League of Super Geniuses HQ : Friday, September 23, 2011

Thank you for coming out the class meeting on Wednesday. I really appreciate that you gave up an evening for that. I hope it was helpful.

This week in math, we have continued to look at Place Value. Most students are having no difficulty reading numbers up to the millions period. They are also writing and communicating clearly in their notebooks, and feeling challenged by our daily problem. I will likely start giving a word problem out for homework within the next few weeks.

In our Procedural Writing unit, I had the students work in groups to write instructions on how to play a gym game. They had the option of making up a new game or writing about one they've played before. Today we played Jaxsen, Tristan, and Julian's game called Jump For the Flag. It was a great game and is a definite keeper. Their instructions were well written and easy to understand too. Ask about the rules at home!

Here is the routine we looked at in dance today. We spoke about the story which Joey was able to pick up on even before hearing the choreographer talk about it. We also talked about how this dance was different from the first two which were both hip hop. The students picked up on some very interesting points such as the synchronicity of hip hop versus the more oranic and dramatic modern dance.

We took on the ambitious task of reorganizing our entire library. We emptied all of the shelves and categorized them as dictated by the students. Now we all have a more clear idea of what we have and what we need. Students were excited to find some books that they have added to their "must read" lists.

Our Chuck Close arts pieces are almost all done. Chuck Close was know for his photorealism. We think these turned out great and we are very proud.

Our reading of Thank You Mr. Falker went over very well. We've made some thick connections to real life. If you have not read this book, I highly suggest grabbing a box of tissues and checking it out.