Greetings and Happy New Year!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful break. The learners seemed to come back rested and ready to begin a productive week.
Language Arts
Most learners finished Book Group Books over break. Thank you for helping support that endeavor. It is homework this week to complete the reading for the several who didn't finish it. We completed activities for the book and will meet for one last time to discuss the book. We began our next book this week Katya of Ft. Ross, a short Historical Fiction book about Ft. Ross. The learners wrote letters about the books in their Reader's Notebooks. The learners were able to share experiences in small groups and then write observations, descriptions, narratives or other types of writing in their Writer's Notebooks. We polished up our writing pieces began before break about "silent" winter, which it seems, isn't so silent after all. Learners worked on different things such as: revising for good endings, adding details, and removing extra writing that doesn't fit. Learners were reminded that it is very difficult to edit for Capitalization, Ommissions, Punctuation, and Spelling in one read. Many professional editors reread for just one mistake to catch them. All in all, we are working on being inspired, creative, and throughough writers. For Word Work we worked on using quotations correctly in our writing. Kim Holl our reading specialist came in and worked with about half the class on syllabication using methods and materials from the Linda Mood Bell Seeing Stars training we attended last week. We tackled the "tow truck" letters in cursive that change depending on the letter in front of it. It's what prevents the word hot from looking like hat. It's a toughie, but with practice many more learners will be choosing cursive as a faster way of writing in class.
Ft. Ross
We began our study of one of the interesting and important early settlers in California. The Fort Ross Colony. We talked about primary resources, such as journal entries, drawings, notes, official papers, etc., being important in learning about life in the past. We are going to study a number of primary resources, historian's perspectives, and Historical Fiction to learn more about life at Fort Ross. We already had an interesting discussion about the lack of information from/about women at Ft. Ross in a discussion of roles at Ft. Ross that we will be playing. The learners chose roles and will begin learning more about those roles in the weeks to come to prepare them for their Ft. Ross experience. We'll find our more about the program at our information night, Tuesday, January 16 at 6:30. This is an especially important meeting for volunteers who are going, please let me know if you are an overnight volunteer and cannot attend. (FYI the district ROPES info night is that night as well. We are still doing ROPES as a choice for PLPs and you will be getting information about that soon. According to Inga, an expert on working with ROPES, this meeting is quite general, and we'll be able to fill in all the information regarding that in the very near future).
Math
Our fraction unit is in full swing. Before the winter break we began to look at halves, fourths and eighths. We made connections with fraction equivalents and looked at what made a whole using geoboards and dot paper squares. Yesterday we reviewed this by making our favorite fourths. The learners remembered that there were sixteen squares inside the dot paper square so one fourth would need to include four squares. We talked about the relationship between halves (8 squares), fourths (four squares), and eighths (2 squares). The learners discovered that as the denominator got larger, the pieces became smaller. The learners also noticed that 1/2=2/4=4/8. They noticed that the numbers were doubling and that we could continue to cut our square into smaller pieces (the smallest we got was 156/312). This week we also explored thirds, sixths, and twelves. We used this information to combine fractions to make a whole. Many of the learners brought home dot paper to continue this at home. They must use different fractions to fill the whole. Then they need to write equations to support their divisions. For example, 1/2+1/4+1/8+1/8=1; 1/8+1/8=2/8; 1/4+1/8+1/8=1/2. This activity will help the learners visualize equivalent fractions and begin to add fractions together. Next week we will begin to look at specific fractions and will start to create fraction cards that will be used to create a fraction number line. I will also be assigning a homework assignment next week that will require the learners to convert a recipe. Be on the look out for that assignment later next week.
Missions
We are in the process of completing mission ABC books. The learners have each been assigned a specific mission and have been working on gathering information about their mission. They are using this information to create an ABC book. Most learners have their research completed or are close to it, and are now starting the process of completing their final drafts. These books will be on display for the learner expo. I have already learned a lot of new information! We also have a new time line up in our room showing the important events in California history that we have studied so far this year. Next time you stop by, make sure you ask your learner about it.
Remember that Monday is a holiday. Have a terrific three day weekend!
Elysha and Lale
