Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Dr. Seuss Reading

We are celebrating reading and Dr. Seuss this week.  Students worked in collaborative groups to read one of their favorite Dr. Seuss books and discuss it using some guiding questions.




Role-Play a Conversation

Four brave volunteers role-played a conversation that demonstrated how to generate new questions and ideas about an issue.  After the role-play activity, students got back together with their groups and tried the same moves or techniques that they watched in the role-play to generate new questions and ideas about zoos.

Pushing Ourselves to Ask New Questions

Today's reading mini-lesson was about pushing ourselves as readers to ask new questions about the same topic or issue.  Readers got together with their group and read a few new articles about zoos. While reading the articles, students generated lists of new questions about zoos to further research.



Debates

Today we debated the issue of serving chocolate milk in schools.  Students have spent the last several weeks researching the pros and cons of serving flavored chocolate milk at school.  Debaters used all of the evidence they have collected to convince others of their opinion.





Monday, February 27, 2017

Yearbooks

Yearbook order forms are being sent home today and must be returned by April 12 if you are ordering.

The Cat in the Hat Collaborative Discussions

Students got together in small groups to discuss the actions of The Cat and their reactions to his choices.



One School, One Book

Chapters 8, 9, and 10 should be read before the school day begins on Tuesday, February 28.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Celebrate Reading

Wilson School will be celebrating Dr. Seuss Spirit Week the week of February 27th - March 3rd. There is a different Dr. Seuss themed event each day of the week.  Please see the schedule below and begin planning!

Monday, February 27:  The Cat in the Hat
Get up! Get out of bed! Find something to wear black, white, or red.  If it's striped, that'll do...we will leave the rest to you!

Tuesday, February 28:  Fox in Socks
Rainbow socks, one red or one blue, only silly socks will do!

Wednesday, March 1:  Wacky Wednesday
Wear it wacky, backwards, or inside-out...doesn't mater if it's a bit tacky!

Thursday, March 2:  Oh, The Places You'll Go
"The more that you read, The more things you will know.  The more that you learn, The more places you'll go!" - Dr. Seuss.
Bring in your favorite Dr. Seuss book to read with a buddy!

Friday, March 3:  The Sleep Book
Wear appropriate pajamas, comfy clothes, or spirit wear.  Get ready for a day of READING!!

Northeast Region

We will be learning about the Northeast Region next week (week of February 27).  Students will be expected to spell each of the eleven state names correctly, spell the state capital names correctly and and correctly spell the state abbreviation.  Students will also be expected to locate each of the states on an outline map.  Students were given the spelling list today, Friday, February 24, so that they can begin studying over the weekend.  The test will be next Friday.

One School, One Book

Please continue to read the Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine at home.  Chapter 8, 9, and 10 should be read before coming to school on Tuesday, February 28.  Please click on the One School One Book link in the upper right corner of the blog to access the reading schedule. Happy Reading!

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Read to Succeed Final Reminder

Time is running out to turn in Read to Succeed minutes!  Please be sure that all forms are turned in no later than Friday, February 24 to earn one free ticket to Six Flags. 

This is a reminder that room 302 is participating in an exciting program that encourages students to read for fun.  Read to Succeed is a free program sponsored by Six Flags Theme Parks.  Every student who completes six hours of recreational reading by Friday, February 24, 2017 is eligible for a free admission ticket. Please note that each student is only able to earn one ticket.

Student Reading Logs were sent home with students Friday, November 4.  Please have your student record their reading and return the completed and initialed log to school by Friday, February 24.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Midwest Region States, Capitals and Abbreviations

We are currently learning about the Midwest Region of the United States.  Word study words for this week are the states, capitals, and abbreviations of the twelve states in the Midwest Region.  Students were given a Study Guide to bring home today (Monday, February 19).  There will be a test on Friday.  Students will be expected to correctly spell the name of each of the states, correctly spell the name of the capital of each of the states, and correctly write the abbreviation of each state.  Students will also be expected to label each state on an outline map.  We will be spending time in class practicing but students should also practice at home using the Study Guide.  Please contact Mrs. Wilke if you have any questions.

One School, One Book

Please continue to read The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine at home.  Chapters 3, 4, and 5 should be read before school starts on Wednesday, February 21.  The reading schedule can be found on the Wilson website.  Please see the link at the top right of this page.

Strengthening Club Work

The book clubs in room 302 watched a video of another club having a conversation about bottled water.  We paid attention to exactly what the club members were doing and saying to raise the level of their conversation.  We concluded that a good conversation should leave you feeling that your club has raised some new ideas and questions and that you are leaving thinking differently about the issue than you did when you came to the conversation.



Peer Editing

Writers in room 302 worked with a partner today to revise and edit their writing.


Friday, February 17, 2017

Heavy Hearts Math Challenge

Students designed the "heaviest" heart possible.  The "weight" of each heart was the area.  Students learned the formula for finding the area of a rectangle (length times width) and also used addition and subtraction to calculate the total weight of the large heart they designed.





Thursday, February 16, 2017

Continents Quiz

Room 302 will be having a quiz on the continents tomorrow (Friday, February 17th).  Students will need to label the 7 continents on an outline map and spell them correctly with correct capitalization.

One School, One Book

Please have chapters 1 and 2 of The Somewhat True Adventures of Sammy Shine read before you arrive at school tomorrow, Friday, February 17th.

Celebrate Reading

Wilson School will be celebrating Dr. Seuss Spirit Week the week of February 27th - March 3rd. There is a different Dr. Seuss themed event each day of the week.  Please see the schedule below and begin planning!

Monday, February 27:  The Cat in the Hat
Get up! Get out of bed! Find something to wear black, white, or red.  If it's striped, that'll do...we will leave the rest to you!

Tuesday, February 28:  Fox in Socks
Rainbow socks, one red or one blue, only silly socks will do!

Wednesday, March 1:  Wacky Wednesday
Wear it wacky, backwards, or inside-out...doesn't mater if it's a bit tacky!

Thursday, March 2:  Oh, The Places You'll Go
"The more that you read, The more things you will know.  The more that you learn, The more places you'll go!" - Dr. Seuss.
Bring in your favorite Dr. Seuss book to read with a buddy!

Friday, March 3:  The Sleep Book
Wear appropriate pajamas, comfy clothes, or spirit wear.  Get ready for a day of READING!!

Special Delivery

A special delivery arrived at Wilson today!  A plane, piloted by a "mouse" that you all know landed on the front lawn. Boxes filled with our One School, One Book books were unloaded and delivered to each classroom.  Many students were able to attend the book reveal and spaghetti dinner to receive the book for their family.  Books will be distributed to students who were not able to attend during the school day on Thursday. Please start reading and have chapters 1 and 2 read by the time you arrive at school on Friday morning to be ready for the trivia questions.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Finding the Average

After everyone launched their arrows and we recorded the scores, we had a min-lesson on finding the average. Students worked with a partner to find the average score for each student.

The Launch

Student engineers launched their arrows this afternoon.  Each student got three shots.  Students recorded all of the scores on a recording sheet.  We talked about good sportsmanship and celebrating the successes of our classmates.




Testing Our Designs

Part of the design process is to test out the design, reflect, and adjust the design if needed.  Some groups discovered that their bow and arrow didn't launch as planned and went back to the drawing board.


Cupid's Quiver STEM Challenge

Last week the mathematicians in room 302 combined their math and detective skills to determine who the Heartbreak Hitman was.  Today's challenge was to use their science, technology, engineering, and math skills to design a classroom friendly bow and arrow.  After watching an introductory video about archery, engineers were given a list of criteria and constraints to follow.  Engineers worked in groups of 3 and got to work designing and building.