Last week we celebrated our one hundredth day of school with several fun activities.  During math children engaged in several searches, which are always fun and motivating.   One was for 100 numbered tiles, which they matched  with their corresponding number on a hundreds chart.  The second was for tiny pictures of objects arranged in groups of 10 up to 100.  They used clipboards and recording charts to note the number of each kind of object once they found the picture (e.g. 20 hexagons or 90 little bears.)  Some children wrote numbers to 100 while others chose to make sets of 100 objects.  Throughout the day we worked on writing 100 words as a class.  Finally, with our third and fourth grade learning buddies, children created structures using 100 marshmallows and toothpicks.  While celebrating the 100th day is mostly about recognizing a milestone and having fun, I find that emphasis on 100 for a day or two can also deepen children's sense of our number system and how numbers to 100 are composed and written as groups of 10 and additional ones (42 is four tens and 2 ones, for example). 

In the last couple of weeks we have become prolific writers.  Most children are now writing independently, "stretching" words or saying them very slowly and writing the sounds they hear, even if it is just the first sound.   We have also worked on leaving spaces between words, which makes a huge difference when we read what is written.  It is very exciting for students when they show me what they have written and I can read it back to them without clarification - spaces between words makes all the difference.  During writing time there is a quiet buzz of children sounding out words, helping each other, and proudly sharing their work. While choice time is probably the favorite time of day, writing is a close second and when it is over there are often groans of disappointment, with many children choosing to continue writing during choice time.  This is an extremely engaged bunch of writers!

During math this week students had an opportunity to create pictures by using pattern blocks to fill in an outline of an object.  Once they had covered the object with blocks they used pattern block pictures to make a permanent representation.  Lots of rich math is hidden in this super fun and engaging activity.

Filling in the outlines gives practice comparing different shapes and exploring different ways of composing a larger shape using smaller shapes (e.g. a hexagon can be made with two trapezoids or 1 trapezoid and 3 triangles).  It's interesting to compare the different ways children fill in the same outline.

When students were done they completed a simple table, recording how many of each shape they used as well as the total number of shapes. This provides practice classifying objects into categories and recording data.  Depending on how many shapes were used it also gave a great opportunity to count and record larger sets.

During math we have also been working on solving simple story problems on white boards.  After our math stations each day we spend about 10 minutes solving several problems.  This gives children a great opportunity to hear a problem and consider what they need to do to find a solution using simple pictures and numbers.  Once students have an answer they have been practicing using the +, -, and = symbols to represent the problems with equations.

Last week on Wednesday morning Carrie and Zac joined us for a session of ECO at school.  Our focus was animal tracks and gaits.  We began the morning inside looking at different tracks and thinking about the story they might tell, especially as they intersected each other.  We also learned about various animal gaits (hopping, bounding, waddling, and walking), animal body types that lend themselves to each of these, and the different track patterns left by different gaits.  Children then had a chance to try out each one by following foot print patterns on a yoga mat.  Most found hopping to be the trickiest as your feet are supposed to land in front of your hands.

Then we went outside to look for tracks around the school, considering the stories they might tell.  We found many, many tracks, including hoppers, walkers, and waddlers.  We found that squirrels are having lots of fun in the side yard outside Mr. Hubbard and Mr. Young's rooms, going inside the beehive and even climbing on it.  They seem to be drawn to the oak tree right next to the parking lot, where we found many acorn tops.  We followed a mouse track along the bank by the playground, down around the apple tree and then back to the edge of the building where we saw a little hole.  An interesting story to imagine!  We also walked along the edge of the lower field where we saw fox tracks and some kind of waddler, perhaps a porcupine.

Finally, we wrapped up our morning by creating our own track story backgrounds and nature name puppets.  Each student dictated a short story about their animal and I read these while they performed shadow puppet shows.  We will continue to explore animals in winter in the coming weeks.