Math Menu

This week we got to choose from our very first Math Menu! Over the course of the week, we each got to choose 6 different items on our Math Menu during our Math Workshop Time. This week's menu allowed us to make choices that would help us get to know the math manipulatives and tools we have in our classroom! 

Choices included exploring with unifix cubes, pattern blocks, and cuisenaire rods, rolling dice and creating numbers with play doh, playing Cooties, making different sorts with our sorting toys, and playing Counting Fish on our classroom iPads

Later on in the week once we wrapped up our math centers, we got to learn  a few new math games! We will choose one of these games to be sent home in our first Giraffe Mystery Bag for each student to share with their families over the next few weeks :) 

We can't wait to choose from a new Math Menu next week!

Readbox-Less Waiting, More Reading!

 We've been working incredibly hard on writing book reviews for our favorite books. The first task we faced was figuring out which one was our favorite--there are just too many great books to choose from! Some of us chose books we've read during Reader's Workshop and read aloud while others chose favorites from years past and present that they've read at home with their families.

After deciding on our favorite book, we started writing about them. We came up with many reasons and examples to persuade others to want to read them as well. At the end of this week, we used the Shadow Puppet app we used earlier in the year with Mr. Gagnon to make "Book Trailers" for our reviews!

Once we created our "Book Trailers," we created QR codes using the app Qrafter to put on our Readbox! When someone finds a book on the Readbox they are interested, they can use a scanner app on their smartphone or tablet to read the QR code and watch the video! Our book selections are available in our classroom library as well as the SMS library, so if anyone is interested in the books on our Readbox, they can "rent" them to read themselves (only our books are free to rent). There is also another Readbox just down the hall with selections from Ms. Arnold's class! 

The rest of our QR codes will be up by Tuesday afternoon--they've all been tested and are ready to go :) Try testing a few from home! (Don't have a QR Scanner on your smart device? Use this Web QR scanner to watch our videos!) 

Junie B Jones is Not a Crook

Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets

Shadow Puppet Fun in MakerSpace!

During our last few visits to the MakerSpace, Mr. Gagnon has asked us bring along the information we've collected for our New Hampshire animals to use with an app called Shadow Puppet. This app allows the user to create custom videos that are easy to share, and the giraffes used the app to create short informational videos about their animal. Click on the links below to watch! 

Great White Shark

Geese

Lobster

Bobcat 

Red-tailed Hawk

Fox

White-Tailed Deer

Hammerhead Shark

Humpback Whale

Coyote

Purple Finch

Black Bear

Wild Turkey

Moose

BONUS: Kittens!