I asked the children to let me know what they thought you would like to know about our learning. Here are a few entries I received...If I'm being honest, they are the only entries I received. Hopefully I get more student input in the future! Here is what they wanted you to know...
"In math we finished up division with a test. Then Mrs. Curran found out we needed some more help with division. When we finally got it we started fractions. Now we are continuing fractions."
by Cooper
"We are getting better and better at math facts." by Melissa
"We are learning in science about chemicals. We are mixing chemicals so we can see what happens to it. We are observing it. One looks really cool. My partner is Bella. We take turns. It is really fun." by Kaya
Here's what I can add to what the children wrote...
In math we are learning about fractions. We have done several hands-on activities to explore the idea that fractions are equal parts of a whole. Recently the children partitioned a piece of paper into equal parts by folding it. They then shaded in one of the equal parts to represent the unit fraction. Next, they cut out each of the equal parts and arranged them into a piece of art. We displayed each work of art in our Fraction Museum and as the children toured the fraction museum they recorded the unit fraction and the fraction of unshaded pieces in each piece of art hanging up.
Before our winter break we did an author study of Tomie DePaola. We compared three of his popular picture books- Strega Nona, Strega Nona's Magic Lessons, and Tony's Bread. We discussed similarities and differences between the characters, settings, problems, and solutions in these stories. Since Tomie DePaola writes and illustrates his books we were also able to discuss they way his illustrations add to our understanding of his stories. We are now moving our focus to reading informational texts!
