Week in Review

This past week we were very focused.  We engaged in many different lessons to help us learn all about metacognition, which is thinking about our thinking.  We made a "Real Reading Salad" to illustrate that when we read, we not only read the text, but also have lots of thinking going on.  In addition, we created a Venn Diagram, used a thinking bubble, and did some partner reading with picture books.  All of these activities helped the students deepen their understanding of "real reading" and metacognition.  This coming week, our focus will be on schema.

Our class is off to a wonderful start in writing this year!  Students were very excited to receive little notebooks to use as their "Idea Files" and jot down ideas for future writing topics.  Our big focus right now is learning how to pick a small moment to write about and then stretch it out into a story.

In math last week and coming up this week we are focusing on story problems.  We have been learning about Add To and Take From types of problems.  These story problems are difficult for students to realize what the question is asking and how to go about solving it.  Talking through the problem and retelling the problem in their own words seems to help those who are having difficulty.  Students have been doing a wonderful job explaining their thinking through math talk and by showing their thinking with equations and drawings.  

Here are some pictures of our learning this week!

This is the "Real Reading Salad" we created as we read a book together and shared our thinking.  As you can see, there is a lot more "thinking" in our salad than "text."

This diagram shows what "Real Reading" is all about.

We got a chance to "see" students thinking as they tried on the thinking bubble and shared their thoughts.

Students enjoyed reading wordless picture books and sharing their ideas.