Fix-It Strategies

For our unit on the comprehension strategy 'Monitoring for Meaning,' students have learned a few strategies to help them when they come to an unknown word in their book. These fix-it strategies are modeled after the Beanie Baby figures that were popular years ago.  When your child is reading at home, it would be good to refer to these strategies as that keeps the language consistent between home and school!

Here is a brief explanation of each:

Eagle Eye tells you to Look at the Pictures:  Have your child look at the pictures for clues to help figure out the word.

Lips the Fish tells you to Get your Lips Ready:  Have your child say the first few sounds of the word out loud.

Stretchy Snake tells you to Stretch it Out:  Have your child stretch the word out slowly and put the sounds together to figure out the word.  As a further point, we prefer to use the phrase “say it slowly,” rather than “sound it out.”

Chunky Monkey tells you to Chunk the Word:  Have your child look for a part or a “chunk” that they know (ex: -ing, -old, -and, etc.).

Skippy Frog tells you to Skip it, Skip it:  Have your child skip the word, read to the end of the sentence, and then go back and try it again.

Tryin’ Lion tells you to Try it Again:  Have your child reread the sentence and try a word that makes sense.

Helpful Kangaroo tells you to Ask for Help:  After your child has tried applying some of the strategies as learned, he/she can ask someone else for help.

Dot the Giraffe tells you to Watch the Punctuation:  Have your child watch the punctuation (,  . ? ! “”).  Example:  Read with expression when you see the talking/quotation marks.

Flippy Dolphin tells you to Flip the Vowel Sound:    In other words, try a long vowel sound if the short vowel sound does not work (example: a vowel will say its own name when an ‘e’ is added to the end as is bit to bite, hat to hate, not to note). 

Problem Solving & Building Numbers

Room 110 has been working very hard in Math! We have been working to build numbers with ten frames and bead strings, and then applying that skill to another skill: problem solving. Each student has a 'Math Toolbox' that they store all of their manipulatives in.  They can use their toolbox whenever they need it to assist them with any sort of math skill.

Here, you will see students building numbers using number cards and ten frames. They pull a number out of their bag (closing their eyes, of course :) and build the number with both manipulatives. Then, they take that a step further and make a number that is 10 less & also 10more than the original.

Another day in math focused strictly on Problem Solving. Students were given multiple story problems and used their whiteboards and markers to solve independently at their seats. The skills mentioned above (10 more & 10 less) were the focus of this problem solving lesson. The students also worked on 100 more and 100 less & place value.

Here are some pictures of students sharing their thinking with the class:

Clouds

We began our unit on weather a few weeks ago. Last week, the students were able to go outside and take pictures of clouds in the sky. They spent some time observing and then chose a cloud that they liked best. In weeks to come, our Media Center director will be working with the students to create a PhotoStory documenting their clouds and categorizing them by types. Here are a few cloud pictures from last week: