with our Simple Machine Kits - here's some photos!