Reader Have Many Purposes

Today we began our new unit of study -- Informational Text. For our first mini-lesson we focused on how readers have different purposes. We talked about how we can find different reading materials in student book boxes. The materials included: stories, poetry, magazines, mysteries etc. We discussed how readers have many purposes for reading - to learn something new, to entertain, to keep in touch with what is going on in the world, to answer a question, to develop an interest/hobby, etc. As part of our mini-lesson students shared the different reading materials they have in their book bins and why. Students talked about the purposes they have for reading. Below are photographs from our "turn and talk" section of the mini-lesson.

Wonder of the Week

Wonder of Week: What Does Organic Mean? I think... I think that organic means fresh fruits and vegetables. (Kolby) I think that organic means that Vitamin C is in vegetables. (Macsen) I think that organic means vegetables and fruits are good for your body. (Breezie) I think organic means vegetables are healthy. (Spencer) I think that organic vegetables are softer than non-organic vegetables. (Kiera) I think that organic means that fruits and vegetables are good for your body. (Eliza) I think that organic means that fruits and vegetables are picked and non-organic means that they aren’t picked. (Ayson) I think that organic means that fruits and vegetables are good for your body. (Owen)

Our Week in Review

Brainstorming Character Traits

Today in Reading Workshop today we brainstormed character traits that describe us.  Brainstorming our own character traits is part of a project that we will be working on over the course of the week.  This project will be on display during conferences! 

Publishing Personal Narrative Stories

Last week students were partnered up with a classmate.  Together the students thought of a shared experience, they completed a story map around their shared experiences. Once students created their story map an adult reviewed it and then students began publishing their story using the app Book Creator.  Students learned how to create a title page. This week students will learn how to add voice and text to their pages along with illustrations.  We will be sure to let you know when our books are published (they will be on each student’s blog)!

Exciting Share!

On Wednesday we had a very exciting share in Room 6.  A classmate brought in his brand new puppy to share with the class.  A big thank you to the student's uncle who brought in the puppy for everyone to enjoy.

One Cool Friend -- Continued

On Wednesday we discussed how the illustrations add to the meaning of the story.  The illustrations help the reader understand the plot better.  We revisited several pages in the text where the illustrations work to help us as the reader understanding the story.  Below are different examples of how the connection between the text and illustrations helped us as readers.

On Friday during our One Cool Friend lesson students discussed and answering questions, making sure they used evidence in the text to support their answers.  Students identified a character trait of Elliot and then had to back-up their thinking using evidence from the text.  We reviewed how we learn about characters by what they: do and don’t do, say and don’t say, think and don’t think and feel and don’t feel.

This coming Tuesday we will have our last One Cool Friend lesson. During this lesson we will discuss as a class the issue of Elliot breaking the rules.  We will focus on the following questions:  “Do you think it is okay to break the rules like Elliot did? Should he have brought home the penguin from the aquarium?”  Students then will have to support if they agree or disagree with Elliot's actions and why.  

Below are some examples of student’s thinking.

Math This Week

This week in math we have been learning about new subtraction strategies. We learned the counting back, counting up, -0 and -1 strategies.  Below are some examples of our great learning! 

Election Day at PPS

Yesterday we had Election Day at PPS.  We went down to Room 2, learned about the expectations around voting at PPS and then each student cast their own vote.  Students voted on what they wanted the next PPS celebration to be: special treat at lunch or dance party with Mr. Pecor. The results will be announced on Friday morning during All-School meeting. 

One Cool Friend

This week our class is reviewing the various literacy skills we have learned throughout the trimester.  To review these skills we are using the book, One Cool Friend.  

Yesterday we used key ideas and details from the text to answer questions.  In addition, we discussed the events of the story (beginning, middle and end) and completed the “One Cool Friend Story Map”. Students also completed their very own “One Cool Friend Story Map” which are below.  

Salute!

Today in math we learned how to play a new game.  You can play at home with a regular deck of cards.  The instructions are below.

Our Week in Review 10.31 - 11.4

Trick or Treat for Unicef

 Today our class counted the Trick-or-Treat for Unicef money collected by Porters Point School.  First we sorted all of the money by bills (10s, 5s and 1s) and by coins (quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies).  We had the quarter table, dime table, nickel table and penny table.  Students at each table made groups with their coins.  We realized that it would be easiest for each group to organize in $1.00 increments.  

Quarter Table (4 quarters makes a dollar)

Number of $1 Piles = 148

Total Money = $148

Dime Table (10 dimes makes a dollar)

Number of $1 Piles = 58

Total Money = $58.60

Nickle Table (20 nickels makes a dollar)

Number of $1 Piles = 38

Total Money = $38.90

Penny Table (100 pennies makes a dollar)

Number of $1 Piles = 28

Total Money = $28.92

Bills = $122.00 

Total Amount = $396.42

Click here to find out how our money help others 

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