We finished unit 7. Then, Banyan mathematicians explored with dominoes. They used addition and subtraction to play some fun games. They learned that the dots on the face of a domino are called pips. We built staircases with double nine sets and looked for patterns. Ask your child how to play ‘Is It A Tie?’ Math

Dominoes

Bany

an NEWSLETTER

Reading and Writing Workshop

We wrote our own Mercy Watson book!

Banyan writers worked together to write our own series book in the style of Mercy Watson. We took what we had learned about her character and about the secondary characters and applied them to a basic story outline. The students came up with some great plot ideas. We picked a title and got to work! We decided on a hook, a few main events and a tie up to end the story.

PoetryWe launched our study of poetry in

reading and in writing. We read poems

that made ordinary things sound extraordinary. The students looked at ordinary things and tried to jot down their observations. They are very excited about their Tiny Topics Notebooks. They are using these notebooks to jot down ideas for their poetry.

In reading workshop, Banyan readers are reading a lot of poetry, performing poems, visualizing poems and making poems into gifts.

We are very excited about our visit from, Cathy, the bookmaker. We have been doing a lot of fun artwork to get ready for her visit. We will be making books to hold our poetry!

Students marble painted paper to get ready for the bookmaker. We will use this paper to make special books for our poetry.