Raney's Rock Stars: Week 11

This week was full of new learning and exploration. As learners, students have been introduced to multiplication this week, with the idea that multiplication is simply repeated addition. We have begun to look at the array model, as many of you will see in their SeeSaw posts this week. This week our WIN groups began as well. The entire 2nd and 3rd-grade teams are working together to further instruct students in the area of reading. The whole class did an excellent job role modeling CSR behavior while in these groups. In other areas of learning, we have discussed what our tools for success have been and how it feels when we are successful. This past Wednesday was the best day in school we have had so far this year! They rocked it. We were all so proud of ourselves and others. It was a great day. Yesterday, I was able to attend a Technology Conference and I cannot wait to try some new things with them next week. This week is our last Forest Friday with the Growing Change group from Dartmouth.

Here are some questions to spark conversation:
-How did you play Rock, Paper, Scissors with your House?
-What tools do you use most to be successful?
-Who is winning the Fraction Race and how do you know?
-What is an array? What is area?
-Which planet, continent, country, state, town, street to you live on?
-Why is the sun important?
-What is WIN? And what book are you working on in your WIN group?

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 10

Catching up from last week! We had our Family Forest Work Day, Our 3rd Grade Writers Celebration, followed by Halloween, a Celebration for earning over 3,000 tokens and Family Conferences to end the week! It sure was busy. Here are some pictures from that week. Sorry for the delay.

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 9

This week was full of hard work. We finished our first math unit together, which required students to show all they have learned so far. We also finished up our first science unit last week, and they were assessed on this. Tuesday we got a special surprise. Mrs. Shepard's husband donated wood to our classroom to use to build a bridge in the woods this weekend! Together, students lifted and moved the wood to our trail. It certainly took a lot of communication and teamwork. On Thursday, our school was filled with ORANGE everywhere. Unity Day was a huge success at DBS. We just finished our latest read aloud, The Hundred Dresses, which focuses on a girl named Wanda who was bullied at school. Another main character Maddie learned the importance of standing up to bullying. Students created an art project to reflect the hundred dresses of the story. I'm hoping they will share more details of the story with you at home.

Reminder: Please join us on Sunday, October 28th at 10am to work on our Forest Classroom.

Questions to spark conversation:
1. Who is Wanda and why was she bullied at school?
2. Who is Maddie and how did she change over time? What made her want to change?
3. What scenarios did you see at the Unity Day celebration?
4. What is an Upstander?
5. How are you doing on your personal goal? What are you doing to achieve success on your goal?

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 8

This week will go down in the books as the best week to date! Throughout the week, several students demonstrated wonderful collaboration and problem-solving. They were understanding of the needs of others and really made steady advances in their learning. We finished our first science unit this week on the Power of Flowers: Plant Life Cycle and Heredity. We will have out unit assessment next week. In math, we finished our first unit focusing on addition and subtraction strategies and word problems. In writing, we are continuing to develop our first seed stories, students' personal narratives. We are hoping to have a published piece within the next two weeks. Throughout all of these activities and more, students demonstrated kindness, flexibility, and generosity towards others. Together, we earned 1,041 tokens this week! With twenty-one students in our classroom, that averages out to be almost 50 tokens per child for the week! I continue to be amazed by the maturity that is beginning to develop within this group. Their potential is off the charts.

Questions to spark conversation:
-What traits can you find in a tree?
-What more can you tell me about the books you are reading?
-Why is pollination important?
-How many milliliters are within a liter of liquid?
-What can you do to prevent bullying from happening?

Raney's Rock Stars: Week 7

The highlight of our week was the "summer day" we spent at Riverview Orchard.  Students explored in small groups and conducted an apple investigation.  This inquiry included describing the traits of an apple, drawing a diagram and graphing the number of seeds.  The time went by way too quickly!  Back at school we are finishing up our unit on recycling and getting ready to write our first informational piece using 2 different sources.  Our focus in reading this week has shifted to comprehension.  We are learning to stop as we read and ask ourselves, "Who are the characters in this part?  What just happened?  Does this fit with something that already happened, or is this new?"  In math this week we worked on figuring out multi-step story problems.

Questions to spark conversation:

-What happened on your field trip?  Did you make any new discoveries?

-Why do some pumpkins grow to be SO big?

-What do I need to show when solving a story problem?

-What happened during Forest Friday?

Week Six: Raney's Rock Stars

This week our math groups really set into place. Students did a fabulous job transitioning between stations. We worked on multiple-digit addition and subtraction. In writing, students continued to build on their seed stories. We worked on trying different leads. We learned how every lead should begin with some kind of hook. Using dialogue, immediate action or creating the mood of your story are all great ways to begin. In science, we took a closer look at the process of selection and how apples have changed over time because of selection.

Next week, we will be going to a local orchard to see how pollinators and the power of selection have worked at this orchard. Please reach out to me if you would like to join us.

Ideas to spark conversation:
-What is selection? Why do farmers use selection?
-What is a Make Ten fact and how can it help you solve 27+44?
-What is your seed story about?
-Can you teach me how to play, Target 20? *You only need a deck of playing cards.

Sometimes working with a buddy is the best way to stay focused. 

Working on our recycling posters

Playing a math game is more fun with XL cards :-)

Math groups at their finest

Sorting our words of the week

In science, we got to taste test various apples. Some tasted very sweet....

...while others were not so sweet at all!

Week Five: Raney's Rock Stars

     September came and went, in what feels like, the blink of an eye! It's amazing how quickly time can pass us by. We had a few special moments this week. One of our caterpillar chrysalides hatched and we celebrated in our school-wide reward by painting kindness rocks together. We have settled into a nice routine. This week students have been working to push themselves beyond what is comfortable and "easy" for them and move towards having more stamina to complete the work asked of them.
     We have been writing a lot! We are steering away from the classic, news reporter's voice telling about a whole day worth of story within 30 seconds time. Instead, students are reflecting on small, tiny seed stories within their lives, using a storyteller's voice. In connection to our Forest Fridays, students are taking the time to describe the world around them with elaboration. Any chance you get, talk with them about using more elaborate words to describe what they are doing and how they are doing it :-)
     In math, we have been focusing on various addition and subtraction strategies to help us in our everyday arithmetic. Starting with what you know in order to figure out what you don't is our motto. Soon we will be getting into adding and subtraction multiple-digit numbers on a number line. During our Number Corner time, we have begun to introduce the idea of multiplication and how it is simply repeated addition.
     Lastly, we finished our first read aloud of the year, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate! It was a tear-jerker for sure. I hope your child has come home and shared the story of Red, Samar, and Stephen. It's a wonderful story of hope, courage and the strength in wishing for more.

Ideas to spark conversation:
-Can you tell me about the song Miss Dale is working on with you?
-Why do you think Stephen (book character) decided to stand up for Samar and write "stay" on his wish?
-How can you spread kindness?
-What are some examples of "science fruit"? What makes them science fruit?
-What tiny seed stories have you been working on lately?