Albert Einstein

We have been studying Albert Einstein (and have of course noticed his hair):

We learned that he studied light, sound, and space...just like we will this year!  He is a reader, a writer, a mathematician, a scientist, and a researcher, but most of all--a thinker.  

When we read On a Beam of Light we learned that he was very unique.  He didn't speak until he was almost four, and started wondering about our world when his father gave him a compass.  He asked LOTS and LOTS of questions--so many that his teachers thought he was trouble.  ;)

He is a perfect person to study for LEADS because he is so full of questions.

Here is a short video so you can see him in action:

We even designated one of our notebooks as our "Think Book" and put his picture on the front--when we do our deep thinking, we're just like Einstein!

Google Classroom

Room 408 learned about Google Classroom today.

We learned that it is a great way to share videos and links.  

We watched a video about compromise.

Teacher/Student Ten Frame Game

Room 408 learned a ten frame math game called "Show Me" today.  We partnered up--one of us was the writer (the teacher) and one of us was the builder (the student).  The teacher partner called out a number to show, and asked the student partner how many boxes were filled and how many were empty.  The teacher partner recorded the equation on the sheet.  Then we switched jobs.

We sure liked being the teacher and giving "homework" for our partner!

Columbus Day & Indigenous Day

We started Oct. 8th off by wondering about the following painting:

We came up with lots of questions and inferences about it.

Next we read a few books about Columbus.

We learned that he didn't give up his dream to explore, even after some kings told him he couldn't do it.  We also learned that he made a mistake...he didn't realize that there were big chunks of land between where he left from Spain and where he thought he would land in Asia, so he ended up bumping into the Bahamas, thinking it was the Indies (China and India)!

We learned that when he landed, he claimed the land for Spain--but Room 408 thought that was unfair, since there were already native people living there in North and South America!  We also learned that unfortunately Columbus made some bad choices and enslaved some of the native people.

Chance also shared with us that it is also Indigenous People's Day.  He even brought in a Lacrosse stick to share with us.  He said that Lacrosse is a great game because they collaborate and it makes the players feel good about themselves.

Waewaenen, Chance!

Guest Reader

This month we had a special reader come from ThedaCare to share the Read Well Be Well program with us.  Our ThedaCare volunteer was Ms. Kasey.

She introduced us to the Pig the Pug series.

We loved Pig the Pug!  We can't wait to read the rest of them!

Our Toolboxes are Full!

Room 408 has been working hard to fill up our Reading Strategy Toolbox!  As we read, we really try to pay attention to everything we do to figure out tricky words in our books.  At the end of our Reading Workshop, we share what we are learning about ourselves as readers.

Here are the strategies that we have in our toolbox:

Mr. Milan stopped by before school one day to fix our faucet that has been dripping.

As I watched him, I realized that he has a big toolbox full of different tools, just like our Reading Strategy Toolboxes!  He assured me that he didn't mind if I snapped a few shots. :)

He tried out a few different tools until he found one that works--just like we do when we read!

Sometimes he even had to use two different tools at the same time--just like we do when we read! 

Thanks for helping us learn more about reading, Mr. Milan!

Starting our Reader's Toolbox Inquiry

We have been talking about how readers are like builders...when we read a story, we are building the story in our mind.

We learned that readers have tools too, but they aren't wrenches or screwdrivers or hammers.  They are strategies to help us figure out words!

We are doing a mini-inquiry to see what our brains do to help us out when we get to tricky parts in our books.

So far, we have noticed that using the pictures is helpful, like Mason did in this book when he got to the word straw...

We shared how using the pictures helped us when we got to a tricky part.

Kaylene used her picture to help her with the word 'insect.'

Chance used his picture to help him with the word 'kick.'

Today we tried out a strategy that worked for Aloura, Asher, and Maddin:  getting our mouth ready for the first part of the word.

When Aloura got to the last word on this page, she got her mouth ready by saying the short u sound...
and she figured out that the tricky word was umbrella! 

We shared how this strategy helped us, too.

Mason got his mouth ready for the tricky word 'playing' by making the 'p' sound.

At first Jace thought the word was 'doctor' but then got his mouth ready by saying the 'n' sound and fixed it--'nurse!'

Aloura got stuck on this word...she got her mouth ready by saying the 'st' sound and figure it out--'stay!'

What strategy helps you with your tricky words?