The "Mystery Bags" are so much fun! We are enjoying them throughout the day. A bag is selected and one item is removed and viewed by the class at a time. The children state "facts" then make different "inferences". The emphasis is on understanding that a fact must be right there and proven - no clarification or other explanation. Equation: fact + background knowledge = inference. Every child is offering inferences with encouragement to be creative. An example from today was when one child had a black, white, and red hair clip. The inferences they generated included:
- likes to wear hair bows
- likes the colors red, black, and white
- likes Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse
real reason why it was in the bag: "likes to do cheerleading" :) - Thank you! We learned that inferences do not have to be right. They simply must make sense and combine facts with knowledge. :) It is so fun and purposeful, so thank you to everyone for including such an amazing collection of artifacts. We are learning so much about each other, discovering more similarities, and enjoying the fact/inference learning which will transfer to reading comprehension. :)
??? Who was the Newscaster of the Day?
??? Show an item. What is a fact about ____? What is an inference? Take turns. :)
??? What was the best part of your day?
??? Which new friend did you try to play with today? How were you a friend?
Today some children began our new BAM wall (Balanced Areas of Math) while others began did small group math review activities. Since it is all new, introducing the materials and expectations with half the class at a time was more efficient. Tomorrow they will switch activities.
In true "ongoing learning" form, we had a friend teach us even more about the Olympics and the rings today. She made origami rings. A few minutes later she was teaching her own small group. What an amazing group of teachers we have in our "studio" with terrific risk taking and truly extending their thinking to maximize their potential.
We attended a music assembly with all K-2 students. A blue flyer is in your child's folder if you are interested.
Our staff email indicates that tomorrow is Picture Day. Smile! :)
