Math

So much growth! Seeing these students, taller, more focused, and still each with an individual personality is so wonderful! I am excited to get to teach them first period this year. In order to wake up our bodies and minds post morning circle, we often begin with some songs or rhymes (in Spanish or French most times) or some type of movement: stretches, wiggles, shakes etc. Every Thursday we are responsible for taking care of the Orchard animals and this class is doing it with me, without any other adult support. They are stepping into the responsibility of this job with grace and enthusiasm. I will definitely let you know if we feel we need another adult for help on these mornings.

This year, I have chosen to begin by focusing mainly on geometry. We began by writing letters to someone who had never seen a triangle (aliens), describing a triangle. Our next lesson involved cutting a square into four shapes and then figuring out how to glue them back together to create a rocket. For the Hold and Fold lesson, we folded a square along four lines and tried to create as many shapes as we could by only folding along the creases we had already made. Students have created hexagons, pentagons, squares, triangles, trapezoids, and triangles. Next, we will be reading A Cloak for The Dreamer by Juleen Freedman and using shapes to create a cloak design our own.

We have also worked on skip counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, please practice at home. We practiced place value through the game of monster squeeze and explored some of our math manipulative such as the cuisenaire rods and pattern blocks. And, every Wednesday we are having a sharing circle, in which we practice giving and receiving compliments and appreciations. This is a part of the positive discipline (social emotional) curriculum I incorporate into my teaching, along with the rotating jobs every student has helped to suggest. Their compliments are kind and heartfelt.