Ask Me About Thursday, November 21, 2019

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We studied this beautiful photograph of monument valley.  These landforms are buttes.  There are many interesting things to notice in this photograph, but we focused on the lines around the buttes, the road, the flat land, the vegetation, the red soil/sand, and the mountains way off in the background.  Then we found out more about how these landforms were made.  We turned to Billy Bluehair once again to help us begin to understand how nature creates these amazing landforms.

In math we talked about circles and hexagons.  Ask me to tell you about these two shapes.  We have focused a lot of describing the shapes using math vocabulary.  Here's a quick video that is a good review for this kind of math talk.  We are working on "constructing arguments as the students are increasingly able to use shape attributes to defend identification of a plane or solid shape. Our students are analyzing and defining attributes such as “3 straight sides,” they are attending to precision."  These are some of the Focus Standards for Mathematical Practice.  Please check the math tab for ideas for talking with your child about the geometry they are learning right now. 
Your child is bringing home a rocket they quickly drew using circles, squares and rectangles.  They used rulers to make straight sides for their squares and rectangles.  I was so impressed with the kids because as they began to draw I put Frank Sinatra on singing Fly Me to the Moon, and many of them chuckled and smiled.  They got the connection right away, or maybe they just really like Frank Sinatra, or both! 

We reviewed the Golden Rule today with a fun book called Do Unto Otters, by Laurie Keller.  This is the same author who wrote the most sought after book in our library right now, Potato Pants.  This book is about a rabbit who gets new neighbors.  His old neighbor was a grump, so he's thinking his new neighbors may not be kind.  Your child is bringing home a copy of this book that is a gift to them from me.  I know they will enjoy rereading this book over and over, but also thinking about the Golden Rule and the discussion of polite behavior.  

Have a nice evening!
Miss Wolfe