Our Week

This week we had fun watching Mr. Kenney and Ms. Swope walk the plank. CIS and Henry raised over $800 for playground equipment! 

   

In reading, we focused on the beginning, middle, and end of a story. I introduced the plot of a story to the students using an anchor chart that resembled a roller coaster. We had fun riding the Plot and using our Whole Brain Teaching to help us learn how to identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story. The students learned that at the beginning of a story is when we are introduced to who the characters are and what the setting is, the middle is when the problem arises, and at the end is when the solution takes place. I read aloud Chicken Little to the students and we identified the beginning, middle, and end of the story together. Then the students went back and applied their knowledge of beginning, middle, and end to their story, Gus Takes the Train. The kids marked with sticky notes where they thought the beginning, middle, and end was in their text. They then made a beginning, middle, and end flap book summarizing the parts of Gus Takes the Train in their own words.

    

Our theme this week was feelings. As a class we brainstormed various feelings we have and how our feelings affect our actions. We used our knowledge of feelings to help us analyze how a character’s feelings change in a story just like our feelings can change throughout various experiences. Our read aloud texts, Chicken Little and Amazing Grace helped us understand how a character’s feelings can change throughout a story. To go along with our theme and comprehension element, the students wrote a narrative of a time when their feelings changed. The kids used a brainstorming map to help them organize their thoughts and identify who the characters and setting were in their story. They then used their map to help create their narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. 

In math, we reviewed numbers bonds and finished our unit on reading, writing, and using numbers to 120. I was so pleased with how the kids have learned the concept of numbers bonds and have used this strategy to help them solve addition and subtraction problems. Today the students made a flap book of addition strategies as an introduction to the next unit. I look forward to seeing how the students apply various strategies to help them add and eventually subtract. We will be working heavily on addition fact fluency next week. 

 

   

We had two Monarch Butterflies in our classroom this week. We got to watch these awesome little creatures go from a chrysalis to a butterfly. One of the guided reading groups even researched butterflies using books from the library and the internet. They did a great job creating these colorful posters and presenting them to their classmates.