It’s March! We have been so busy at Captain with all the goings on of snow days and Black History Night and I feel completely out of touch with the blog. Here are a few snapshots of life in our classroom these days.
We have been really enjoying our fiction unit studying character. Our book clubs have begun using a new strategy to focus our conversations. We have color coded “talking blocks” that we use to build “talking towers.” Each person has a limited number of blocks, each block representing an opportunity to contribute to the conversation. Having a limited number of blocks ensures that the participants are thoughtful about when they speak and choose their comments carefully. The goal is to really listen to each others’ contributions and then deepen the conversation by furthering discussion on the same topic. When we feel satisfied with that discussion, we can begin again with another topic related to the book. This is a way for the students to monitor their own conversation and it has led to some excellent thinking about the books we are reading.
Our last science unit is well underway as we study landforms. We have been using stream tables as models in class. Yesterday, we studied erosion by creating models of how the Grand Canyon was formed. In about ten minutes, we simulated a time span of about one million years. Pretty impressive!
In my math class, we have been reviewing how to use bar models in a variety of problems in preparation for our upcoming chapter on ratio. If you haven't had a chance to peruse the Captain website, I wanted to point out that Dr. Doherty has put some helpful information about Math In Focus on there specifically for parents looking for ways to support their child's math learning at home. There are even some video tutorials explaining the strategies Math In Focus uses to approach different mathematical concepts. Check it out: http://www.claytonschools.net/domain/933
We have been really enjoying our fiction unit studying character. Our book clubs have begun using a new strategy to focus our conversations. We have color coded “talking blocks” that we use to build “talking towers.” Each person has a limited number of blocks, each block representing an opportunity to contribute to the conversation. Having a limited number of blocks ensures that the participants are thoughtful about when they speak and choose their comments carefully. The goal is to really listen to each others’ contributions and then deepen the conversation by furthering discussion on the same topic. When we feel satisfied with that discussion, we can begin again with another topic related to the book. This is a way for the students to monitor their own conversation and it has led to some excellent thinking about the books we are reading.
Our last science unit is well underway as we study landforms. We have been using stream tables as models in class. Yesterday, we studied erosion by creating models of how the Grand Canyon was formed. In about ten minutes, we simulated a time span of about one million years. Pretty impressive!
In my math class, we have been reviewing how to use bar models in a variety of problems in preparation for our upcoming chapter on ratio. If you haven't had a chance to peruse the Captain website, I wanted to point out that Dr. Doherty has put some helpful information about Math In Focus on there specifically for parents looking for ways to support their child's math learning at home. There are even some video tutorials explaining the strategies Math In Focus uses to approach different mathematical concepts. Check it out: http://www.claytonschools.net/domain/933
Oh, and this is still happening on a daily basis.
Puts a smile on your face.
