We are still pretty far away from Earth, so today we worked to identify:
- Northern & Southern Hemispheres, divided by the Equator
- Western & Eastern Hemispheres, divided by the Prime Meridian
For context - and fun! - we first watched the time-lapse video of the Space Shuttle Endeavour moving through the streets of Los Angeles from LAX to its permanent home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. Admission is free, by the way.
Writing Workshop has officially begun! We start the year with personal narrative because it's the story that's the easiest to write - where we are the main character in the moment that we remember really well ... "with crystal clarity" I like to say. So this morning I modeled, and students then followed, thinking back to the first moment I remember - my alarm clock beeping. I then wrote the story out bit-by-bit, trying not to leave anything out. We use the strategy of remembering a moment by closing our eyes and running the movie/video in our minds, then writing down everything that's happening in that movie in great detail.
Kids only just got started this morning so everyone brought their black writing NB home to work on, maybe finish, that small moment. Students who are "all done" can reread their piece looking for spots to add more detail - "our first writing is hardly ever our best writing."
If your child has no interest in continuing that writing tonight, no worries! But do ask them to read what they have to you "in their storyteller voice."
Math - We cracked open the enVision math book this morning. Lesson 1-1 compares multiple addition (2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8) with multiplication (2 x 4 = 8). The HW page has a quick reteach at the top of the odd-numbered page (p. 11) and problems for your child to complete that are the same format as what we did in class. The even-numbered page (p. 12) has a variety of problems that review previously taught skills. Many are word problems. Parents are asked to choose one of more of these problems for your child to complete.
So: all problems on the odd-numbered page, and one or more problems on the even-numbered page (parent choice). This will be the format for all enVision HW pages this year. The pages are HOMEwork and not to be returned to school.
Picture Day on Thursday! Please go online: www.shopstudio1.com and use school code: A769 to order online. Or return the picture envelope with payment by Thursday. (Note that K-2 will have their picture day on Friday - two days of pictures at Keppel this year. And there will be a makeup day announced later.)
Finally, we're going green on the lunch patio! In compliance with local and state guidelines, we now have green bins for food waste on the lunch patio. Today, there were lots of chicken bones and apple cores that made it into those green bins. We all are doing are best to take care of Mother Earth and divert what we can from the landfill.