All of us were out and about enjoying our hikes and so much so that we missed a blog post! Sorry about that. Last week, as well as this we have a few different focus areas in our class.
In all areas we are following a routine for entering a conversation. While this seems mundane the practice of raising a hand and waiting for recognition is two-fold. First it allows individual voices to be heard in a conversation, while at the same time allowing others participants in the conversation to really absorb the discussion. It also controls the pace of a discussion, giving down time for reflective participants to generate their contribution. We are really gaining strength with this routine, and having some wonderful discussions.
In math we are focused on subtraction. We are working on finding the differences between numbers both mentally and with pencil and paper. We are slowly moving toward using the standard american algorithm and notation for subtraction, and working to generate a deep understanding of how these processes show the relation of the numbers involved.
During our writing time we have been generating reasonable amounts of writing, generating empathy in our readers, and crafting strong leads. We will continue along with these in mind, as well as work on moving from a large block of text that covers a page, to paragraphs that group thoughts and ideas together.
Finally, we will have a field trip on October 19. We will be travelling to the Barre Opera House to see a production of Jigsaw Jones and the Case of the Class Clown. During this performance we will be looking for evidence of when the author wants us to pay attention to a list of information, or make a mental movie.
-Dave
