Reading

Can you figure out what do apples and oranges have to do with reading narrative (story) and expository (informational) texts?

Writing about human body systems

We know that writers write about things that they know well.

We know that informational writing is different from story writing.

We know some things about human body systems.

We also know that we don't know enough yet to be able to write to others about it.

We know that in a week it is impossible to write well about each body system.

Putting all of this together we decided to share the body systems between the students, we plan to learn more, collect information, and organize it into a child-friendly text.

For each body system we will answer the following questions:

What is the system made of?

What is its purpose?

How does it work?

How does it help other body systems?

What could go wrong and how?

Estonian Culture field trip

I wish you could have been with us today. A warm sunny weather, clean forest smell, soft nature trail, berry and mushroom picking, serene lakes, a plank path in a bog, games in teams, interesting information told by a guide - all of these made today's field trip to Paunküla Nature Park a perfect way to spend a day.

Wondering

Theis week in UOI we have watched movies about the different body systems. Before each watching the students have use "Notes" app to write what they know already and what questions they have.

Here are some questions that have come up. For some of them we got answers from the movies, some need more inquiring.

Brain and nervous system

How and why do you get brain damage?

How big is the brain?

Why does your brain dream at night?

Why does your brain get tired?

Does your brain get bigger?

Why is brain squishy?

Does your brain pop out when you are too smart?

When you get hurt where does the nerve have to take the news before it reaches the brain?

How is your brain made?

How does your brain work?

Skeletal and muscular system

What happens to your bone marrow when your bones break?

What are bones made of?

How many bones are there in your scull?

How does the ear bone work?

How do the teeth fall out if they are connected to the skeleton?

Heart and circulatory system

How does one's heart stop pumping?

How much blood do we have?

Does our heart make blood?

What happens when the heart gets shot?

Why do the red blood cells carry oxygen?

What color is the heart?

Writer's notebook

A pile of writer's notebooks was waiting for me on the inbox tray.

I put them on a desk, got my little speech bubble post-it-notes and a pen, and started reading what the students had written.

In the writing workshop mini-lesson I shared how writers make lists to collect ideas for their future writing. Since this week we are focusing on using our own life as a source for topics, the task was to make a list of people who matter in our lives. 

Children included also pets, and some continued their lists with other possible topics.

The writer's notebook is safe place to collect ideas and experiment with language. The safety to take risks without the fear of judgement is the reason I don't correct the writing in these notebooks. I respond to the writing with little notes. I may comment on their choice of topics, or choice of words, or what their writing makes me think or feel.

For example, today I wrote to many of them that they have great collections of topics to start writing about, and that I look forward to reading.

When I finished checking the motebooks, I put them on an outbox tray. The students can now take their journals home. It is very important to bring journals back to school every day, because we try to write daily. 

Large numbers

In math we started our large number unit of study

We will inquire into:

How or base-ten number system works

How to read, write, and model large numbers

How to represent numbers in standard and extended form

How to compare and round numbers

We started with making sure that we know the difference between number, numeral and digits.

From there we will continue exploring the place value system with the help of blocks, words, place value table, place value cards and flip charts. 

We have not written anything down permanently yet. We have been using small white boards to record our thinking. These are safe to use, becaue if you make a mistake, you can start all over. 

Like with any learning, we will use what we know already and build on that. We will try to connect different concepts to better remember new ideas. We will practice, practice, practice new skills so they will become easy to use.

Gathering ideas for writing topics from your life

Mapping a heart: What is important in your life?

Hand map: What do you do with these hands?

Mapping places: Where have you been? Where do you like to be?

Why it is important to read daily?

Think of collecting money in a piggy bank. The more you put in, the more you will have later. The same is with reading and word bank. I came across this infographic from years ago. The idea doesn't get old with time.

from:http://www.edudemic.com/2013/01/skipping-your-reading-homework/

Kind words

Kind words can be short and easy to speak,

but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa

Tuesday

I had this wonderful dream of trying to post a few posts every day. Today I was so engaged with the kids and busy during my planning periods that the day got over before I had time to write one line.
So here is a short overview of what happened today in our classroom:
Math - students took a test as a pre-assessment before our large number unit, when they had time left over, they explored some math apps.
Reading - we looked at the rights of a reader, after that we continued reading and conferring.
Writing - we created maps of places to gather ideas for writing
Double UOI - we watched movies about the skeletal and muscular system

It may seem to you that we had less lessons than in a schedule. What really happens is that during the first three lessons we have about 10 minutes of morning circle, then about 50 minutes of math, a snack and read aloud, and then about 50 minutes of reading workshop.

It comes from a book with the same title. I saw this poster recently and now I am more than curious to read the book. Tomorrow we will discuss the responsibilities and good habits of a reader.
Our students added to this rights list:
the right to recommend a book
the right to use recommendations
the right to choose books
the right to own books
the right to get ideas for writing
the right to write and read your own books

THINK

Another reminder to think before speaking:

T - is it true?
H - is it helpful?
I - is it inspiring?
N - is it necessary?
K - is it kind?

I like how one of the students made a connection with "Ish." She reminded us how Ramon's brother spoke before thinking and what effect it had on Ramon.

Thinking about the power of words

I shared the following poem with the kids on Monday morning. Just a thought about the power of words to take away.

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones

“Sticks and stones may break my bones

But words could never hurt me.”

And this I knew was surely true

And truth could not desert me.

But now I know it is not so.

I’ve changed the latter part;

For sticks and stones may break the bones

But words can break the heart.

Sticks and stones may break the bones

But leave the spirit whole,

But simple words can break the heart

Or silence crush the soul.

by Herb Warren

Where do writers get their ideas?

For the next three weeks we will look into different ways to gather writing ideas. 

This week we will explore ways to gather ideas from our life. 

Today the students started drawing and writing into a shape of a heart to show what matters to them.

Estimation assessment criteria

Last Friday we looked at our math explanations and discussed what a good explanation and presentation would look like. Today the students are assessing their own work based on the criteria.

paper cut stop motion video of human body

from this website