In ring 1 we are juggling literacy. We are learning how readers "grow like beanstalks" by doing things like discovering how the book wants to be read, taking grown up sneak peeks into our book to gett our brains' thoughts on fire before we even read, and building our reading stamina by reading more and more. We are currently reading for 25 minutes during independent reading.
We are also just getting started in our Narrative writing unit, which builds on the Narrative writing unit from first grade.
In ring 2, science is in full swing on the flying trapeze. We are establishing the routine of using our science notebook daily. This will become our most important science tool this year, as we will house definitions, labs, and reflections here. We just completed a review on 5 senses using a coconut. We discussed the importance of elaborating our descriptions and observations so that our fellow scientists can understand our findings. Ask your little scientist to describe the coconut for you, especially its taste!
In the center ring, we are taming the new Duval Math curriculum. It seems dangerous with its many daily components (fluency/skills, application word problem, concept development, student debriefing, and an exit ticket), but our little ring masters seem to be cracking the whip. We will continue to tame "making a 10 to add within 20" as this will be a very important skill we use to help us solve more difficult problems. For example, 9 + 5. We want students to make a 10, which they can easily do to the 9. We want them to create a number bond for 5, showing that 5 can be broken into 2 parts, particularly 1 + 4, so that the new equation becomes 9+1+4=10+4. Many parents argue that this is creating more steps for their child to do in the problem, and while it may SEEM that way, it is not, as this conceptual way of doing math is creating a more complex and efficient problem solver to prepare them for mental math and harder problems, like 48 + 24. By making 10, they could solve for 40+20+10 to get 70+2, which equals 72, all without pencil and paper. Here's what it should be looking like right now:
We continue to enjoy each and every day in the 3 ring circus....what will we tame next??
