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Presenting our
Symbolic Heart Art |
As we continue with our
Because of Winn-Dixie book clubs the students have noticed that many of the characters have suffered some sort of loss and have "aching hearts". They used their creativity in conjunction with textual evidence to create symbolic "hearts" that represent many of the amazing characters in Kate DiCamillo's novel. Next week we will conclude the book and we will look closely at the concept of theme in this novel and in other mentor texts.
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Dyad partners wrestle with
two different solutions |
In mathematics we have been exploring several different strategies for adding and subtracting "big" numbers into the ten thousands. Many students have discovered that (despite popular beliefs) the standard algorithm (Carrying) is not always the most efficient strategy. Some find it more helpful to use strategies like the constant difference/give and take or jumping to friendly numbers on a mental or sketched number line. (Ask you student about these ones!) The beauty of mathematics is that our minds work in many different ways and usually there are multiple pathways to discover the same solution. We have been comparing and evaluating strategies by listening to understand each other and explaining our reasoning clearly.
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Using tile to help build our calendar pattern
and create a generalization |
Next week students will be making decisions about what their Passion Project topics will be and they will help each other to develop research questions. We look forward to seeing students push themselves in year two of this exciting project. We will share our projects with you all on the morning of April 13th.
If you haven't signed up for a spring conference there are still spots available. We look forward to chatting with you about your child over the next couple of weeks.
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Word Study partners working
with Long i patterns (write/right, live/live) |
It looks like winter is going to stick around for a while, so please continue to send you student in with all of the gear they will need to play outside and stay warm and be dry and comfortable in class.
Think Spring!
Liz and Jess
