Dr. Martin Luther King

    Last week, in anticipation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we discussed kindness, cooperation, and peace. It is so interesting to talk to young children about the injustices of the world. They are so pure and innocent and don't understand how people could be treated so unfairly. We can all learn from our children.
    One activity we did was pick a birthday present for Martin Luther King, Jr. I had one present wrapped in a fancy gift bag with ribbon and tissue. The other present was in a brown paper bag. I asked several kids which present they would choose. Of course, everyone chose the pretty package. When we opened it....there was a bag of rocks. However, the paper bag had delicious bags of M&M's!



We discussed how the outside of the package doesn't tell you what is on the inside. Just like, the clothes someone wears and/or the way someone looks doesn't tell you what the person is like on the inside. Further, it is what is on the inside that counts, not appearance. Last, we had to taste test! But before we all got M&M's we had a few children experiment. I put a blindfold on the "taste tester" and gave them one M&M. The child had to guess the color of the M&M. Well, needless to say, every child that tried the blindfold test couldn't tell which color it was. My favorite answer to "What color is it?" was "CHOCOLATE!" Of course! Again, it didn't matter what color the M&M was, what is important is the sweet inside!



The students loved reading about Martin Luther King.  We had books from the library, my own personal collection, and ebooks on the Reading Rainbow and EPIC apps.  The students learned a lot of information. 



The second graders used the information they learned to put together and present a timeline of Dr. Martin Luther King's life.  The first graders also presented.  For writing, the first graders made a banner of all the things we have in common.  For example, we all have birthdays.  They also presented their writing to the class.

Brrrrrr! Indoor Recess

We are Montanans! So, we know indoor recess! If the windchill (and there always seems to be a windchill up at Eagle Cliffs) is below zero, we keep the students inside for recess. Just because we are inside, doesn't mean we can't move! All learners need a wiggle break. We have  been using a site called Go Noodle. With Go Noodle the children earn class points for activities. The activities include sing-a-longs, stretching exercises, running races, dancing, and more. When we can't go outside, we have lots of healthy choices for brain breaks.  Check out some of their moves!

SNOW much fun with SNOWmen

Snowmen here. Snowmen there. Snowmen, snowmen everywhere!  We have been making snowmen, writing about snowmen, reading books and poetry about snowmen, playing math and phonics games with a snowman twist....so fun!  With all this background knowledge about snowmen, it seemed to be the perfect item to use in order to make an analogy to a very important writing standard: adding details to a narrative.

This writers workshop started with a lesson that looked more like art.  I drew three circles with marker.  I announce, "Voila, finished!"  The children wanted to be polite but I was getting some funny looks.  In the most respectful way, they told me we needed to add some details.  Details make everything better!  We worked together to add details like eyes, carrot nose, hat, mouth, scarf, buttons, until....Yes, a detailed snowman is so much more interesting.  We were on a roll, so I made the writing analogy.  I wrote a story that was one sentence without detail: "I have a dog."  We compared the writing piece to the plain white snowman without detail.  My writing needed details.  The students knew just what I should add and started telling me the missing details: what's her name, what kind of dog, what color is she, how do you feel....DETAILS!  I improved my writing piece and the students set to work on their own stories.

 

 

These writers were detail driven.  They wrote pages and pages adding several events and details to their writing.  They were very proud of their hard work.  At the end of writers workshop the students shared their amazing pieces and complimented each other on adding details!

BreakoutEDU

 
Here is some problem solving at its finest.  A couple weeks ago we had a BreakoutEDU, a classroom escape game!  Students had to solve several different math story problems in order to "break in" to the box.  Thank you to one of our district's technology integration specials, Mrs. Ann Brucker.  She designed this round of clues and combinations to introduce us to BreakoutEDU.  Also, thank you so much to the Shimamoto family for giving our class our own BreakoutEDU set!  I can't wait to design our next round of clues and combinations.

To start the lesson, students saw the box with a hasp and four different locks.  There was lock that had a four letter combination, another combination of five letters, a four digit combination lock, and a lock for a key.  The students went to four different stations to try and figure out the different combinations by solving mixed operation word problems.  One puzzle, the students solved word problems and then ordered the solutions from least to greatest.  Then, the back of the problems revealed the combination.

The next puzzle....



On puzzle three the students used a Chromebook to solve a puzzle that Mrs. Brucker designed.  Isn't she amazing?  Puzzle three gave the students the clue they needed to find a hidden key!

 

Last but not least, for the final puzzle, students used a UV flashlight to get the numbers they needed and find out the number combination lock. They worked so hard!



At the end we came together and the unlocking began!  In the box, we found an eraser puzzle to remember how we can work together and work through mistakes to solve puzzles.  Each student kept a piece of the puzzle.  Thank you again to Mrs. Brucker and the Shimamoto family!

Day 2 Combo Boot Camp

The camo continues!  The troops showed up for day 2 ready for high energy learning!  This little sweetie even had the great honor of wearing her father's dog tags!  I am so happy she did because it started our morning off with a great discussion.  We looked closely at the dog tags and really read and discussed the "warrior ethos" and "army values."  The values included loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.  The day before, they had tracked points.  Students got points for working hard at their "missions," following commands, and exhibiting values like respect, integrity and service. The students knew that they needed 40 points to earn a dog tag.  After seeing the real deal and learning about the values, this squad was ready to achieve.

For English Language Arts on Day 2, the students had to apply what they had practiced in their stations on day one.  First graders, examined more sentences and had to determine if they were complete or incomplete.  The sorted the sentences onto a parachute.

Second graders learned about simple and compound sentences.  They too read several different sentences.  They had to determine if the the sentence was compound and circle the coordinating conjunction.



Both grade levels enjoyed silent reading time in the tires.  Who knew?

 
In math, we had four different drill stations like day one in reading...with the students favorite part, 90 seconds of exercise between each rotation.  The students earned lots of points towards their dog tags during math.

One of the math stations was called Sergeant.  It would be a great game to play at home.  This game is a fun way to practice missing addends.  You need three players.  Two players duel while the third is the Sergeant.  The two players each hold a card up to their foreheads without looking at their own card.  The Sergeant tells the players the sum of the two numbers.  The first player to correctly identify the card he/she is holding wins the round.  This is also a great game for intermediate students, just use multiplication instead of addition.



After the math stations, students were given their last round of points.  They tallied their points on their paper dog tags.  Then, the students had to add two days worth of points to see if they hit their total.  You have never seen first and second graders add two digit numbers so quickly.  Don't tell the first graders they shouldn't be able to add those big numbers yet!  Students got to bring their totals to me and receive the dog tags.  Every student was able to reach the 40 point goal.  Great job!