Well, Edmodo was the hit of the day!  For those who don't know, Edmodo is an online classroom.  I've sent you an email about how to sign up for a parent account.  I hope you'll join us!  We'll be working on Digital Citizenship next week, so we know how to communicate appropriately on Edmodo.  We'll also be using Edmodo for a research tool.

Convergent Thinking:
The kids took off on their logic puzzles today!  Most jumped right in and got it done!  A few had to make some revisions, but all ended up with correct solutions.  

Algebraic Thinking:
Hands-On-Equations were a bit slow getting started, but we picked up steam.  The kids are finishing up Level 1, but need a bit of review before moving on to Level 2.  We'll practice the skills in Lesson 5-7 a couple more weeks before trying our Level 1 Assessment.  

Communication & Relationships/Connections:
We worked on our vocabulary development by finding synonyms for the first several words on our list.  These will help us better understand our novel study, Twenty One Balloons.  We read a bit more of the book today.  A mystery has developed.  How did the Professor start off in the Pacific Ocean with one balloon and end up in the Atlantic Ocean with 20 balloons?  

HW:  Vote in the Edmodo Poll, finish the Synonyms/Antonyms sheet


Until next week,
Mrs. Kraeger

Once I heard about a cat that had been poisoned twice, run over three times, and kicked once.  It still survived!

We had our first class as two smaller groups, and it was fantastic!  Mrs. Lobello loved the group so much, she said they were just like a basket full of puppies!  

Self-Refleciton & Self Directed Learner:
We had a super busy day, starting with our interactive notebooks.  We finished up our class procedures to keep us on track with being self-directed learners.  Next we moved to the computer lab where we created graphs of our multiple intelligences.  The kids did a great job on them--showcasing the tremendous diversity of the talents in our groups.  We also discovered that we have some real computer experts in our classes.  Their names will go up on our Expert Walls next week!

Evaluative & Critical Thinking, Making Connections, & Communication:
We started some research on the time period of our novel study, Twenty One Balloons.  We'll continue this next week.  The kids also honed their dictionary skills by tackling some words from the first chapter of our novel.  They should include part of speech and a short definition.  Some may have this to finish for homework.

Algebraic Thinking:  
We challenged our math skills with some different types of problem solving--visual, patterns, algebra, mental math, and word problems.  The kids rose to the occasion, even learning what a Stem and Leaf plot is.  

HW: Goal Setting Sheet & Vocab (if not done).


Eager for Wednesday,
Mrs. Kraeger

We had a very busy day in Target!  We started with a collaborative problem solving activity called, "Saving Fred".  Check out the fun:

I hear there are 4th Grader Target students at Chalker who need to meet their teacher!  Well, I need to meet them too!  

I'm looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday, August 12th.  Be ready for a fantastic day filled with fun learning!

See you soon!
Mrs. Kraeger