Tuesday, September 10th, 2019

At the mid-point of the week I am seeing my students stating to be nice and settled into our daily routine.  So this means that things are beginning to run more smoothly since some of the initial kinks and hiccups have been worked out.  I am especially relieved with the technology issue being solved.  The reason is because students and teachers are doing a lot more with the technology in order to reduce the use of paper.  This does not mean that paper is not used at all, since a lot of math calculations are appropriate for that.  It means that we are trying to cut down on its use.

In math, we did another neat pattern-related activity involving a progression of squares in each step, called a Case.  In Case 1, there are four.  In Case 2, the number goes to 9.  So students at first figured out the pattern (very important!) and then described it. This is where things got interesting:  it showed how there are multiple right ways of solving and describing.  For example, some students immediately saw how it forms a rough triangle shape while others noticed the progression of squares on top of each other.  I locked in on the fact that the number at the base grows by two (3,5,7, etc.).  Again, all different and yet each system works, which is really the bottom line in math.

The next task was to use their Chromebooks and predict both what Case 4 looks like and count the number of squares.  

In science, students did an activity in which they were given the task of designing an experiment.  

In literacy, students gave input as to how to manage the classroom library and what guidelines should be in place.  Then, they used the writing process to create a fictional story.  It could be in any genre of fiction (realistic, historical, etc. etc.), and any point of view (1st person, etc.).