Projects and Drafting and Field Trips...OH MY!

This week has been an exploration again of drafting, getting positive feedback, and drafting again. This didn't just apply to project time, however, but all our blocks. It is exciting to get insight on how to improve, and so motivating that we are eagerly re-drafting our work.

Reading and Writing
We have finished up all the novels (3rd's still reading) -- Oh my, great endings -- Alfie, for the best reason of all...(ask your 4th grader what that means) and Mike (2nd) has gained some confidence -- we are looking forward to the next book in that series.

We have enjoyed some extra time with Reading Partnerships. Most of our partnerships are finishing our first book study together and are creating ways to share what we read through posters, powerpoints, and skits. It's going to be fun to present to one another in the next few weeks...summer reading ideas!

We've been incorporating writing as well, finishing our vocabulary studies with Synonym Scrabble boards and our own editions of Thesaurus and flow charts. Sophia shared, "I learned to time-manage to get more work done. For example, if I work on the sentences, my partner works on the two words and then we might get our thesauruses done faster!" Again, it's been so energizing to see their level of ownership and investment in going work worthy of pride!

Math
This week 4th graders researched to find out how long it would take trees in the forest to grow after a fire. Avery found out "some pine trees grow up to 100 feet tall." The information they gather will be displayed on a poster and shared with others. Third graders are doing research on annual rainfall in Austin. They are finding out how the drought has affected lake level at Lake Travis. Second graders wrote and solved problems about data in different graphs. They also learned how to read a key on a pictograph. We ended the week working with a partner or small group to research Texas insects that go through metamorphosis. Their research will be displayed on a poster for others to see.

Science

Our projects are in their final stages! After many steps, second graders performed their insect life cycle puppet shows! From the first draft of their script to the creation of their "set" and characters, they worked hard to put on an informative and entertaining show!

Third graders fine-tuned their drought projects. Josi remembered, "We got people's critiques and changed our PowerPoints, brochures, and posters to make them better. We moved and changed some other things, like spelling and the font." Seeing the results of their effort--and the pride they feel when presenting--is inspiring!

Fourth grade also practiced giving and receiving peer feedback to improve their forest revitalization brochures. Their hard work paid off with a professional-looking brochure that they were able to share with their classmates in today's gallery walk.

Fourth graders also had the privilege of attending the Austin Symphony on Thursday. They were dressed to the nines...with manners to match! I was so incredibly proud of our ladies and gentlemen.

We were just a little excited for our classy adventure! #symphonyselfie

In addition to demonstrating our impeccable manners, we also learned quite a lot about the elements of a symphony. Ask your fourth grader about the instruments sections, the song structure, and the composers who wrote them! Colin discovered, "An orchestra piece has three parts: exposition, development, and recapitulation."

We took time to appreciate our surroundings...