Ask Me About Friday, November 1, 2019

Let's catch up on our the end of our week!  We had some internet issues on Wednesday, and I couldn't stay connected long enough to post!  We studied this photograph on Thursday and had an incredible discussion.  

After studying the photo for a minute, the students had very robust discussions about the similarities and differences in the picture.  They also were quite anxious to count!  It was quickly noted that we should count the big contains on the bottom for shelves.  The first child said we should count like we are on a road and go from left to right so we count the right number.  Then they noticed five containers on a shelf in each window.  Now I didn't tell them, and you can kind of see one hiding behind part of the window, so actually there are six containers per shelf.  Once one child noted five containers per shelf, the very next child said that if they put the two rows together it would be a ten frame.  The next child said, "well there's forty on this side, and forty on that side, so there's eighty altogether."  So I asked, is there another way we can count it, and they went back to counting two rows at a time as a ten frame, and then we all counted by tens to confirm eighty containers of candy.  Of course, there was more discussion about what kind of candy they were noticing, as well as differences and similarities noted.  I've had similar discussions each year when I've shown this photograph, but this year's discussion was so easy!  The kids wanted to find out how many right away, and they definitely were engaged!  
We have been reading The Tortoise and the Hare in our Benchmark reading.  We are focused on learning how characters are different.  The children did a good job finding words that described the tortoise and the hare, but some children wanted to tell an event about the story.  We are working toward zooming in on the question to be sure we are answering what was asked.  Finding a word to describe a character is more difficult than retelling an event.  As you are reading with your child, this is something you can talk to them about when reading fiction.  We also discussed how this story had a lesson.  Ask me to tell you what kind this kind of story is called.  (Hint, it rhymes with Mabel!)
In writing, we wrote our opinion of which character we liked better in the story of The Tortoise and the Hare.  We talked about how to begin our writing by stating which character we liked better.  Then we wrote a sentence to tell why, using support from the text.  
In math, we have been working with counting on from numbers other than 1, counting on one more and one less, and making equal sets by adding to and taking away.  Today we play a fun game where the students rolled dice, counted the dots or said how many if they knew without counting, then counting out that many plastic leaves.  Their partner took their turn and did the same, placing their leaves on a line below the other leaves.  They were careful to line them up and either take away or add to so each set was equal.  Ask me to tell you what equal means in math.
Here are some quick snaps of my little friends playing the game in math today!

For pictures of our Halloween party and parade, please visit our homepage.

Enjoy the weekend!
​Miss Wolfe