Shelagh Macdonald

Educator and learner at Kanata Highlands PS

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

We played 200 or bust in teams to practice adding up to 200. Students were a tad excited! See comment for instructions…

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Sound on.
We went outside today to collect sensory details to write spring poems. I think I will be seeing a lot of poems about the wind! 🌬️😂 #PoetryMonth @AndreaDignam

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Students were so engaged today at our session with the informative and talented @MASConline First Nations artist Amanda Fox. @KanataHighlands

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Forget worksheets! Create a template that allows students choice and room to show their thinking, and lets them work without pressure to “finish the sheet.”

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

I love when you see an instructional strategy really work. Daily number talks have led 2C to having such great flexible thinking about numbers!

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

An open task that engages students by allowing choice and creativity, and provides an opportunity to bridge concepts of skip-counting, repeated addition, and multiplication in Gr. 2/3.

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

How many different ways can you arrive at an answer of 24 is a great open question for Gr 3. One student told me “One of the things I admire about you is how you ask a question, smile, and then walk away!”😂

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

That magical moment in the Spring of Grade 2 when your daily structured phonics and syntax lessons leads to students researching, jot-noting and writing paragraphs about the solar eclipse independently!

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

2C and 2/3A had busy minds as they worked on representing and solving some fraction problems together. #thinkingclassroom @Wipebook

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

While Gr 2s were having a science workshop, Gr 3s dove into altering some Scratch code to show a table of values. I ❤️ learning alongside my students!

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

When you teach phonics explicitly, students understand phonics. #UFLI #activelearning

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Learning about the MEAN in Gr 3 means thinking about equalizing groups using a hands-on activity (with some fun dice, and a little competitive point-keeping)😁

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

These wonderful students created, practiced and presented an interesting and informative presentation on Lunar New Year to 2C. Bravo!! @AndreaDignam

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Student-made purposeful practice! Students made 4different representations of the same multiplication fact and then we used the cards for a memory/concentration game. Fun!

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

I created a balancing equation game for 2/3A today. Students set up their board with 3 different equations and then took turns turning over dominoes and placing numbers on their board. Quite a lot of thinking involved as some numbers are impossible!

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

2C worked on some domino challenges to practice balancing equations. Can you find 2 dominoes that are equal to 1 domino? Three dominoes equal to 3 dominoes?

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Yesterday, 2/3A were tasked with writing 2 expressions with the same value. I put one of them up around the classroom, and typed the other one into a doc. Self-differentiated purposeful practice. Great focus and perseverance!

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

2C is using “piles of tiles” to show how to balance an equation with addition on one side (2 small piles) and subtraction (1 big pile) on the other. How many did you have to take away from the big pile to balance your equation?

[Shelagh Macdonald @MsMacInClass]

Some #openmiddle equation fun in 2/3A this afternoon. What are the highest and lowest possible values for the equations? #thinkingclassrooms