Week of April 9th

The Monkeys worked on some fun learning activities this past week.  In math, each partner had 2 sticks of ten cubes each.  Each student started with 12 cubes.  They rolled a cube that either landed on "one more" or "one less."  They would then either take one cube away or add another cube.  They would have to say, "One more/less than ______ is ____."  They took turns until one of the partners made it to 20.

The Monkeys also learned about compound words in language arts this past week.  They enjoyed putting together compound word puzzles in groups.

Our class has been learning about how technology has changed our lives from long ago to today.  We discussed how today we can just go to the grocery store to buy items, but long ago, they had to make many things.  So, the students made butter.  We shook cold, heavy cream with a little bit of salt in a mason jar.  The Monkeys were very excited to see it turn to butter!  They tasted the butter on a cracker and most of the students loved it!

Giselle was our superstar student this past week, but was unfortunately absent much of the week.  Next week, our superstar student will be Matthew!  We hope to learn about his life and interests.

Week of April 2nd

The Monkeys enjoyed some fun math games this week!  Nearby Numbers was a hit!  The students would draw a card from a stack and then have to find a spot to place it on the game board.  The number would have to be placed before or after other numbers on the game board.

The Monkeys also played a game where they would draw a number card from a stack and then roll a cube.  If the cube said "one more" they would determine the number that was one more than the number they drew from the stack.  They did the same if they rolled the cube and it said "one less."  They then made a set of that many with counters and their partner would check their work for accuracy.  

The Monkeys were also excited to learn about our superstar student, Andy!  They were able to hear about his life and interests.

Our next superstar student is Giselle!  We will learn about her life and interests this upcoming week.

Week of March 26th

The Monkeys had fun learning this past week!  They enjoyed observing plants up close and recording their observations in their science notebooks.  They identified the parts of the plant...flower, stem, leaves and roots.

We also enjoyed playing math games to learn about teen numbers and to see teen numbers in a variety of ways.

The Monkeys are excited to learn about our next superstar student, Andy, this next week!