Math Fun - Reach For The Stars

The kids were playing a game called Reach For The Stars. They shook two dice, added the numbers together and then colored in a box.  They had predicted which number they would reach first.  In order to win, they had to capture three stars. It was fun to watch them figure out that the most often rolled numbers were seven and eight.  It was a great game.  They were able to add the numbers together very quickly.

Our Pal Mrs. Ann

Biweekly, our school counselor comes into our classroom and teaches great life skills.  This week we learned about the habit of "beginning with the end in mind".  Mrs. Ann showed us a hilarious video of a person who kept messing up because he didn't know his end goal.  It was super fun and the kids loved it.  Mrs. Ann teaches us awesome team building games and does wonderful activities with us. We are super lucky to have her at our school.

The Reading Train

The kids were paired up with a reading buddy and set their chairs up like a train.  One of the kids was the listener and the other was the reader.  When the train whistle blew the reader would read as fluently as possible while the listener paid close attention to what they were hearing.  When the train whistle blew again the listener would give the reader one grow (read a little louder or more fluently etc.) and two glows (you read with great expression, I liked your fluency, I enjoyed your tone, you made the story interesting, you make me want to hear more etc.)  The reader then reads again and tries to improve with the constructive criticism they were given.  When the train whistle blows again the team switches jobs.  The listener becomes the reader and the reader the listener.  They know what to listen for and how to project better.  This activity really helps with fluency and it is so fun to watch them really listen to each other.  These are very kind children and really want their partner to get better and better.  Everyone of these kids glow!

Dress Like A Farmer Day

We have been learning about animals and crops found on farms and what it would be like to live on a farm.  We learned that farms are very important to our lives and that most of the food we eat comes from farms.  At the end of our unit we had Dress Like a Farmer Day.  We pretended to do chores you would find farmers doing like milking a cow, sheering sheep, making butter and feeding the chickens.  We also went on a potato hunt and learned that Idaho is famous for our potatoes farms. We learned that horses live on ranches and cowboys take care of them.  We loved making butter and eating it. We learned that it is a lot of work to live on a farm and we are very grateful for farmers.