Announcements 2017-2018
Sharing Our Connections to the Story: Courage
Today I read the story Courage by Bernard Waber (see below): During the video, I modeled how the story sparked connections to my own life story.
Afterwards, students used a new app called Flipgrid to share their own connections to the story with the rest of the class. Students accessed our private class Flipgrid page through a link I posted on Google classroom (the link is no longer active). Students recorded a video (I called it a video selfie) of them sharing their personal connection to one of the pages in the books. Students then took a profile pic of themselves and uploaded it with their video (only our class can see the videos or profile pics). Afterwards, students viewed each other's video and listened to their classmates' connections to the book. I like this app since it is a great way to respond to a topic as well as promoting oral language. I also liked that it generates discussions about digital citizenship (which we have previously discussed).
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The Power to Connect
This week I introduced our first reading power. Reading Power is a terrific resource that teaches various reading strategies to help students understand (or comprehend) what they read.
The reading power I introduced was called the power to connect. Making connections while we read is something we do naturally as we get older. To explain the power to connect I read them the below passage to help explain why making connections while we read is actually quite remarkable. Over the next few weeks we will be working on making meaningful connections to texts we read in class.
 We also related the Power of Connect to the book: Once Upon an Ordinary School Day by Colin McNaughton
Students were asked: Why is it, in this book, when everyone in the room was listening to the same piece of music, everyone was thinking something different?
-We discussed that everyone is unique and therefore makes different connections from the music to their life stories.
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Lego Stop Motion Sculptures
Today students worked on their first stop motion Lego video.
First they were given time to use and explore the Lego:
 Next, students were shown a Lego sculpture slideshow for inspiration:
Afterwards students were shown the task:
Task: Use LEGO to create a stop motion video and count the number of LEGO buttons (on the LEGO pieces) you used. 1. Grab a handful of LEGO. Estimate the amount of buttons you have (for example some LEGO has 4 buttons whereas other LEGO pieces have 6 or 8 buttons). Write your ESTIMATE down on a sticky and include it at the beginning of your video. 2. Practice making a LEGO sculpture out of your pieces. 3. Use the STOP MOTION app to show how you assembled your LEGO into a sculpture. 4. Use STOP MOTION to disassemble your sculpture in such as way as to make the LEGO buttons easy to count. Write the number of Lego buttons you used on a sticky and include it at the end of the video. CRITERIA OF AWESOME * I have estimated the handful of LEGO and wrote in on a sticky and included it at the beginning of my video * I used stop motion to capture my LEGO being assembled into a sculpture. *I used stop motion to capture my LEGO being disassembled into an organized way of counting the buttons *I included a sticky at the end of my video counting the total number of LEGO buttons I used Below are some of the stop motion videos students made: Some of the organizational strategies for counting: -Making groups (array) of 5  -Making groups of 4 or 8 (some blocks come with 8 buttons, others can be made by adding a 4 button to another 4 button or a 2 button to a 6 button). I found this strategy interesting since 8 is not the friendliest of number however it was very easy to make with the LEGO pieces.  -Making arrays  -Making groups of 10  - Grouping blocks that have same amount of buttons  |
Science- Making Observations/ Outdoor Learning
This afternoon we took our learning outside. We discussed that scientists make observations and field notes about what they are studying. Today we walked outside around our schoolyard. We discussed our observations as well as questions we had about what we saw (for example questions about the different types of flowers, trees, insects). Afterwards, students drew a map of the schoolyard and included some of their observations.    |
Tribbles and Emotions
We started our day today as normal with our community circle. Usually I ask a question of the day. However today, I gave each student a sheet showing five Tribbles in various moods. First students had a chance to look at each of the Tribbles and think about what emotion they were showing. Afterwards, students described how they were feeling by pointing to the Tribble which they thought resembled their mood. We also discussed why it is important to share our feelings and how this relates to the Zones of Regulation.  |
Zones of Regulation
This week we have been discussing self-regulation and the Zones of Regulation. Below is a slideshow I used to help facilitate our discussion as well as a couple of videos that I showed in class. |
Stop Motion Animation
Today students had the first opportunity to work with stop motion animation. They used the iPad app called Stop Motion. The goal was for students to learn how to use the app as well as create a short animation where the theme was about numbers.
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Making Bug Houses from Base Ten Blocks!
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QR Code Activity Representing Numbers in Expanded Form
 Today students practised representing numbers in expanded form. Expanded form is where you break down a number into its place value. For example, the expanded form of 158 is 100 + 50 + 8. Students went around the room writing down the expanded form of numbers that were posted on the walls. Afterwards, students checked their answer by scanning the QR Code with an iPad. Students also could watch a video about expanded form by scanning one of the posted QR Code video links. |
Google Accounts and Google Classroom
 During our first activity, students replied to a post on Google Classroom saying "hi" to their classmates. Our second lesson will involve coming up with classroom norms when posting on Google Classroom and we will be discussing digital citizenship. Best regards, P. Johnson |
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