Newsletter: Friday, October 30th

 Hello Everyone,

It feels so strange to write newsletters that don't include lots of photos of the kids at work and at play. I can, however, share a few photos of our classroom set-up as we prepare to welcome a portion of the kids back into the classroom next week. In the photos you can see the barriers set-up at each table. The kids working virtually will be on the big screen at the front of the classroom so we can see them in the room as well as on our Chromebooks. 

What have we been working on lately?

As readers, we've just launched an inquiry into reading comprehension. To frame this inquiry, I asked the kids "If reading is thinking, what sorts of thinking do we actually do to help us understand and enjoy a story?" As might be expected, this question was met with heavy doses of silence. Great, that means we get to set out to figure something out we've never even considered before!

To begin answering this question, we spent the week working as researchers as we spied on ourselves while reading various books. I stopped throughout the readings to invite the kids to jot down something they were noticing, thinking, wondering about, feeling, etc. After doing this for three or four days, we collected a good bit of direct examples of the thinking that goes on inside our heads as we read or listen to a story. These included: 

"They are friends but then they are not"

"She's starting to get mad"

"I thought they were both learning to read. I was right!"

"How did he not already learn to read?" 

Next week we'll begin sorting all these notes with our thoughts on them so we can name the specific types of thinking that help us understand a text. Likely, we'll come up with categories such as: (1) asking questions, (2) making predictions, (3) making connections, (4) retelling what just happened, etc.

As writers we are working on memory stories. As we document some of our strongest memories, we're learning to better organize our thoughts before putting our pencil to the paper, stretch out stories to include more detail, and study published authors to see what they often do in their writing that can help us grow our own writing practices. The kids have been doing a really nice job with this. While many of them started the year writing quick, 4 - 6 sentence stories, they are already finding they're capable of slowing themselves down and telling a fuller story, bit-by-bit. 

As mathematicians we are studying linear measurement. This began with a few days of measuring items using non-standard units of measure (for example, how many of your palms can you fit across the length of the table?). More recently we discussed the problem of using non-standard units of measure (such as our feet) because they are not the same for everyone so our measurements will not match up. So we switched to using snap blocks to measure things around them and today moved on to using the ruler. I love teaching measurement because it lends itself so well to getting the kids up out of their seats at home/camp and moving around to the explore their surroundings. We'll continue with our study of linear measurement next week as we begin talking about measuring to the nearest half-inch.

As scientists the kids have been researching and creating e-posters about severe weather. Using resources I provided them, they first took a small handful of notes, then shared these notes with a partner, and finally started a poster that combined each partnership's research into a single project. This severe weather project offers the kids an opportunity to work with friends -  a much welcomed change of pace! Doing this successfully in a virtual format is a challenge with younger children but we're definitely figuring it out. As we move to Phase 2 next week I will continue to look for opportunities to have them work with others as often as possible - no matter if they are working virtually or in the classroom behind dividers.

That's it for this week. I hope you all have a great weekend. If you haven't already, be sure to talk with your kids about voting. We've discussed this a number of different times already and many of them are very curious and interested!

Chris