Blog Archives

Parent-Activity Week

12/15/2017

It was wonderful to see our parents and children working together on math games this Thursday. We had a great turnout. The children sure had a lot of fun teaching their parents how to play "Think Addition" and "Make Ten." I hope you'll continue to play these games at home to reinforce the strategies. I really appreciate the positive and the honest feedback. Your concerns and suggestions will help us to improve in the future. I was a nervous reck speaking in front of hundreds of people! It's a great thing I did not make a career in public speaking, that's for sure, hahaha! Another sure thing...the children were amazing! They put on a wonderful performance for us all!

Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

In Langauge Arts...

Students practiced more with author's purpose while listening to various stories read this week. One story from our Wonders Literature Anthology called I Fall Down by Vicki Cobb taught the children about earth's gravity. Together we looked at the main idea of the text to help us determine the author's purpose. We identified that the author wants to inform us about how gravity works on earth. Some of the text evidence we found to support the author's purpose was that the text said gravity is a force that pulls things down and when you carry heavy things you can feel gravity's pull, which is called weight. We used a graphic organizer to organize how these supporting details help determine the author's purpose.
Together we read Tornados by Brian Cassie and we identified text evidence that shows the author's purpose is to inform. Students realized that knowing the main idea of the text helps a lot when determining the author's purpose. Students determined the main idea is that tornados are dangerous and that people do things to stay safe. Students worked independently to look for clues to support the author's purpose.
Students published their coral reef writing and begun researching a coral reef animal for a second mini writing piece. Students learned that getting information from one source is not enough. To become an expert, reading from multiple resources is necessary. Students used many of the resources in the classroom (specific ocean animal books, student encyclopedia on animals, and animal fact files) as well as online resources too. Many have started their tree map. Students decided that their tree maps should include the following information: basic information about the animal (body parts, special features, adaptations, life span, and/or life cycle), food chain (what animals are its predators and its prey? Does it eat meat or plants or both? Any important information about eating behaviors, and habitat (where does it live? Does it migrate? Live in a cave? Have hiding places? Etc...) . Don't forget to ask your child what animal they're writing about and perhaps even help them to learn more about it!

In math...

Using the associative property, students learned that you can find friendly pairs when adding more than 2 addends together. For example when adding 23 + 45 + 17, it would be best to add 23 and 17 together first. These two numbers are a "friendly pair" because the 3 ones and the 7 ones make a new ten.
Now that students have learned how to regroup 10 one-blocks for 1 ten, this week they transferred that skill to the hundreds place. Students learned how to regroup 10 ten-blocks for 1 hundred.
Finally, students learned to add 2 two-digit numbers that involved regrouping both in the ones and the tens place within the same problem.

In science...

After a review on form and function, seed dispersal, and pollination, students took a Science Unit Assessment.

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS

We will be having our Turkey Trot Pizza Party and Winter Celebration on Wednesday 12/20. Please do NOT pack a home lunch for your child on that day and do NOT plan to have your child purchase school lunch. One of our room parents, Chloe Glatt is organizing this celebration. She sent a sign-up genius to sign up for snacks. If you would like to contribute, please see click here
The last day of school, before Winter Break, is Thursday 12/21. No school on Friday

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Jingle bells, jingle all the way!

12/9/2017

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Kapolei Middle School Band and Choir sure put us in the Holiday spirit with a stellar performance this week. Festive and traditional holiday songs, along with a fun remix of "Do You Wanna Build a Snowman" & "Let it Go", got us all so excited! It was also a real treat to see our very own Vice Principal Mr. Agena, who use to work with Kapolei Middle School Band, conduct one of the songs for us. We also learned about some of the instruments and the ensemble of the band. The children were very interested. Who knows.. we might have some band members in our future!

Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

In Langauge Arts...

This week students learned about Author's Purpose. They learned that authors write for three main reasons: to persuade, inform, or entertain. After reading through various text and sorting them into those categories, we found some common features amongst the three categories. Books that may want to persuade its readers will sometimes have strong words like "you must" "STOP." It may want to try to convince us to feel a certain way about a topic or even try to get us do so something. We also talked about how we should be critical of the text we read and be aware that only the author's perspective is presented and can be sided or bias. This is most commonly true with text found on the internet. Text with an author's purpose to inform will present lots of facts or true information, may teach you how to do something step by step, and most often has text features. While text with an author's purpose to entertain will often times be a made-up story, have characters, and makes us emotional (happy, sad, excited).
Using the text Magnets Work! we discussed our essential question: How do earth's forces affect us? Students looked for clues that helped to determine the author's purpose. Clues we found were that (1) the author said magnets have a force that pulls metals with iron and steel and (2) the author said that magnets are used in can openers, refrigerator doors, toys and even on bullet trains. Thinking about these clues students determined the author's purpose is to inform because it describes how magnets work and how many ways people use them.
Grammar lessons this week included regular and irregular plurals. Students learned that in most cases to make a word plural you can add 's' or 'es' to the end of the word (regular plurals). However, students found this not to be the case with words like tooth = teeth, child = children, goose = geese, man = men, and person = people. Students learned these words are called irregular plurals. Students learned that adding 's' to the end of the word is not always to make it plural, but many times to show possession. The children learned to use an apostrophe when indicating possession such as "grandma's house" or "the kitten's collar." We talked about the importance of this apostrophe and how without, it may confuse readers to think there are many grandmas or more than one kitten. Students practiced abbreviations with titles like Mr., Mrs., Dr. and learned how to abbreviate other words such as the calendar months, days of the week, and words in addresses such as St. and Rd. Lastly, students learned about multiple-meaning words, words spelt the same but have more than one meaning. For example, we talked about how the word "bat" can mean the flying animal or a baseball bat and the word "wave" can mean ocean swells as well as moving your had quickly to say hello or goodbye. We made a list of many of these words, then students made a poster, which illustrated both meanings of the word and included a sentence for both meaning. Some words included fall, note, bark, left, can, fly, and ring.
Using their tree maps, students are finishing up a draft one of their coral reef writing. In writing, students learned how to plan for introductions and conclusions and the importance of having a hook to captivate the reader. Students practiced writing multiple introductions. They learned that introductions can be fun and not boring. They can start with an exciting moment, a riddle, fast action, or a very interesting fact. Here are some student examples "Did you know that coral is not a plant but an animal?" "Oh my watch out little turtle here comes a reef tip shark. Wow! the coral reef sure is an exciting place." "What is an underwater habitat, very colorful, and has thousands of creatures living there? That's right, coral reef!"

In math...

Students learned different strategies to add this week using base-ten blocks. First they practiced drawing numbers out in base-ten representations, then they added how many tens and how many ones to find their total. In the first lessons, no trading was needed.
Once students understood the concept of base-ten blocks, students learned to add using base-ten with regrouping. First they used actual base-ten blocks to manipulate and model the problem, then students practiced drawing the process of their thinking out. They learned it's best to draw the ones neatly in rows so it's easier to count than if they were all over the place. Also, they learned how to show their regrouping by circling ten ones, crossing it out, then drawing a new ten.
At the end of the week, students learned about estimation. Students learned when adding two two-digit numbers together, you can estimate the numbers to its nearest ten before adding. For example when adding 59 + 15, you can change 59 to 60 first then add 15. The children learned this strategy is useful when you don't need the exact amount but just want a close calculation of the value.

In science...

As our lima bean seeds are growing, we are learning about the stages of a seed. A seed's life cycle includes the following stages in this order: seed, germination/roots, seedling/first leaves, flower, seed pod, pollination, and finally seed dispersal. They are also learning about the function of each plant part. Seeds reproduce the plant and also hold the plant's first nourishment. The seed has just enough nourishment for the plant until the first leaves are formed then photosynthesis takes place and the plant can start making its own food. Roots help to hold plants in place as well as suck up water to distribute to other plant parts. Leaves provide food for the plant through the process of photosynthesis.

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS

If you have not returned your child's progress portfolio and evidence binder, please do so. Thank you!
If you are attending out Parent Activity on December 14, please meet us in the Cafeteria at 8:15. Send your child to class at 7:45. See you soon!

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December already!

12/3/2017

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Hawaii Theatre for Youth put on a very memorable production that the students enjoyed immensely! The story was written about an "Ordinary O`hana" and the many extraordinary things they do. The story helped us to remember the wonderful things we can do as families and to celebrate the values of connection and community! Students could relate to this multi-generational story. Don't forget to ask them about it!

Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

In Langauge Arts...

We used more expository text this week to explore more about text features. Students learned new text features such as the glossary, index, and table of contents. Using these features, students practiced locating information in the text.
Using the text Eagles and Eaglets by Wonders, students located information using different text features, while also answering our essential question: How are offspring like their parents? Students identified the main idea of the text and provided supporting details.
Using another expository text called Baby Bears by Bobble Kalman, we charted the text features we found and included a description of its purpose. For example, a table of contents helps us to find what pages chapters are on, while the index tells us where we can find information about a specific topic. We did this for all the text features we could find including table of contents, index, glossary, maps, charts, diagrams, captions, headings, and title. At the end of our reading, students determined the main idea of the text and provided supporting details. Students concluded the main idea was about a baby bear's life from birth to adult. So students found three details that described the bears development overtime.
We watched a short video on coral reefs. Students were able to see some of the science concepts we've been learning about in action! Students saw examples of symbiotic relationships, where two different species share a special relationship that is usually beneficial to both partners. One example students saw was the grouper fish and cleaner fish working together.
As a class we discussed everything we knew about coral reefs. Boy the children have certainly become experts! We organized all this information into three categories or "big ideas" using a tree map. Students came up with "location and weather," "animals and plants," and "problems and solutions." The children begun writing their first paragraph about location and weather.

In math...

Students applied various subtraction strategies to solving word problems. Two-step word problems were introduced this week. We practiced many of them together as a class. Students worked with partners and received feedback. Then had opportunities to practice independently. Through all this practice, students learned many different strategies. Students shared how pictures help a lot or "thinking addition" can work better for some. Many different strategies were shared, but in the end students learned that they have to decontextualize the word problem and analyze the question to make sure they understand this before they solve.
Students learned that even with a missing unknown, whether it's a part or a total, you can still determine all the members of the fact family. Students did this by solving for the unknown, then finding the turn around fact and two related subtraction problems.
After a review on number lines, students took Module 5 assessment, which included number lines, subtraction, one and two-step word problems, and fact families.

In science...

Students participated in another science lab. They got to examine a lima bean seed. Students noticed its hard coat. The seeds were soaked over night in water to soften the hard coat, which then allowed for the first step in the germination process. We watched and read different processes and studied the different parts of the seed and seed growth. Students then "planted" their seeds in ziplock bags with a damp napkin and taped it to the window for sunlight so the seed could begin to grow. We watched it all week and some seeds have already begun to grow roots!

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS

If you have not returned your child's progress portfolio and evidence binder, please do so. Thank you!
Our Parent activity is on December 14. A yellow participation/attendance form went home regarding this activity. If you have not returned this form please turn it in as soon as possible so we can get a more accurate head count.

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Parent-Activity Week

Jingle bells, jingle all the way!

December already!

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