Hello June!

We just can't believe it is June. Today in our morning meeting the kids discussed how it doesn't seem like June should be here yet and the year went by way too fast. I agree! I'm definitely not ready to say goodbye to this sweet and amazing group of kiddos. Luckily, I don't have to for a couple more weeks (13 days to be exact, still way too soon!).


We finished up fractions by looking at just one whole and fractioning it into pieces. The highlights were cutting a ginger cooking into sixteenths (with our fraction makers - isn't that what everyone calls a knife?) and eating it fraction by fraction. It was fun coming up with equivalent fractions and seeing the more we fractioned into pieces the more pieces we ended up with yet the bigger the number got on the bottom. And, of course, no math concept would be complete without a visit from Mistress Wonka. She asked her Oompas to make her candies using her special recipes, however, something got on her recipes, so they needed to figure out the missing quantities. With teaspoons and her magical dough, they set to work. She was, most definitely, impressed. We also had fun playing fraction bingo, fraction war, hexagon exchange (using pattern blocks to help us see fractions and build wholes), and the hex game (comparing fractions to help us get across the board). We also enjoyed creating art with patterned blocks and then finding the fractional value of the picture. Most worked with the hexagon equaling one and finding the value of the other blocks from there and then adding up all their shapes to find the total value. Some worked on assigning a different value to the hexagon (like 1/2 or 3) and finding the value of the other blocks. Tricky business! We also played with creating symmetrical designs using 1/2 or 1/4 of the triangles. Check them out on our wall! Some worked on adding and subtracting same fractions while others worked on adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators and finding common denominators. Some also worked on teaching the fractions manners and how to make them proper.


This last week we have been playing a little bit with algebra. Say what?! Didn't we do that in seventh grade when we were kids?? Yup, it's true and the kids are AMAZING and so ready to take it on. Using the image of a balance we can identify missing numbers that will help us figure out what would make each side equal. Some have even moved onto simplifying equations and solving problems like 4x-2x+8=2x+6+x. It has definitely put our adding and dividing skills to use like in x+x+x=12. Fun stuff!


This week we are playing with probability and statistics and how to make educated guesses using data from samples we take. We had fun today in groups of three sampling a bag of red and blue tiles and predicted which bag we had, the one with 25 reds and 5 blues, the one with 20 reds and 10 blues, or the one with 10 red and 20 blues. We took 20 samples altogether but after every 5 samples we made a guess as to which bag we thought we had. They definitely changed as they went so we all decided it is helpful to get a good number of samplings!


In language, one group finished reading "Green Man" and doing critical thinking and vocabulary work. It has been fun working with the dictionary and finding words so we have continued with our dictionaries to help us learn different Latin prefixes. We have done pre- and post-. We have enjoyed brainstorming words, finding their definitions and coming up with what we think the prefix means. We record the meaning of the prefixes, our favorite words, and then choose one to put in a sentence and illustrate. Some enjoyed creating new words by adding this handy meaning unit to words. For example, "Postlunch we will have teacher planning." We are making mini dictionaries so you will have to wait until the end of the year to see their great work. The other group is working on spelling patterns with word ladders and finding word power in chunks of words. We all made animal riddles this week which are a set of clues that are given to someone who tries to guess the endangered animal. We are hoping to share them with each other and our younger friends. Oh, have you heard we are doing cursive?! Yes, the kids have been anxious to learn cursive so we are ending the year with some fanciness.


We wrapped up our learning about wolves this week. We have learned about the pack dynamics, what they eat, how they survive, how they communicate, how packs interact and their territory, and how biologist study them and learn all of this information. Phew! We even watched a bit of a video about how wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone. Wolves hold such an important place and keep nature balanced. To illustrate how the loss of species affects all the other 33 million species of life, we played a revised version of Jenga. We took pieces out but did not place them on top. Each block taken away was a species becoming extinct. No matter how careful we were in taking them out, it still collapsed after 15 blocks. No! We do not want any more species to become extinct!


We finished "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" and we all loved the book and the ending. Edward learned so much in his life and we were happy to see him loved and loving another. We are now reading "Tall Tails," a diary of a dog who helps the Wright Brothers design the first flying machine. It's been pretty entertaining and they have even described body positions of the dog that with our knowledge of wolf body language, we can interpret!


We made our goal of reading 500 books this year!!! We are still going towards 600 as a bonus to for extra toppings on our ice cream. AND, we are so close to 1000 cranes! We should be there by the end of the week!