The biggest news for sure today was that one of our groups with Ms. Dionysia got their ride moving! The Unicorns and Dragons (Anja, Niki, Tove, and Timo) got their ferris wheel moving and are thrilled with how it looks. We have a little trouble shooting to do (it keeps binding up on one spot), but everyone was super excited for them. They have two more small rides to make, so they aren’t going to be bored, but they feel pretty great. The other groups all gathered around to have a discussion about what made that group successful. The Saluters thought one of the keys was working together and not messing around all the time. The Amazing Unicorns noticed how they would just work on 1 thing at a time and wouldn’t argue about who should be doing what. When we were discussing what lessons they would take from the Unicorns and Dragons, the Cornflakes said they would try to get some teamwork tips from them. I’m super proud of all of the groups for working hard and being reflective. I actually tried to take a boomerang and a video, so we’ll see how those upload…
In our read aloud, Anja reminded us that Mrs. Frisby was going to visit the wise old owl. Yianni explained that Jeremy was going to pick her up and fly her there, ‘just like getting on the train’. When the book described the trip as heart-pounding, Teddy linked that to the heart investigation we just started. After the reading, Bisola talked about how scared she was of the owl, and Sokrates added that the owl had huge claws while Anja focused on the sharp beak, so there was a lot for her to be scared of. Gia was thrilled that her prediction about what would happen in the chapter was right and she made sure I knew she got it right. 🙂
Our hundreds chart is moving right along. Teddy realized he could tell where the 10 would be. Paolo predicted where the 88 would be tomorrow, which is getting to be an easy challenge. So, I decided to amp it up and ask which would be the smallest number that we would write tomorrow. That stumped some people. Well, Rebecca realized that the smallest number we wrote up today was 7, so Tove realized that the smallest tomorrow would be 8. Sokrates was wondering where the 100 would go when we get there. We tried thinking about what the numbers in each column ended with, but that was a little too much. However, Niki came up, pointed to the filled out example hundreds chart hanging above it, and said it’s going to go here. The level of questioning, discussion, and thinking they are displaying is increasing by leaps and bounds.
Building (hahaha) off what we did yesterday, today we tried to build something that was at least 2 feet long. Anja was asking Rebecca how big they wanted to build and counted to see that it was already 4 feet long; Rebecca suggested that they make it even bigger, maybe go 4 feet on each side. Tove said that, since she built on both sides of the ruler, hers was two feet long, which I thought made sense. Jerome was working with Yianni and asked if they wanted to go 2 feet long or two feet tall. Yianni suggested that they go one of each, but they ultimately went with 2 feet long. This is an interesting little measurement investigation and I can’t wait to see how they handle the next section!
Today, I asked Anja what her favorite part of the day was: “My favorite was hearing the story. I was happy to meet the owl and I wasn’t scared at all. I really like watching the movie at the end too and seeing how they are the same and different.” That is a super fun part of the read, I agree.
We had a lot of fun at the park today with the puddles, but things are a little damp in here now. Everything is drying out overnight on the gallery, but I figure it is time for a little spring cleaning. Please bring in a large bag so we can send EVERYTHING (snowpants, hats, gloves, everything in the cubby) home. That way, when we come back on Tuesday, we start with a clean slate. Please make sure to send back any winter gear along with a change of clothes, labeled (might be a good idea to include two pairs of socks, since there will continue to be lots of puddles). Have a great night everyone.
