Double Double This This

We have been doing a LOT of singing lately (especially to get through transitions and bring students back together for meeting time!). The kids are loving it (and I'm sure you are too, if you're hearing them all at home! ;)
Yesterday, we tried to teach this chant with hand motions to our reading buddies:

Double Double This This
Double Double That That
Double This
Double That
Double Double This That

Reading Restaurant

This morning we went to see our reading buddies "Reading Restaurant". This is a tradition for some teams at the end of the year. Kids publish several pieces of writing, then open a restaurant for parents to come in and "order" pieces to read. We got to go try it out for their practice round today which was very fun!!

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Problem Solving

Today we tried a new kind of problem solving. After taking this Best practices math class, one of the many things I learned is the importance of posing open ended questions to students rather than ones that there is only one right answer. Today I gave them this problem:
You have two colors. Make a pattern! Draw a diagram of your pattern.

The kids had choices of several materials and went to work! When they finished I encouraged them to find a pattern different from the one they already made. At the end children shared patterns, and many got new ideas to try another time when we do it again.

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Seeds and Plants

As the tail end to our healthy foods unit, and the beginning of our life cycles unit, the children got to choose whether they wanted to plant a cucumber or zucchini to take home over the summer.
We have been observing and documenting the growth of our plants, as well as taking a closer look at some different types of seeds.

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Bird Research!

Students have chosen a specific bird to study that they are going to be writing a report on in the next couple weeks! The first step was choosing a type of bird, then we looked through books to learn about the birds. Here are some short clips- notice the excitement!!!

New Choice Routine

Starting yesterday, we are trying a new routine for choice time! I was noticing that children were getting a little "stuck" in their routine (most girls drawing, and most boys playing legos every choice time) so we have started a Choice Board. I have a magnet board with pictures of the available activities in the classroom, and the number of children allowed at that activity. I told the children we were doing it to try new things, and play with new people...

It seems to be going well so far!