After celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Monday, we had a relatively normal week. The only thing out of the regular schedule was that Mrs. Blake came in on Friday to read a book and talk to us about what to do if someone is ever unkind to us. She gave us a few different options of ways that we could handle those sorts of situations.
Otherwise, here's what we've been working on in the classroom:
Reading : Last week we spent a lot of time visualizing poems to infer their meanings. Basically, it means that I took the titles off poems and had the students try to figure out what the poets were talking about. In order to do this, the students have to read the author's words and visualize what he/she is talking about in order to infer what the poem is about. It's fun! If you'd like a try at it yourself, ask your child to show you some of the poems in his/her binder that we've been using. Make sure your child covers up the answers so that you can't cheat, though!
Writing : We dove right into poetry last week. The students have been enjoying the change of pace. They especially like that some of the writing convention rules are relaxed in poetry. The students started off the week immersing themselves in poetry so that they could have a better idea of the craft. After that, the students started writing list poems, which are poems that list items that all belong to one topic. Ask your child what list poems he/she wrote. Later in the week the students dabbled in using a "poet's eye" to look at ordinary objects.
Math : Last week we reviewed fractions, place value, and making change.
Computers : Last week, the students started an ocean animals research project in the computer lab. Each student has chosen to research a whale, dolphin, or shark. Ask your child which animal he/she chose. I was very impressed with the students' abilities to navigate websites and locate specific information on their chosen animals. Eventually the students will turn their research into slide show presentations.
Here are a few pictures of 1-Bu in action last week :