Tuesday was the 100th day of school. In math we worked in groups to create a 100 link chain. We had six groups who made chains varying in length from 11 to 14 links. We worked together to figure out how many links we had in all and how many more links we needed to make our chain 100 links long. We used “number talks” to discuss how students came up with their answer. Explaining their thinking helps with problem solving skills and builds number sense.
To make the chain, students had to work collaboratively to work out the mathematical problems required to produce a chain of 100 links. It is now on display in the classroom, and when we look at it we can recall the learning experience and connections we made while building our chain.
Also, in honor of the one-hundredth day of school students wrote and illustrated a 100th Day of School book. We made 100 grid charts and patterns and discovered what we could make with 100 cubes or pattern blocks.
On Thursday I attended a conference about supporting rigor and complexity in instruction and assessment. This was offered through the County Office of Education as part of the Curriculum Leadership Council. This workshop gave me the chance to work with other educators to learn how to deepen understanding of the content and help students transfer what they learn to other learning situations.
On Friday, the second grade teachers met to plan our upcoming Earth Science unit and revise it to meet the new common core standards requirements. We will begin the unit in class in March.
Meanwhile in the classroom, the students continued to learn about measuring length in math. They began a new story in reading called Ant. It is a nonfiction book about the amazing things that ants do. And, the students learned about Chinese New Year, which began on Friday. We were fortunate to have Mara’s mom, Kiana Di Francesco, join us to as part of the Project Cornerstone program. She did an activity based on the book How to Fill Your Bucket. She passed out warm fuzzies to each student to keep and warm fuzzies for each student to give away. She taught them that by being kind to others we can fill up each others’ buckets. We also discovered that when we say or do hurtful things we are dipping into other people’s buckets. We should not do this as it makes them feel sad.
We learned the three rules of bucket filling:
To make the chain, students had to work collaboratively to work out the mathematical problems required to produce a chain of 100 links. It is now on display in the classroom, and when we look at it we can recall the learning experience and connections we made while building our chain.
Also, in honor of the one-hundredth day of school students wrote and illustrated a 100th Day of School book. We made 100 grid charts and patterns and discovered what we could make with 100 cubes or pattern blocks.
On Thursday I attended a conference about supporting rigor and complexity in instruction and assessment. This was offered through the County Office of Education as part of the Curriculum Leadership Council. This workshop gave me the chance to work with other educators to learn how to deepen understanding of the content and help students transfer what they learn to other learning situations.
On Friday, the second grade teachers met to plan our upcoming Earth Science unit and revise it to meet the new common core standards requirements. We will begin the unit in class in March.
Meanwhile in the classroom, the students continued to learn about measuring length in math. They began a new story in reading called Ant. It is a nonfiction book about the amazing things that ants do. And, the students learned about Chinese New Year, which began on Friday. We were fortunate to have Mara’s mom, Kiana Di Francesco, join us to as part of the Project Cornerstone program. She did an activity based on the book How to Fill Your Bucket. She passed out warm fuzzies to each student to keep and warm fuzzies for each student to give away. She taught them that by being kind to others we can fill up each others’ buckets. We also discovered that when we say or do hurtful things we are dipping into other people’s buckets. We should not do this as it makes them feel sad.
We learned the three rules of bucket filling:
- Be a bucket filler.
- Don't be a bucket dipper.
- Keep your lid on.