Counting to 10 in Mandarin

Mr. G's crew came over this morning for morning meeting. We worked on learning to count to ten with them. I took Mandarin lessons for a few years and worked really hard at it but I never really could get the hang of it. It is a tonal language and this means that when each word is spoken in a different tone, it has a different meaning. We are doing our best to pronounce the words with the correct tone but I am sure that we aren't getting it exactly right. The teachers at the Joyous Chinese Cultural Center will appreciate that we are trying, though.

Play

"Play is fundamental to human flourishing."

 If you get this post by email, you will need to click through to view this 6 minute video about the value of play.
Play from Goodtastic Films on Vimeo.

Learning to Use Chopsticks

Today we began learning how to use chopsticks. Some of us were already very good at it and some of us need more practice. We all had fun! We will a "China" station to our Exploration Stations so we can practice using chopsticks, write Chinese characters and read and browse books about China.

Book Fair

The book fair is here and we went to visit this morning to see all of the wonderful books. There were so many great ones. If you would like to visit the book fair, see the list below for the hours it will be open.

Book Fair is coming to Town, November 18-22!! BRRRRR….
Book Fair Hours:
Monday, Nov 18 - 8am-5pm
Tuesday, Nov 19 - 8am - 5pm
Wednesday, Nov 20 - 8am - 2pm
Thursday, Nov 21 - 8am - 5pm
Thursday, Nov 21 - "Arctic Adventure" Family Night - 5pm-7pm
Friday, Nov 22 - 8am-1pm

Important Dates
11/18-11/22 Climbing Week ~ Sign up to belay here: Fall Climbing 2019. Sign up for belay training here: Belay Training
11/18-11/22 Book Fair
11/25 Vision and Hearing Screenings
11/27-11/29 No School ~ Thanksgiving Break
12/6 Fieldwork to Joyous Chinese Cultural Center
12/20 Fieldwork to Pacific Ocean Market
12/23 Winter Break Begins  

Crew Art Project

Last Wednesday after we hosted the Beat, our crew worked with Ms. Malissa and Ms. Stephanie to create the crew art project that will be auctioned off at Life is Art this year. (The fundraiser had a name change and I think it is called the Renaissance Silent Auction now but I am not sure.) Anyway, our crew drum turned out so beautifully! It would be so much fun to have at home. Your child wouldn't have to wait until after they graduate from 6th grade to have a drum at home. We also have a large basket in our classroom waiting for board game donations for the crew basket we are making for Life is Art. The basket is called Family Game Night. Feel free to send in your donatins of new games any time. Take a look at the photos below.

Math Balances

We are working on understanding the meaning of the equals sign. To help us with this we have been using a math balance scale. We are learning to balance our equations on this scale. For example, if we have 5 on one side of the scale, we could have 3 and 2 on the other side. Or we could have 4 and 1 on the other side. Or we could have 5 on the other side. We are also working on using equation notation to show how we balanced our scale. Here are a few of the ways we have learned to write equations to show what we have on our balance scale:

5=5

5=3+2

4+1=5

1+4=2+3

10=3+3+3+1

These are just a few examples. We have used many other numbers and mathematical situations with our scales and with story problems and other math tools.

Spelling

I imagine that some of you might have some questions about spelling. First I would ask that you read these two articles that do a really nice job of explaining how we teach spelling.

Why is my Kid Allowed to Make Spelling Mistakes?

Teacher to Teacher: Helping Children Become Better Spellers - What Parents Can Do

Spelling is taught in many different ways throughout our school day. Students do use invented or temporary spelling for words that they haven't learned yet when they are writing. We have a word wall and a personal word wall that each child has on their desk or work space that they use to look up commonly used words in order to check their spelling. We also have phonics lessons 3 or 4 times a week where we talk about how words work and various spelling rules and strategies. Then during our reading groups we work on learning to read and write snap words that appear in the books that we are reading. Snap words are those words that you should know in a "snap" and not have to "sound out". We also have several Exploration Stations that do word work activities and finally Ms. Cate and some of our parent volunteers work with students one on one or in small groups on learning to read and write snap words. If you still have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.