This morning we started the day with guided reading and some new centers. Our new centers are: pattern-palooza, bookmarks, and Raz-kids. For this round of centers we will be staying at each center for 1 week. Please ask me which center I went to today and what I was able to get done.
After centers we went back to our Whispering Woods writing. With the grade 2's Ms. Boyer started by reminding us of the learning intention of this work. In this piece of writing our learning intention is to improve our descriptive writing skills. This means that we are trying to get better at writing in a way that includes lots of describing words and allows our reader to make a really detailed picture in their brain. For the grade 1's the learning intention is the same but the expectations are a bit different. The grade 1's are working to write at least 1 idea for each sense that includes at least 1 describing word. The grade 2's are working to write at least 3 sentences for each sense and the sentences need to include 2 describing adjectives and an interesting ending. Here are some great examples:
" I feel frosty tree trunks. I feel slippery wet grass." ~ By Ashton (gr. 1)
" I feel frigid, frosty leaves blowing in the icy cold wind. I feel smooth, sticky sap dripping down a barky tree. I feel slippery, bumpy, squishy rosehips warming in the sunshine." ~ By Jessica (gr. 2)
After recess we had our wordwork time. The grade 2's are working on mastering the short and long vowel sounds. This is really important for our spelling skills and will help us to sound out our words more accurately. The grade 1's worked on spelling words in the -un family. Then it was time for math. In math we talked about some new kinds of pattern. We called these patterns time patterns. These included the days of the week, months of the year, and hours, seconds, and minutes. Ask me why these are called time patterns? After that we had a chance to finish our pattern challenge from last week.
After lunch Ms. Boyer shared the details of her trip to Churchill, Manitoba. She showed us pictures and shared some new facts about polar bears. Please ask me what facts I remember from Ms. Boyer's presentation and what things surprised me. We didn't have time to finish the whole story so Ms. Boyer will keep sharing tomorrow.
In gym we continued working on our skipping skills. Some of us started trying skipping tricks like crosses and doubles. Some of us tried tricks with a friend. Our skipping skills are really improving!
Today we are bringing home a new yellow notice and our class pictures!
Tomorrow our helper is: Ezra
