Ask Me About Thursday, January 22, 2015

Today we learned more about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his dream.  We talked about the dream he had, and how it was a dream about a big problem.  We thought about other big problems in our world.  I am always surprised at what these little people say, and I'm so impressed at what they know.  I can tell these children are so lucky to be in homes where their family talks to them!  We heard about big problems such as The Cold War, wars where people hurt each other instead of using words to solve their problems, the under-inflated football problem, and the fact that the United States still has not had a woman president.  A few other, more personal problems were also shared, such as ants in the kitchen and dropping a glass an the floor, which also for five and six year olds are also very big problems. I will be scanning their writing and putting it on our website homepage in the next couple days so you can also see some of the big problems these little people are thinking about.
Today we also talked more about revision.  I showed a picture of a red velvet cake with frosting I made for a birthday.  As I was "bragging" about this birthday cake, it was soon noted that this did not look very much like a birthday cake.  One student suggested it was not made with love like birthday cakes.  HMPH.  Actually, I didn't make the cake at all, I got the picture off Google.  Together, we revised the cake so it made more sense as a birthday cake.  We added decorations, like those bumpy things on the edge of the cake, a big heart in the middle, sprinkles, candles, and the age of the recipient in the middle of the heart. Then the students reread a story they wrote last week and added more details and events to their audience would understand their story better.  Some students, worked on adding details to their illustrations as well.  
We used cubes to show different sculptures we could make out of just six cubes.  Then, they were to see if they could find a match of the same sculpture of someone else in the class.  The only rule was they had to do it without talking.  We started the game over five times because each time, within the first five seconds, someone talked.  This was also an exercise in self-control.  Obviously we need a little work in that area!  We will be doing more work with showing numbers in different ways over the next couple weeks!
Today I noticed so much kind behavior.  The kids in this class don't hesitate to help each other when they drop their box of crayons, need help tying their shoe, or having a compliment for a friend.  Thank-you so much for sending me such caring, polite little friends.  They are such fun to be around!
Juliet