January 28, 2010
BANYAN Social Smarts
Glassman
Social Studies
One Hundred Dresses
We met a new “unthinkable.” N e w lhe scenarios using Rockbrain and His name iss Glassman and
We watched a few videos
We read this book by Eleanor e t t rnot about bullying. We discussed Estes ande discussed how
Superflex. Banyan students
has sharp reactions to things.
the roles of the bully, the
acting or standing by in a bad
brainstormed and acted out
Aidan helped Superflex fight
bystander and the victim.
situation has consequences.
various scenarios.
Glassman. When situations
We learned from Maddie that
arise, we are learning to ask:
taking action and being an ally
Is this a big problem or a small problem?
to those in need is so important. We connected this
We made videos of different
to our talk about Haiti.
READING AND WRITING NONFICTION: Banyan students have new reading response notebooks! Banyan readers started recording their thoughts in their new reading response notebooks. This is a good way to keep track of their reading and thinking during reading workshop. The students are recording newly learned information (L), questions (Q) and background knowledge(BK). When reading nonfiction, readers preview their books by identifying their background knowledge and as they read, they sometimes correct their background knowledge. In our small groups, we have been reinforcing these skills as well as identifying a
Balls and Ramps
variety of nonfiction elements (glossary, index, table of contents, maps etc.) The students are creating a nonfiction elements book that they will refer to when they write their nonfiction books. They are identifying the elements and noting their purpose in nonfiction writing. We began planning and writing “How-To” books. Banyan students brainstormed 3 ideas for a book. When thinking of ideas, these young writers considered the following: something you know how to do, something you could teach someone to do and something you like to do. They began planning and
We started using the ramps this week! We looked at our observations and questions and decided to investigate the following questions: Which ball rolls the farthest? and If the balls are the same size, does the weight of the ball affect how far it rolls?
writing the steps for their books.
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January 29, 2010•
January 28, 2010
MAT H : ME A S U R E M E NT Measuring Madness! We continued our unit on measurement. The students measured lengths of tape that represented distances in the classroom. They used nonstandard tools such as : craft sticks, laminated baby steps and basketball player steps. We discussed the following questions: If two people measure the same length with different tools, will they get different results? If two people measure the same length using the same tools, should their results be the same? The students realized that the size of the measuring tool affected the total number of units. When they measured with a smaller unit(baby steps), they had a higher total number of units. When they measured with a larger tool (basketball steps) , they had a smaller total number of units.
Banyan Newsletter • ! !
Measurement Banyan students measured tape lengths with a variety of tools. They developed strategies to measure carefully and accurately. They recorded their measurements and compared them.
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January 29, 2010•