Things are Happening in 4Z

 

Things are rocking and rolling in the classroom.  The children have been busy preparing for International Night, along with researching RI government members, working in Wonders and Reveal.  We are always busy and engaged in the classroom.  February seems to go so fast and I am sure that the Winter Break will also.

Here is a breakdown of the week:

Monday:

Ms. Rhoden has done a fantastic job with the morning meetings.  She gets the children up and around with the various activities she plans.  The children look forward to what is coming and get motivated as they begin their day.  The last of the Science presentations also took place and we continue to work in Wonders and Reveal daily.

In Grammar we are learning about Pronouns and they also sang a very catchy tune to help them remember what pronouns are.

Tuesday:

We started a new story in Wonders and the children worked together in their Reading/Writing Companion books.

The children are always engaged with the stories and participate which lead to wonderful conversations that revolve around the essential question.

Wednesday:

We continued reading about the First Landing on the Moon and the conversations were tremendous.  We discussed how advancements in technology have its pros and cons.  The children really got into the conversations and had a lot to say.

Thursday:

We have been diligently working on our International projects.  We will be ready to display everything at our biggest event of the year.  The children have been putting together their research and completing their tri-folds, travel brochures and acrostic poems.  They are learning a lot about Bolivia.

We have also been working in Science with Vision and Light.  The discussions they have are wonderful to listen to as they determine answers to their daily writing.  The children discussed how animals get their information from the environment that they live in.

On Thursday afternoon, I prepared the room for Valentine's Day.  The children loved seeing all the decorations as they entered the room.  

You can see how they consistently work on their projects.

Friday:

We made it to Friday, Valentine's Day and the last day before our Winter Break.  To say that the children were excited, is an understatement.  We still had lots to do and worked on our project.  In Math we are starting to work in Long Division. So many steps but we are slowing getting there.  The video I showed seemed to make them understand it a bit more.  

The day went smoothly, even when there were tons of treats to hand out.  

As always the children read and did a Valentine's Day activity with their Reading Buddies.  They love seeing them and working with them.  

We then continued working in class finalizing our International Night work.  The posters are coming along, research continues and the acrostic poems are ready to be hung.  

 

As you can see, it clearly was a busy and productive week.  The children are working hard and doing all that it is needed to prepare for our big night.  

Hope everyone is enjoying their break and getting much needed rest and relaxation.  I know that I am enjoying my time off and even getting some time in to read some books that I have been waiting to complete.  

Our Week in Review

Another week in the books.  We experienced our first virtual day of the year.  Overall, it went well and the children were able to navigate through the Google meets and independent work.  The rest of the week went well also.  The children are working and showing great effort for the most part.  I have decided to break down the blog by the days of the week.  Hopefully it will give you a better picture of how our days go.

Monday:

 

Our week started off great.  The children worked with their partners to complete their  Science slides about the rain forest animal they researched.  We began a new week in Wonders and we are moving along with our Math Unit.  

Tuesday:

The children start their days with the morning meetings that Ms. Rhoden has put together.  They give each other a greeting, share out and do an activity to get their days started.  We also do a rundown of what the day will include.

Then it is on to Wonders.  They work together to complete the assignments.  The discussions are great and the collaboration is wonderful to see.  

The children are constantly asking questions, discovering new concepts and working on their assignments that go along with the lessons.

You can also see in Math, how they work together to complete word problems and division equations by using strategies.

The children loved the hands on Math lesson that Ms. Rhoden taught.  They are continuing work with Division problems.

Wednesday:

Another successful and fun filled morning meeting.  The kids were out of their seats, smiling and playing reverse charades as their activity.  Everyone gets very involved and participates.

The children continued to work in Wonders with their group and read the story.  We also continued work in our Science and Social Studies curriculum.

Thursday:

We had our first virtual learning day as we got snow.  The children were prepared on Wednesday on what to expect.  We held Google meets and were available for the children if they couldn't understand or needed extra help with the work we sent home.  For the most part, things went smoothly.  I just want to reiterate that even though we weren't in school, it did count as a school day and we expected the children to act accordingly.  The schedule was sent home, along with the work that was expected to be completed.  It was not a free day and lessons were taught on the Google meet.

It is more work planning for a virtual day than actually being in class.  We made sure that all the work went home with the children the day before.  We had schedules made up and made sure that the children were connected to Google classroom.  Most of the work went through that and the children navigated their way.  There was one little hiccup with Music, but it ran smoothly.  Anyone who had issues with their chrome books(camera, microphone), we are working on getting them fixed.  It was also our 100th day of school, but we celebrated on Friday.

Friday:

The day started with Reading Buddies.  The children love this time of the day.  There were many kindergartners who dressed like elderly people.  It was so cute to watch them.  We had one in 4th grade who really played the part.

It was a fun filled day and so many happy faces filled the room.  I was even twinning with one of my students.  One student even walked the walk.  

That's the week all wrapped up in this blog.  There have been some excited times and some serious working times, but all in all, the children are thriving and progressing right along.  Hope everyone has a great remainder of the weekend.  They are predicting more snow this week.  Fingers crossed we won't have another virtual learning day, but if we do, I know the children will do well.