Labor Day was a wonderful day to relax, but we've hit the ground running! Our authentic project has been creating our Lunch Families and practicing expected etiquette for the Kiker Cafe!
We presented to one another and gathered research on past experience, discussed, brainstormed, and put our ideas into motion.
We've been getting in the groove with our Instant Replays (daily and weekly reflections) which you'll get to see this weekend. Our writers have been documenting such wonderful snapshots of their year so far! Some of us are still working on mindfully reflecting within our given time, so this is one of those growth mindset learning moments we mentioned earlier in the year. When your child shares his or her Instant Replay with you, recognize that great effort and encourage them to complete any unfinished work. That sense of accomplishment will be worth the time and effort!
Our Second Grade readers are mastering fluency, and preparing to share their expertise by teaching some First Graders what good readers do to read smoothly and accurately. We've been studying Mo Willem's Elephant and Piggie series as mentor texts. We are in the beginning stages of the writing process, and are using listing as a method to gather ideas and topics.
Third and Fourth Graders have honed their discrete skills and knowledge of grammar via Mountain Language, and are delving deeper into their characters' journeys in our Read Aloud books. Fourth Grade is investing in Phoebe, a middle schooler with a remarkable life event, in Mick Harte Was Here.
Spelling Centers are coming our way...Third and Fourth will start up next week, and Second will practice one more week whole group to make sure we're ready for independently maneuvering the schedule. More info to come.
SBLC mathematicians continue to learn about big numbers. We're also comparing different tools for understanding place value relationships. As second graders, we use expanded form to show the value of each digit. We played a game called Roll It, Make It, Expand It and we even made up a secret code to help us efficiently draw pictures of numbers to the thousands place. 3rd and 4th graders reviewed expanded form and are learning how expanded notation helps us understand place value.
All SBLC mathematicians have been learning that big problems sometimes take more than a day to solve, and that persistence and willingness to revisit a problem later are important. One of our ongoing challenges this week has been to decompose the number 463 using exactly 31 place value blocks. Here are a few pics of persistent mathematicians at work with this interesting puzzle:
SBLC scientists spent the first part of the week describing and identifying different studies of science to determine which area THEY would most like to explore. They brainstormed the tools each scientist would use, then illustrated themselves as a scientist in the field of their choice. We've got a group of zoologists, physicists, botanists, and paleontologists!
We spent the last part of the week creating technology expectations, or tech-spectations. During our opportunity to practice using technology appropriately, we explored the blog and even spotted a few sharks swimming by (ask your scientist to show you where to see them). We're prepared and ready to use our tech tools appropriately!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Team SBLC
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