Here are some highlights from our week:
SLCs
As many of you saw, the students worked extremely hard to prepare and share their work. I really enjoyed being a part of these and I hope you do too! I want to celebrate the students for how confidently they shared their personal goals, beautiful project work, reading, and mathematical thinking. I was especially impressed with their information paragraphs. As I sat there and listened to the students speak about the process, I realized that they did A LOT to create this writing piece! I am proud of the perseverance they showed throughout that writing process.
At the end of the week we reflected on our SLC performances. Students were proud of how they clearly explained their work, made eye contact with their guests, spoke in a clear voice, were able to show work that they were proud of, and read from their books with expression. However, my favorite piece of feedback was that I talked too much during their presentations...oops!!
Scientific sketches
We looked at the animal communities that students talked the most about in their informational paragraphs. Then, students chose one animal from this list of 10 animals to do more focused research on. There are two students per each animal.
After studying pictures of the animal, students started drafting scientific sketches of the animal. A scientific sketch is different from simply drawing or copying an image. The purpose is to create an accurate visual representation that is meaningful to you and to people who have not directly seen what you have. It is thinking with a pencil to record scientific features.
The students created at least three drafts of their animal, with each draft moving closer towards an accurate representation of the animal. After making each draft, students critiqued their work with the student who was also sketching that animal. We worked really hard to give specific feedback during the critique process. For example, rather than say "maybe you could make the body better", we could say "maybe you could make the body longer and skinnier."
Number talk
The students are continuing to come up with more and more creative strategies to represent a number. This week, we started to share strategies as a whole class. One or two students are selected to explain one of their strategies to the class.
Read aloud
Mr. Popper's Penguins
A Tower of Giraffes - A beautiful picture book that talks about animals in their communities!
Clay fish with Ms. Vinetz
Ms. Vinetz worked tirelessly this week with the 2nd grade to make the clay fish for our Fish Art Installation! Our students led their groups through the steps they created for how to make a scientifically accurate clay fish. They even led Mrs. Fuentes, Ms. Kegley, and me through the process when it was our turn to make a fish! The fish are now ready for Ms. Kegley's class to install into the moving art piece.
Yoga!
Wednesday was our first day of Yoga with the Sean O'Shea Foundation. For more information about this amazing non-profit, please click here. We will be participating in yoga until winter break to help calm our bodies, and find our own peace place. The students really enjoyed feeling calm and relaxed during yoga.
Here are some pictures from our week: