Contraction Surgery

This is what greeted each student (I mean surgeon) as they walked into the classroom (OOPS! operating theatre) on Tuesday morning.

The head of the trauma unit thanked the surgeons for coming in to help save the many patients that were on the list for surgery today.

Here are the list of patients who will need to be taken care of.

Do you recognize any of them?  Many were on this week's spelling list.

The surgeons used their scalpels, worn their masks and gloves to ensure that no germs could be passed around and began the long morning of surgery.

Each patient had one or two letters that needed to be removed.

Once the letters were removed, the surgeons needed to add the special bandaid to show where the letters were taken away.  Each bandaid needed to be marked with an apostrophe.

This may have looked easy, but it really was a specialized skill that only trained professionals can perform.

The head of the hospital showed up and made sure that all the surgeons were on the right track.

A lot of lives were saved this day!!

Each surgeon took one of the many patients and completed the special orders to ensure that the patient would be able to recover fully.

It was a job well done!

Thank you to Catherine Reed for sharing this wonderful interactive and memorable activity with me. I think the students had a great time learning how two words are used to make a contraction.

The students have been focusing on what they already knew about reindeer, what information they would like to know more about, and then worked in pairs to search for information.

Here are the questions that guided their search.

The questions had numbers and the cards placed around the room had a corresponding number.

They could read the question on the white cards and then search for the answers on the reading cards.

They practised writing jot notes on their recording sheet....again on the correct numbered section.

They were great little workers who helped each other find and record the information needed.

When they work together they are using co-operative conversation skills, learning to take turns, listen to other's points of view and sharing the reading and writing.

Here is the next math strategy that we are focusing on.  We introduced the 'how to' yesterday and today we worked on many examples together as a practise.  They seemed to catch on and were very quick in adding the number to ten to complete the equation.

Ask your little to explain their thinking.  They are becoming comfortable with telling what their brain does as they try out the many strategies that they are being introduced to.

Co-operative learning

For the next few days, the students will be focusing on the strategy of knowing which two numbers add up to ten.  These anchor charts were ones that they are familiar with as they were used when they were in Grade One.  This is a review of a concept that they should know, which will then be the focus of a new strategy.  Does your child know which numbers add up to ten?  Can your child 'flip flop' the equation so that they know the other equation such as 2+8 and 8+2 BOTH add up to ten?

We spent some time reviewing all that we already know...giving the students a feeling of accomplishment and confidence in how they handle numbers.

The students spend a great deal of time practising their facts, but most often with another student, so that they have someone to talk through their thinking with, and so that they have another student who can set them straight if they are not quite on the right path.

This game was sent home for more practise.  Use a paperclip and a pencil as the spinner (you can see one cutie showing you how to do it in this photo), and use some small items such as macaroni as the marker.

The students are practising how to read non-fiction, in Social Studies.  We had worked on a small booklet back in October, looking at the features of non-fiction text.  It is not the same as reading a work of fiction.

We work in both large groups, small groups and/or pairs as we read.

When reading this time, we looked at the two questions that were posed, and then focused on finding the answers to those questions.  Lots of discussion to ensure that facts are understood, also is part of the lesson.

The students then worked in pairs again to see if they could put five statements about what they had read, into the correct sequence, following the text that they had read.  Again, having a partner to talk with, allows the students to take a chance and feel confident that they are making good choices.

Co-operative learning is part of each and every day in our class!

Our dancing priest

This week we have been focusing throughout the school on Kindness.  We have introduced another positive behaviour activity, in which the students can earn a 'visit' from a stuffy on their desk for the positive ways they are showing their best behaviour in the classroom.  The butterfly spent yesterday with this sweet boy.

One of the great stories we shared this week is called "Enemy Pie".  We did so many activities with it including....

expanding our vocabulary.  These 9 words were focused upon and the students know what they all mean!

We created a recipe, after a great discussion on positive character traits we like to see in our friends.

Here's an example of a wonderful set of traits you might like in a friend:

a dash of smart

a cup of dependable

a pinch of sweet

and a spoonful of encouragement!

In religion, we have been focusing on all the 'treasures' we will be receiving this Saturday through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Treasures need to be kept safe, so we made...

treasure chests to keep them in....

with a lock!

I think the students loved all the sparkly things they got to use to make their treasure chests!

We had a WONDERFUL visit from Father Sathea (I don't know how to spell his name...oops!)

and he laughed after saying that they won't go home to tell the parents all the good things we talked about.  Instead the children will say that Father loves to dance and he danced with us all today!

Math strategies

When I learned how to add as a child, I never ever shared what was happening in my mind.  If the teacher said "How much is 7 add 4?"  I didn't say that in my mind I was adding 7 and 3, because I knew all the combinations to 10, then added one more to make 11.  I only shared the answer.

That's the biggest difference in how math is taught in the beginning grades now.  We share our strategies, or the way that our mind thinks.  By the end of Grade One, the students were to know their doubles (1+1, 2+2, etc.)  We use that knowledge now in basic addition and subtraction, and are working to use those facts to help with questions that are 'near doubles.'

Here is an example of a near double:  7 + 5

Think:  I could take one from the 7 and put it with the 5, that's the same as 6 + 6....I know that one, it's 12 so 7 + 5 is also 12!

The students are going to be focusing on a variety of strategies over the next few weeks.  Do they need to use all of them?  No, that is not the purpose.  All of these strategies are introduced so that each child can decide which one or ones work best for their brains.  They need to see them all, and try them all to know which ones they like to use.

Students who 'know' their basic addition and subtraction facts to/from 20, often are the ones who experience the least amount of difficulty with our next concept which will be the addition and subtraction of larger numbers.  Don't be afraid to 'quiz' your kiddos as you travel in the car, are walking through the grocery store, or are waiting at the doctor's office.  It truly is a case of 'use it of lose it'....the more practise, the better those facts stick in their brain.

In the end, knowing the facts is what we want the kiddos to do!

Here are some photos of the students working with each other of playing some math games related to the math strategy that we are practising.

 That's the other difference between when I was a student and what the kids are doing now.  I did pages and pages and pages of math equations.  Today students really get to 'use' the numbers, literally playing with them.  This makes them less afraid, and solidifies how those strategies help them to WIN!!

Do they do math equations?  Yes, but only when they have had lots of hands on practise.  That way, the paper and pencil tasks are an opportunity to 'show what you know'.

Introducing Chunky Monkey!

This little guy has been a big helper this week in our classroom.

Good readers can use chunks or small words inside big words to figure out unknown words. By chunking a word, you can use the parts you do know to help you figure out the parts you do not know. Chunky Monkey allows you to break down the word into chunks or word parts that you already know. You can use your knowledge of word families to help read harder words!

You might like to watch the following video that explains how this strategy was introduced to your child in his or her early reading work last year.  This USA teacher does a great job and has focused on clear explanations to parents.

Click here

Now that your child is reading much longer stories, much longer words are being encountered.  Some are feeling confident and really trying to figure out those words.  Others are just overwhelmed because the words are 6, 7 or 8 letters long (and longer)!

It was time for them to revisit an old strategy and make it work for longer words, so Chunky Monkey is back! (Research shows that better readers chunk rather than sound out.  This is because words like 

/enough/ or /thumb/ or /because/ are not really words that sound like they are written.  By recognizing the chunks, the reader is more successful, especially when used with our other decoding strategies).

What are chunks?  Sometimes, they are the parts of the words that we called 'syllables'.

We worked this week on using first our finger and then our pencil to see the 2 or 3 letters that include a vowel that we could read.  Above are some examples that we explored.  It is ABSOLUTELY not important that the students know the 6 types of syllables.

The examples above were used to show that sometimes the students would find a consonant on both sides of the vowel and sometimes there would only be a consonant on one side of the vowel.

Here are some pictures of the students working together to 'chunk' the larger words into smaller parts.  They were so proud of how many of the words they could do on their own.

I don't have a clue why these next few photos show up in this way...upside down.

Tried a few fixes but we'll just go with this.

The students have been really working hard on recognizing two digit numbers in a variety of forms.  In this activity, they had to choose a two digit number, which they hid under the little blue dot.  They drew at least one way to represent the number, they were to write 3 clues so that their classmates could guess the mystery number.

I'll help you read this one:

It is an odd number.  The equation would say 40+41. This is a two digit number.

Did you guess 81???!!!

I had a question about the 'new math' that the students are doing and how the new curriculum that will be introduced in the next few years will affect this.

First of all, there is no 'new' math.  Numbers are numbers.  They add up to only one correct answer (most of the time)

What has changed is the manner in which we encourage the students to 'play' with the numbers, understand their relationship, learn how to manipulate them, and basically, believe that working with numbers is both easy and fun.

When I taught students to add 2 digit numbers 'back in the day', there was only one way for everyone to do it.  Pity the poor student who couldn't figure out what I was talking about....they just got more math sheets to practise on.

Now, I make sure that the students really understand what is happening when two digit numbers are being added together.  If they add the tens before the ones, that's okay.  If they say 'I will add 30, then take 2 away' when they are asked to add 28 to another number, that's okay.  If they need manipulatives to assist them in getting to the answer, that's okay too. Once they feel that they have 'discovered' what addition is about, then I will introduce the algorithm (the way that most North Americans add) and explain that it is important to have an efficient way to get to the answer.  By then, they are confident is what the addition of two digit numbers is about, and are ready to try the recognized method that their parents are using.

Just by the by, in different countries students are taught algorithms that you and I would find confusing and very different than what you learned and use today.  Our way is not the only way.  Keep an open mind about something different than your way being used.

In the end, if your child is confident and correct, that's what the end goal is all about!

If your child can play with numbers, they will be more successful when algebra is introduced in Jr. High....trust me!