News for January 17
The last two weeks had the children learning about two-dimensional geometry, growing borax crystals and rehearsing Reader's Theatre plays. We even welcomed a new student to Room 222!
The children learned about two-dimensional (flat) geometry. Shapes that are flat, with straight sides and many sides, vertices (corners) and angles are called polygons. The students learned how to draw polygons, how to create different polygons using elastics and geoboards and how to transfer their polygon designs on geodot paper. Circles are technically not polygons because they are considered to have an infinite number of sides and vertices, they are considered to have zero sides and vertices. The class also went on a polygon hunt in the classroom and found that some polygons are very difficult to find (e.g., pentagons) and some were extremely easy (e.g., rectangles).
The students learned about an ancient puzzle called the tangram. There are 7 pieces or "tans" in a set of tangrams. The challenge is to use all seven pieces to solve puzzles. The children improved so much that most could solve tangram puzzles in less than 30 seconds. The students also designed their own puzzles and then solved each other's designs.
The children created "polygon art" using pattern blocks. First they made a repeating border around the paper and then a shape design in the centre of the paper. The challenge was to make a design by tracing pattern block polygons only.
The class concentrated on reading and writing poems this week. The students learned that poems are a type of writing where the usual writing rules do not apply. They wrote concrete (shape) poems, list poems, 5 senses and acrostic poems. The class even got to smell, see, touch, hear and taste a piece of fresh lemon to help them write their 5 senses poems.
Our class word wall from term one has 119 words on it and there is no more room! So, each child created a "personal dictionary" to hold these words, so that the word wall can be cleared to hold the word wall words for term two.
In science, the children reviewed what they learned about liquids and solids by "growing" borax crystals. First the students dissolved borax powder (a laundry detergent booster) in cold water, which did not work very well. Then, after adding hot water, the solid powder dissolved more easily because there were more "spaces" between the water molecules due to the heat (energy) in the water. When the water cooled the borax came out of solution and settled on the pipe cleaner as large cube-like crystals.
The children chorally read aloud the Reader's Theatre play "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". Then the students chose the roles that they wished to play and they were divided into three theatre groups. The groups rehearsed all week, making signs and choosing costumes. These plays will be filmed and posted on this blog next week.
At the end of the week, the class read aloud the poem (originally written in Sanskrit), "Salutation to the Dawn" by the ancient Indian poet Kalidasa. It is a tradition in my class for children to memorize this poem, which reminds the reader to live a good life. In order to help the students learn this poem, each child chose a short phrase from the poem, and began creating a large poster with those words. These will be hung around the classroom for the children to practise reading each day.
Books read aloud January 7-17
The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes (chapter book)
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
Wabi Sabi - A Story With Haiku Poems by Mark Reibstein
My Very First Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes edited by Rosemary Wells
Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire
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