Go Away Big Green Monster

We read the book Go Away Big Green Monster and made a monster glyph.

The color of the monster = favorite color
The number of hairs = how old you are
The color of your ears
Blue = you do not like scary movies
Green = you do like scary movies
The color of your mouth
red = you like Go Away Big Green Monster the best
pink = you like There is a Nightmare in My Closet the best

m & m Math

We estimated how many m & m's we could grab in a handful. Then we grabbed a handful and counted how many we really had.



We made and labeled m & m patterns.

This week, we learned about fair shares and fractions. We learned that to make a fair share, everyone has to have the same amount. We made fair shares with our m & m's.





We read The M & M Counting Book and made our own book of 100 m & m's. We made sets of 10 and added 10 sets of 10 together to make 100 m & m's.

Storyteller: Toni Simmons

This week, we had a special treat. Storyteller, Toni Simmons, visited us for a time of traditional oral storytelling. She used rhythms, songs, and audience participation, to pull us into her stories and to take us to different places around the world.





You can learn more about Toni Simmons and purchase her products at Toni Simmons.

Making Muffins

This week we celebrated the letter M. In honor of letter M, we read If You Give a Moose a Muffin and we made muffins. We learned about cumulative stories. We talked with partners about the events in the story and how they built on one another. Then we charted what we talked about. Finally, we made muffins and ate them! Yum, Yum!!

Cleaning Pennies Experiment

Go to VoiceThread and view a voice recording and slide show of our cleaning pennies experiment. Go to VoiceThread.

A Kiss and a Hug on This Day of Love

Because of the snow last week and a snow day from school, we celebrated Valentine's this week.

President's Day

This week, we celebrated the presidents. We learned about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. We made a circle map showing what we learned about presidents.

We read the book Abe Lincoln's Hat and then we thought of things we would keep in our hat if we had a hat like Abe Lincoln.

Circles and Squares Everywhere!

Thinking Process: Defining in Context

The Circle Map is used to brainstorm ideas and show what you already know about a topic by using context information. This can be words, numbers, pictures, symbols, etc. to represent the object, person, or ideas you are trying to understand or define.

Written in the inner circle is some "thing" you are trying to define. It is represented by a word or symbol. In the outer circle, information is written or drawn that puts the "thing" in context. The square around the circles is called the frame of reference. This is where "how you know what you know" is added.

we made circle maps showing what we learned about the attributes of shapes



we wrote about the attributes of shapes




Thinking Process: Seeing Analogies

The Bridge Map is used to identify similarities between relationships (seeing analogies). Students use a relating factor which is a similar phrase which fits both sides of the analogy. Frequently, analogies are included in standardized tests. Teachers who use the Bridge Map as a thinking skill don't have to teach it as a test skill. Bridge Maps are frequently used to see word relationships - as in synonyms and antonyms, but it can also be used in math.

we made bridge maps to show the relationship between basic shapes and where they are found in the world around us

Probability and Pennies

We used cups and pennies to shake and spill 10 times and see how many times our pennies landed on heads and how many times our pennies landed on tails.

The Tooth of the Matter

This is the way we brush our teeth! This week, hygienists from a local dentist office came to visit to talk with us about good dental health. We learned how to brush our teeth, how often to brush and floss, and good foods to eat to keep our teeth healthy..