We've been having an extra-good and extra-productive week here.
Our stories are quickly coming together. Students who have already completed their good copy with all their revisions are working on typing it using our class computers or the school laptops. This is all very new and exciting, and the kids are crazy motivated to keep working on their stories when they're done other work. We will use the laptops as a class more regularly until the end of the year and each student will learn to log in and find work that they have saved independently. To begin developing good keyboard skills, there are lots of good typing games. I have one linked to the blog (under Jeux) that walks you through the beginning steps of how to place your hands. Some of us have already started working through the levels at school, but it's a good thing to do at home as well. Thanks SO much and bravo to our two computer experts who quickly learned how to make accents and proceeded to help absolutely EVERYONE else with their computer issues so that I could be with the other writers.
In geometry, we have quickly become experts on recognizing and naming 3-D shapes based on the other shapes we notice within them. We have played a couple fun games that you might like to try at home. First, Qui suis-je? (Who am I?). Ask your mathematician to give you some hints about a shape that we're learning about at school, you can help by asking about the number of sides or the shape of the sides. See if you can guess what 3-D shape they're describing. Second, using blocks or lego, give your mathematician and yourself a group of shapes, the same ones for each person. Put a book between you so that you can't see the other person's blocks. Ask your child to build a castle out of his/her blocks and then, in French, explain to you how to recreate it. Don't look! When you think you have it, remove the book and see how close you got to matching castles! We had great fun with this the other day, and I heard lots of great French and math terms spoken between partners giving their instructions. (And, I have to say, my partner and I successfully matched our castles three times! Go team!)
This afternoon, while we were playing Qui suis-je and as we started our math work, some special guests visited our classroom to see what we're learning about. I found out later that they were very impressed with what they saw and the math work the children were doing. Félicitations Aire 24!
You probably already saw the 3-D shape that your student brought home today. Your student built it with no help from me, but by drawing on what they've noticed about 3-D shapes in the last 3 days. They chose a shape, thought about what kinds of sides they would need to build it, and went to it. After, everyone introduced what they had built. Definitely ask your builder what their shape is called and how they know!
