High Ability Update

We revisited word ladders this week. Students are at varied comfort levels with these puzzles. Changing only one letter at a time and changing each letter only once, students take an initial word and transition it into another word. The initial word and final word are provided. Students are challenged to figure out which words/steps are between the initial and final word. For example, if we take the word hot and change it to pig, which two words would go between them? First, change the o in hot to i, so we have the word hit. That means we've transitioned from hot to hit. Next, change the h in hit to p, so we have the word pit. That means we've gone from hot to hit to pit. To change pit to pig, we change the t to p.

hot

hit

pit

pig

This group has gotten really good at identifying angles as acute, right, or obtuse! They don't even use protractors (I've never shown them one). If they aren't able to decipher angle type on sight alone, they know how to use the corner of a piece of paper as a measurement tool. If you haven't already seen what they've brought home from HA this week, you might want to ask them all about it.

Before we begin another novel study, we are taking a look at author style. We discussed our favorite authors and what their books are like. We are exploring/comparing four Patricia Polacco picture books. Structure, characters, key words, descriptions/images, ideas, and feelings are much of what we compare between the author's different books. This lesson will continue next week.

We continued discussing multiplication facts and patterns while we filled in more of our multiplication charts. These students are so excited to be learning multiplication! They're taking our lessons seriously versus just memorizing facts. I'm proud of them for trusting the process.

We focused on linking verbs this week. If you are willing to get a song stuck in your head, you can check out this linking verb song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow_z2pOAuqU. The students have been learning about action verbs since they were small, but linking verbs are new to them. Linking verbs describe the subject by connecting it to an adjective, noun, or pronoun.

On Wednesday, I introduced the students to adding positive & negative numbers. Half the third grades were on a field trip Thursday. Those of us that were here on Thursday worked on multiplication. These students have their multiplication facts memorized, so we worked on multiplication with regrouping. For example: 38 x 6. They think it's cool regrouping is a pattern, so they can already do problems like 2,582 x 7. At the very end of class, I quickly showed a couple examples of problems that multiply by a two digit number. For example: 23 x 42. They are definitely intrigued:)

Most students started working in their biography research packets this week. They are definitely challenged by the thought provoking questions being asked of them. The answers to most of these questions require the students to make inferences. Some students have taken home their materials to get some work done at home. Please ask your student whether he/she needs to be doing any of the work at home. Aside from learning about their biography subject and answering higher level questions, students are learning a variety of valuable skills. Here are a few odds and ends that are part of this project: reviewing how to write a date with proper comma usage, what D.O.B. means, and how to reference a copyright page to cite a resource.

Rather than solve problems algebraically, this week we focused on using logical reasoning and problem-solving strategies. Gaining experience with the guess-and-test method, making organized lists, and making diagrams is helpful for students to wrap their heads around algebra without using equations. Understanding the problems conceptually helps students understand equations and the process of solving equations.

Email: kapeterson@duneland.k12.in.us
Location: Jackson Elementary School, North 400 East, Valparaiso, IN, USA
Phone: 219-983-3680