As we approach the winter break...

...we are beginning to tie some things up, as well as have some ongoing projects to work on when we return.  We have been working on a min-unit about landforms.  This unit has focused on research skills, paraphrasing, source citation, and of course text creation.  The culmination of this unit will be some full-color books!  These are looking good so far, and we hope to have them finalized before the break!

We are also using the skills listed above in an investigation of Vermont.  Students are working on topics of their choice, researching them, and writing about the connections these topics have to Vermont.  Topics range from mountains to agriculture.  The culmination of this work will also be a book, but with a focus on the audience, rather than simply to convey knowledge.  We are currently in the research and initial draft portion of this work, and we will take these initial drafts and craft them toward the audience we are hoping to capture.

Math has seen alot of work recently.  We have been working on building automaticity with the foundational facts in multiplication.  We are working on these facts in groups, and practicing using cuisenaire rods.  Along side this we have been working on identifying the dividend and divisor in division word problems.

As always I hope this update finds you well, and you have a restful and rejuvenating weekend and break.  There is a possibility of significant snow next Wednesday...let's keep our fingers crossed!

Dave

A new week, bring new investigations!

We are moving forward as always.  This week we have been working on researching VT history, as well as different landforms.  Right now the purpose of our research is two-fold. We are working, of course, to gain information and understanding, but we are also working to practice paraphrasing, choosing interesting bits of information and citing sources.  This work will result in a couple of differently formatted books, one for each topic respectively.

Math is another area where new investigations are beginning.  We are working on reading and deciphering comparison statements as they relate to math, and from these statements finding equations that match, and ultimately writing word problems that ask the mathematician to compare. An example is as follows:  A man has 7 coins, his friend has 4 times the amount of coins.  His friend has 28 coins.  The equations that relate to this are: 28/4 = 7, 28/7 = 4, 7 x 4 = 28, and 4 x 7 = 28.  A potential word problem relating to that could be: If a man has 28 coins in his pocket and his friend has 4 times less, how many coins does his friend have?

We are moving into the winter season, please remember that all students need all of their winter gear each day.  As always I hope this finds you well, and you have a relaxing weekend.

-Dave