Moon Toons News!

Friday Workshops
January 15th
Maggi
Sequoia

Important Dates
January 15th - Swimming in the morning!
January 18th - MLK Day - No School
February 3rd - Parent Meeting
February 12th - Half Day (School out at 12:00)
February 15-19 - Mid-Winter Break
February 24th/25th - Snowshoe Trip!!!!

Math
2,4,6,8... or how about 9,18, 27, 36....

Continuing our work with preparing for multiplication we have created a few tools to help us. Skip counting is very helpful in practicing multiplication. We all feel comfortable counting by 5s and 10s but are a little unsure about 3s and 4s and especially 8s and 9s once we get past the first two or three numbers. We practiced using our "gems" which are beaded rods that hold the number we are counting by. For example, if I need help figuring out what three groups of four is I can grab three of the "fours" rods to help me. We also created a chart that shows skip counting from 2s to 10s.

Everyone practiced counting by a certain number by creating a dot to dot that used skip counting to connect the dots. Some practiced their 2s or 4s while others practiced 6s or 8s. And finally everyone will create a "Planet of Numbers" where everything on the planets is a multiple of a certain number. Look for these on our wall!

Language
We just couldn’t stop doing alliterations until we wrote one for every letter in the alphabet! Be sure to check out our very special book in our room. Everyone continues to work on their individual stories in Writing Workshop. It is great to watch and help the children in different stages of their story writing. From brainstorming ideas and planning, to writing and editing work that is appropriate for that child, to creating the cover and putting the final staples in and sharing during Author’s Chair or Partner Share, they are independently taking responsibility of the writing process and doing it so confidently!

We have taken a break from Centers since Winter Break and have been working on special projects like our alliterations. Another project we did this week was create our own constellations and write a myth about how our constellation came to be in the sky. We have constellations ranging from a spider web constellation put up by a scientists to a Santa’s sack constellation put up by Santa to remind everyone of Christmas spirit.

Theme
Earlier this week we practiced remembering facts that we have learned about the planets and space in a "Planet Game Show." It was great fun and I was so impressed with everyone’s ability to recall answers to the questions so quickly! We have learned so much!

We turned our attention to the stars this week. We learned a few constellations and copied some of our favorites into our own constellation "burst" book (which the kids have decided can also open and hang). "What’s your sign?" has become a common question this week as we also learned a bit about astrology. Check out our chart on the wall to see what signs we have in the Moon Toons! Do you think we have more water, fire, air or earth signs?

We will end our week with building our own sextant (an instrument used by sailors). Since we won’t be able to measure the height of the North Star, we will practice using our instrument on the highest things we can find at school.

As we near the end of our journey through space, we have begun thinking about what we would like to learn next. We started a list of topics we are interested in and will continue to add ideas over the next week. Hmmmm.... I wonder what we will study next?!