Switch from Blog to Class Dojo Class Story

This year I have not been able to update my blog very often, partly because the district server blocks Blogger pages thus making me unable to update it from Allen.  I am finding that my photos of our excellent work are just piling up and I'm not getting a chance to share them.  For these reasons I will switch from using this blog to using the class story component of class dojo to communicate and share photos from our class.  I can easily share photos on class story and parents can reply to photos with questions or comments.

Class story is only visible to parents in our class.  Please feel free to share photos and work with other family members or interested parents, but please don't copy and post photos of other scholars onto social media sites such as Facebook.  The work that I share on class story will always be for positive reasons.  My goal is for you to be informed and be able to communicate with your child about what they are doing in class.

Story problems

We made our first of many class books last week.  Each scholar thought of their own Halloween themed story problem that used either addition or subtraction.  They drew pictures to match their story problems and their work became a page in our book.

Some pictures from our exploration of depth and complexity

During the first three weeks of school I introduced an icon of depth and complexity each day to be explored in depth.  We then applied the icon to the story The Giving Tree  by Shel Silverstein.

Math

This year for math we are doing many hands on activities to build a deep understanding of math concepts.  For example, today we walked on number lines on the blacktop to solve multistep addition and subtraction equations, and we have also played several games such as "Who's Hiding?" and "How Many Are Under The Cup?"  Here are some photos of the scholars using blocks to find different parts that add up to the same number.  For most of you these number bonds will look familiar from kindergarten.  They help the scholars to think flexibly about numbers.

Depth and complexity

We are integrating depth and complexity into our reading, writing, and math content.  Here are a few great examples from scholars using details, patterns, and language of the discipline to introduce themselves.

Back to School Night PowerPoint

Chairs

Updated:  Dr. Heughins said we will need to wait on the school district to purchase chairs for the students.  This will likely not happen any time soon.