TGIFriday, May 24

Today was a little more meatier than yesterday and we did some fun stuff as well as work. In Math, we completed our Geometrical Towns. They look really good! I was wondering if we should have a day next week, where you all can come check out the projects we've been working on... email me if you think you'd be available to stop by during the school day Tuesday or Wednesday next week. They have been working so hard and their towns and other things show it. After lunch, we were the "mystery readers" for our buddies and went down to read a book to our first grade buddies. Then, we came back to the room for our Student Council Drop Everything And Read time from 1:00-2:00. I even read the beginning of The Great Gatsby that I'm reading for my next book club. Next, we headed to the Media Center where Mrs. Dorr worked with us on ebooks. They are online books that kiddos can access through the internet, through our library so that they can read ebooks over the summer! They can even access them on ipads! I know I'm going to be reading some over the summer. Finally, we came back to our room and read some more of The Westing Game. We are only on chapter 10 and like page 60... I'm a little worried that we won't finish but hey, maybe it will give them incentive to read something over the summer! :)

Thursday, May 23

Math--Geometric Town
Read Aloud--The Westing Game
Reading and Writing--brochure, persuasive essay, ABC Ohio book, The Eleventh Hour
Science--Dissected flowers

Sorry this is so short and to the point but we are really doing some boring stuff right now trying to get finished with projects...

Wednesday, May 22

As the days until the end of the year diminish, the workload has seemed to overflow! We have about seven projects, papers and/or books to finish and we are running short on time. In Math, we worked on our Geometrical Towns. In Read Aloud, we found that Sam Westing's will states that he was murdered by one of his potential heirs! Oh no! Now, the potential heirs will be playing a game to figure things out. For the majority of the afternoon, we continued to finish up our brochures, voice thread on Economics, writing our persuasive essays, completing our ABC Ohio book, etc... Finally, Mrs. Vidic came in and gave us our last Guidance lesson.

Tuesday, May 21

It is hard to believe that we are in the single digits with number of days left...that means that we have a lot of loose ends to tie up as well. In Math, we continued our work on our Geometrical Towns, which are starting to look more and more like actual maps of towns. We are still in the introduction portion of The Westing Game but are close to the good parts where the mystery and "game" are beginning. In Reader's Workshop, we read The Eleventh Hour, a mystery by Graeme Base. The reading groups will be working in a friendly competition to solve the mystery first. We also worked to get our brochures finished as well as on our Voice Thread about Economics. In Writer's Workshop, we worked to get caught up on our persuasive essays as to why they should be promoted to 5th grade. (For some reason, they forgot that it should be 5 paragraphs...) Finally, in Science, we focused on the stem and began an experiment with celery and carnations called, "Totally Tubular."

Monday, May 20

FIELD DAY!!

Today was HOT and tons of fun! Did I mention it was HOT?! We had a ton of fun too, though.

Thursday and Friday, May 16-17

Thursday
Field trip!! We went to the Anthony Thomas Candy Factory and The Original Mattress Factory. I enjoyed and learned so much more from the Mattress Factory than from the candy factory... what did your child think? After we returned, we ate our lunches, enjoyed some recess--oh wait, rain--worked on our t-shirts, preparing and designing and then recess. Finally, we finished the day reading The Westing Game.

Friday
Well, our shirts did not dry. SO, plan B. I hung them all around the room in hopes of them drying as the day continued. Unfortunately, they are still not dry so looks like I get to dye over the weekend and the shirts will be a surprise to the kiddos on Monday. I also had an assessment day today to finish reading assessments. The substitute had them in the computer lab working on a Voice Thread about economics from our trip yesterday, working on their geometrical towns, travel brochures, persuasive writing and more work with seeds.

Wednesday, May 15

I almost made it for the whole day but Adison is home sick again with another asthma flare-up...this has been a tough year for her and even tougher few weeks! Thankfully, the class is like a well oiled machine and works great, even without me there. In Math today, we worked on our Geometrical Towns. Students worked on building 3D shapes out of nets that I printed off for them. After lunch, their substitute will be reading them a mystery picture book. It won't be nearly as amusing as Grandpa's Teeth from yesterday but should be good. In Reader's Workshop, they will be reading independently, working on their brochures and meeting with their groups to read a short mystery and solve it. For Writer's Workshop, they will be continuing their persuasive essay about why they should be promoted to 5th grade. Those that wrote their, "What would you do for a Klondike bar," persuasive paragraphs, received their yummy treat today! Ask your kiddo if they got theirs? In Science, they set up 'Plants in a Bag' to look further at the germination process and how it all starts. (This usually happens under the ground but this process allows them to witness what is going on.)

Don't forget about our field trip tomorrow. Students need a packed lunch with drink. We will be leaving at 9:30 and will eat lunch upon our return from the factories.

Tuesday, May 14

I have been out all day learning about the new common core standards that are being implemented next year. Oh joy--new Math, English/Language Arts, Science and Social Studies! It was pretty overwhelming so be prepared for new thinking, ideas and a ton of new stuff, next year. Mr. Martin was in my shoes today (I doubt he wears my heels nearly as nicely, however) and here is what they were supposed to have done today, according to my plans. In Math, they were continuing their work with their Geometrical Town. In Read Aloud, we began mysteries yesterday so he read Grandpa's Teeth and they worked with a smaller mystery to help understand the elements of mysteries. In Reader's Workshop, they met with their book groups to finish up and set up final meeting deadlines and then worked on the travel brochures for the upcoming 4th graders. In Writer's Workshop, they began their persuasive writing persuading me to send them on to 5th grade. In Science, they took the seeds they soaked and opened them up to see what was inside.

Monday, May 13

Today was pretty non-eventful. In Math, we got information on our new project, Life in a Geometrical Town. They are pretty excited about this one and worked hard on their rough drafts today. In Read Aloud, we began our new mystery read, The Westing Game. I really hope they like it as much as I do. In Reader's Workshop, they read, visited the library for our last day for check out and worked on their travel brochures. I can't wait to read these! For Writer's Workshop, we revisited persuasive writing and the kiddos answered the question, "What would you do for a Klondike bar?" This was a warm up for our last big writing piece where they need to write a persuasive piece as to why I should send them on to 5th grade. These should be good!! We completed our day with Mrs. Parker-Jones in the computer lab making avatars using Pixie. We will use these avatars for Voice Thread. We are going to be taking pictures on our field trip and then using this technology to share what we found out about economics.

TGIFriday, May 10

We have been off a little bit today because the clock/computer system is down... technology is not always a blessing. Anyway, we began our day with Music that was extended so that the 5th grade students could help us with guitar. They did very well together! In Math, we only had a short time to play the remaining board games. Next week, we'll begin our geometry project. We finished Lawn Boy during Read Aloud and the main character ended up making $480,000! I wonder what happens in the sequel, Lawn Boy Returns... We worked on our travel brochures, cursive handwriting and Chris Van Allsburg responses in reading and writing. Seriously, today was the last day for those! :) We finished the day discussing/introducing our unit on plants by looking at seeds.

Thursday, May 9

I am currently out in the hall, reading with and assessing the students on their reading abilities. Mrs. Thompson is in the room and doing a fabulous job (as always) with the kids. In Math, they played Geometry BINGO to review geometry terms for our next project. They also played some games and completed a Word Search on Geometry. In Read Aloud, they heard more about what the main character is choosing to do with the oodles of money he has been making. In Reader's Workshop, they read somewhat silently and then worked on their rough drafts of their travel brochures for the upcoming 4th graders. Today is the last day for them to work on their Chris Van Allsburg responses. Hopefully, they'll finish! Tomorrow, we are moving on to persuasion! Finally, they will watch a video about plants to round out the day.

Wednesday, May 8

Oh happy day! Today, in Math, we played and scored our board games. Students had to play and score at least 2 of their peers' games. (They were a lot tougher on each other than I thought they would be...) Tomorrow, we are moving on to a new topic in Math. The character in Lawn Boy, we don't know his name, found out that he has made over $58,000! Wow! We needed to discuss how stocks and investments work a little but they got the basic idea. In Reader's Workshop, we went over abbreviations and discussed some online safety from a TFK we read/completed. Then, we read travel brochures and looked at components of them. FInally, we created a template for creating a travel brochure for this class for the upcoming 4th grade students. In Writing, hopefully, more kiddos were able to finish their Chris Van Allsburg responses... others wrote freely and practiced their cursive handwriting. The state has chosen NOT to incorporate cursive into the new Common Core standards so this is the last year for that. We ended our day with Guidance with Mrs. Vidic.

Tuesday, May 7

Happy Tuesday! In Math, we finished our class work time on our board games. Tomorrow, we will be playing them and scoring them with the rubric. We read about economics in Lawn Boy during Read Aloud and found that the main character is making a lot of money by mowing lawns... I wonder how much he'll make by the end of the summer, especially now that Arnold is investing it. In Reader's Workshop, we read and worked on our workboard work. Some students are really behind but used today to get somewhat caught up. In Writer's Workshop, we once again, worked on finishing up our work with Chris Van Allsburg. We will be moving on to a new topic on Friday so you may see some of this work coming home. (Unfortunately, we don't have limited time left.) Finally, in Social Studies, we continued our work with Economy with some kiddos working on a webquest using Econopolis.

Monday, May 6

This morning, we worked on designing and creating our board games. They have today and tomorrow to finish their games. We will play them on Wednesday and I will use the rubric to score them. Ask your kiddo about their game--hopefully, they discuss the MATH involved and not just the theme. After lunch, they will be taking the TRAILS re-test. This is a mini-assessment that they first took at the beginning of the year. It assessed what they knew about resources: how to use them, when and why. Last week, we met with Mrs. Dorr to discuss their results of the first assessment and today, they will hopefully show security in the topic. After that, they will be finishing up their response pieces to Chris Van Allsburg and then working on understanding Economics. I will be out this afternoon so hopefully things will run smoothly!

TGIFriday, May 3

Today was absolutely gorgeous and we took advantage of that by going outside for special. (Mr. B was out and there wasn't a sub...) In Math, we kept on working with our board games. We began a new book about Economics in Read Aloud by Gary Paulsen, The Lawn Boy. This is a short book about a young entrepreneur (a 12 year old boy starts a lawn mowing business). In Reader's Workshop, we worked with abbreviations and on an Ohio Studies Weekly about people with character. Some kiddos are finished with their response to Van Allsburg and others are in all different phases of the writing process. Finally, we finished our day with Economics work in preparation for our upcoming field trip.

Thursday, May 2

These kids are so independent that I've been very bored lately... it's the goal I wanted and longed for all year but now it is kind of sad... In Math, they worked on their projects designing board games. (They let me help with cutting some things out though!) We finished Puddlejumpers and everyone applauded! It was a very good book--a little confusing every now and then with the fantastical parts (puddlejumpers, created language, Down Below, etc.) but I think they all agree that it was worth it. I also think some are more interested in the genre of Fantasy now. In Reader's Workshop, we read, worked on vocabulary (funny words like gobbledygook and poppycock), read and played some Funglish. In Writer's Workshop, they continued working on their reponse pieces for Chris Van Allsburg. They are writing 5 and 6 paragraph papers with not too many qualms lately--wow! We completed the day with Social Studies and learning about Economics and the Factors of Production.

Wednesday, May 1

Happy May! And what a gorgeous way to begin the month--sunshine and warm temperatures! Today, in Math, we worked on creating our board games. Most everyone is working very diligently, however, I worry that they are more concerned with the artistic design than the math behind the project. Hopefully, everything will come and fall into place with the math and the newness of the project will move to the back burner. In Puddlejumpers, Ernie made it to the furnace in the Down Below and is headed to place the crystal acorn into her mouth to fix everything... it is soo suspenseful, they all said, "NOOOO!!" when I stopped reading today. :) In Reader's Workshop, students read independently and worked on elapsed time in a Comic Strip Math worksheet. In Writer's Workshop, we continued our work with responding to Chris Van Allsburg but today focused on writing a rough draft from our notes. We finished the day with our second try at making Goop...and were successful!!

Tuesday, April 30

Today is a testing schedule day so things are a little different than usual. This morning, we have been working on Math by completing our Math 4 Today, playing games and working on designing our board games. I love how excited they are! In Puddlejumpers, Joey was revived and Ernie drank the potion and became a puddlejumper! He also revealed to Russ that he is Shawn--the Quilt Baby but Russ doesn't believe him... We worked on making big words and played a little Funglish during Reader's Workshop. At special we danced and then came back and worked on our response about Chris Van Allsburg. Finally, we completed our crazy day with an Ohio Studies Weekly about Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities.

Monday, April 29

Well, it was a Monday. We created a rubric for a project in Math. We will be creating board games. All work will be completed in the classroom but some students may choose to work and create some parts at home. They were so excited today that they even wanted to work at recess! In Puddlejumpers, we found that the Holsapple's are Troggs and that Ernie is Shawn Frazier and to 'fix' everything, he needs to become a puddlejumper--but he wants to stay human and finally experience having a father...what will he do?? In Reader's Workshop, we worked with making big words, read a TFK about online safety and using technology safely and played some more Funglish. We created a Spider Map about what we enjoy about Chris Van Allsburg as an author for Writer's Workshop and finished the day in the Media Center learning about resources.

Thursday, April 25

Late Start for kiddos means meetings for me so my day started at 8:15 and seemed very productive! However, I felt like not much was accomplished in the classroom today... Once the students arrived, they worked on a Word Ladder while everyone got settled in. Then, we played Funglish--an awesome game where you use adjectives to describe a word that you are trying to get your team to guess. They enjoyed it so much that they didn't want to quit playing to go to recess! After lunch, we watched The Lorax, in honor of Earth Week. We took a short break for special but then returned to finish the movie. After the movie, students colored moustaches and took their pictures wearing it to illustrate their writing, "If I were the Lorax, I would make this place better by..."

Wednesday, April 24

Wow. Again, I am super impressed with the stamina these kids have for this test! We are about an hour into it and everyone is working hard. Great work kids! I was worried about testing two days in a row but I think it worked out beautifully. Thanks for all of your help, support and encouragement at home as I can see how focused they all are. Wow.

This afternoon, we will read Puddlejumpers, dance for Specials and have Guidance with Mrs. Vidic to round out the day. Lunch will be at 12:20 today and tomorrow again but they seemed to do fine with the change yesterday.

Tuesday, April 23

Well, I'm sitting here watching these kiddos work so hard on the Reading portion of the OAA and I'm gushing with pride! They are doing an amazing job with stamina and perseverance. I can hear the pages being flipped back and forth which tells me they are going back to look for answers and prove their thinking. Some were nervous this morning but most were excited to show what they've learned. They loved their surprise notes from you and although some called me sneaky and a stalker, they enjoyed the surprise. Kudos kiddos!

This afternoon, we will be working with Math vocabulary and playing games to help review/practice/prepare for the Math portion tomorrow but they are ready. We will also catch up with Ernie and Joey during Read Aloud and enjoy our dance party unit for special. Lunch is a little later but not too much that they can't adapt. It might throw them off a little the next few days with breakfast and dinner though.

Monday, April 22

Today was a pretty out of the ordinary day but it always is during testing week. In Math, we started our review presentation as well as completed some Earth Day word problems as review of skills. After lunch, we read Each Kindness by Jaqueline Woodson. This is an excellent book that shows that every little nice thing a person does, can make a difference in the world. Then, we read Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg. This was perfect for Earth Day as it looked into a child's dream, if he continued on the haphazard path of littering and not taking care of the Earth. We then did some sorting and questioning dealing with the book and our Earth. Next, we moved tables apart and created efficient seating for tomorrow. Finally, we ended our day playing Reading themed games like Blurt, Boggle, Scrabble Flash, Logic and Reasoning and Hidden Hints.

Friday, April 19

Well, the Rainmaker sure showed his presence in Hilliard...they might be going through a drought in Puddlejumpers but definitely not here! In Math, we finished explaining our thinking with our problem solving from yesterday and went over our homework. Then, we played Farkle, SKUNK or Yahtzee. We completed our word work for workboard in Reader's Workshop, finished writing our Harris Burdick stories in Writer's Workshop and finished our webquest for Social Studies. Quick day of completing the week's work.

Thursday, April 18

We started the day a little weepy... I think the pressure is mounting with the upcoming OAA's so I tried to have a little fun this afternoon and get them to relax a little. In Math, students worked in pairs to solve problems. In the first problem, two students were playing a game and they had to figure out if the game was fair. That was pretty easy for them to solve. The second problem was more challenging as it had more logic and reasoning involved with multiple steps. We will finish this tomorrow. In Reader's Workshop, students worked on antonyms and met with their book clubs since they were not prepared yesterday and they continued with their Harris Burdick stories. We played SPARKLE and enjoyed a birthday treat outside for about 20 minutes to relax a little. Finally, students completed a government webquest to help secure their understanding with the branches of government and their roles.

Wednesday, April 17

In Math, we finished up our Google Presentation slides for our Math review. I had an MRI for my knee per my rheumatologist today so Mr. Martin was in this afternoon. He read Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg for Read Aloud. In this book, the ants sneaak into a house and have quite the adventure. Students worked on synonyms and met with their book clubs for Reader's Workshop and continued writing their Harris Burdick stories in Writer's Workshop. In Science, they worked with physical changes, chemical changes and properties of matter. We will be making Goop on Friday and then finishing up with Matter next week and moving into plants to finish up the year. 

Tuesday, April 16

We are pretty chatty lately which is taking away from our learning time and some students are getting just as frustrated as I am since they are losing out too. In Math, they began completing their slides in Google Apps for our review. Sometimes writing the questions is harder than just solving questions. Tomorrow, I'm going to look over these and see if they need editing but from what I saw, they were doing a great job. In Read Aloud, Ernie and Joey found the "Quilt Baby's" chest. Ernie has yet to make the connection but when they jumped through the puddle, something felt "right" about it. In Reader's Workshop, we read and played games that strengthened our reading skills. We began writing our Harris Burdick stories in Writer's Workshop. I don't know how some students had trouble putting words onto paper with such vivid illustrations and captions! Maybe tomorrow, their block will be gone. For Science, we made a chemical change/reaction that can easily be recreated at home with vinegar, water, baking soda, a 2-liter bottle and dish soap. The measurements aren't terribly important although this is what we used today.
3 Tablespoons vinegar
3 Tablespoons water
Put liquids into a 2-liter bottle.
Add 1 tsp of dish soap to the bottle. Swirl gently--Do Not Shake.
Using a funnel (or paper rolled as a funnel), add 3 tsp of baking soda to the bottle.

**Your child is correct. There is no formal homework logs due this week. I want the kiddos to prepare themselves for the OAA's next week. Therefore, everyone should be doing their own thing. This is NOT a week off of homework and I will probably ask them about what they've done to prepare but I don't want them to stress out about writing everything down or calculating minutes, etc. If you'd like to access the testing portal we have used, search ODE OAA test portal. Your child knows what to do from there.

Monday, April 15

A great way to start the week! In Math, we played Vocabulary BINGO and had a great review of math vocabulary. Then, we played a new game of choice and chance, SKUNK, which is a dice game that can easily be played at home-just have your child teach you. For Read Aloud, Ernie and Joey actually puddlejumped and are now trying to figure out where and what they are seeing. It's getting good! In Reader's Workshop, we read silently and began to create our slides for our Math OAA review. We read The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg and our imaginations began to soar! Tomorrow, the students will be writing stories to accompany these amazing illustrations. We concluded our day discussing government at the local and state level. We also watched a few School House Rock videos about government. (Even though I could have been positive that I had already shown them... ) :)

Friday, April 12

We had a fun filled Friday! We began with edible math where the students made No Bake Cookies. First, they had to double the recipe to see how much of each item I brought in. Then, they split up into four groups and quartered the recipe to find out how much each group needed. Finally, I did the part of the recipe that called for boiling and then handed it over to them to finish. Some recipes were more successful than others but I think they all learned and enjoyed it. After lunch, we celebrated completing Mr. Potato Head by getting our pillows and blankets out for Read Aloud. Ernie met his "dad" but only we-the readers-know this information. We are all holding our breath trying to figure out when the connection will be made and father and son reunited! Then, our celebration continued with reading independently and very comfortably. We finished up some workboard activities and our class alphabet book stylized after Chrs Van Allsburg. Our day concluded with Guidance in Mrs. Carlson's room with Ms. Vidic.

Thursday, April 11

Unfortunately, I'm out again today. Mr. Martin is back and I'm sure doing a fantastic job with the kiddos. Here is what is planned for today. In Math, students will be at the computer lab taking a practice test using the Ohio Department of Education's OAA testing portal. This is a site that uses test questions released from previously used OAA's. The students can log on and take the test and I can see their scores and the types of questions that the class is getting correct and/or incorrect. Now that I have set this up for your kids, they can access this site and practice at home for Reading and Math. Today's test will help me to see what we still need to work on in Math next week. The best way to prevent test anxiety is to make them confident in what they know. For Read Aloud, Mr. Martin will be reading another Chris Van Allsburg book. The students will be continuing their workboard work for Reader's Workshop and finishing their Z was Zapped page in Writer's Workshop. They will be continuing their work with the branches of government in Social Studies.

Wednesday, April 10

I was only there for the morning today, as I had a dr appointment this afternoon but Mr. Martin was the substitute this afternoon and he has been in our room the last few times I needed a sub. For Math today, we made tape shapes, measured them and then found their area and perimeter. Then, we played Cover the Area. Finally, we finished out Math practicing facts, on Mangahigh or other skills we needed work with. Mr. Martin read The Z was Zapped by Chris Van Allsburg to them for Read Aloud. They continued their workboard work in Reader's Workshop and in created their own class book of The Z was Zapped for Writer's Workshop. In Social Studies, they learned about the three branches of government by making a tree with branches and leaves explaining the system.

Tuesday, April 9

In Math, we played some Mangahigh. I even got in on the games and challenged some students. Boy--some of these kids like to cheat! We also worked on fixing some of our misconceptions with the fraction and decimal things we worked on yesterday. We didn't get to read too much of Puddlejumpers but Ernie arrived in Circle, Illinois and said that the town looks parched, like it hasn't seen rain in quite a while... Hmmm... maybe he is the Rainmaker?! In Reader's Workshop, we continued our work with What's the Word? (both on my iPad and using class created ones) as well as clueless crossword puzzles. We also read more Chris Van Allsburg books so that we can better assess our opinion of him as an author and illustrator for Writer's Workshop. In Science, we finished up with our penny experiments... I'm not sure how many kiddos now want to eat at Taco Bell considering we shined up pennies using their Hot Sauce and it worked! Eek!

Monday, April 8

A great start to the week! In Math, we practiced applying our knowledge of fractions and decimals. Students seemed to struggle with this and we will be continuing our work with fractions and decimals this week. Maybe they could help you in doubling or halving a recipe one night? In Read Aloud, Ernie was given one final chance to change his fate of heading to the Juvenile Detention Center. In Reader's Workshop, students worked with Clueless Crossword puzzles, What's the Word? as well as meeting with me, reading independently and/or reading books by Chris Van Allsburg. For Writer's Workshop, we started learning about the non-fiction writing of responding to an author. We've completed book reviews and discussed opinion writing but now they will be writing about authors. We are also looking at what makes up a dictionary entry and what these things mean and are useful for. In Science, we looked at our pennies and how green they became! We also checked out our pennies we were trying to shine up and found that ketchup and vinegar came out the best. Tomorrow, we are going to do another trial to see if it is truly the case or if there are any other variables involved.

Friday, April 5

TGIF! We tried to complete our Yahtzee tournament today without success--only a few more games to play and we'll have a Yahtzee Champion! I guess double elimination makes it longer than I thought. While we were waiting on our game or if we had been eliminated, we were working on angles and geometry. It's amazing to me that although I KNOW that I taught something this year, some kiddos acted like they had never seen this information before in their lives. I'm so glad that we have these couple weeks to review! In Read Aloud, Ernie was able to finally see Wrigley Field! He also got an autographed baseball. That is until the security guards caught up to him and hauled him away. I wonder how the two parts will end up connecting... In Reader's Workshop, we read, finished up any work that hadn't been completed from workboard and worked on vocabulary with Hink Pinks. Ask your child what a "person who chooses the best chocolate" is called. We continued our spelling focus in Writer's Workshop with some playing spelling games and others free writing. We ended our fabulous day with Science and setting up an experiment to show chemical change. We also hypothesized some ways to shine up a penny. I'll be trying them out and taking pictures this weekend so if your child asks for ketchup and a dirty penny (ketchup was a suggestion by someone) they might be experimenting themselves. How cool!!

Thursday, April 4

In Math today, we discussed topics that we would like to review. Some of them are geometry, measuring angles, measurement conversions, word problems and application of skills, and vocabulary. Over the next couple weeks, we will be practicing and reviewing in preparation for the upcoming OAA's. We caught up with Ernie in Puddlejumpers where his best friend has been adopted. We felt torn because we were happy for Nate but sad for Ernie... In Reader's Workshop, we worked with vocabulary, read, some worked in Guided Reading groups, some visited the library... Our spelling and finding the spelling of unknown words was our focus in Writer's Workshop and I'm noticing that since I've been handing out Spelling Tickets, our spelling has improved! Go figure! :) Finally, we ended our day with Science and learning about Physical Changes. Students used sandpaper on wood, put food coloring in water, tore apart cotton balls, etc. to demonstrate their understanding.

Wednesday, April 3

We continued our Yahtzee tournament today and with a double elimination, it is taking a little longer than I had thought but we should be into the finals tomorrow. I will also be working in small groups on some review skills with those already eliminated. We read Puddlejumpers and are finally into the present which helps us to understand a little bit more. In Reader's Workshop, we worked more with What's the Word? for vocabulary as well as reading a TFK about standardized testing and reading. In Writer's Workshop, some kiddos received Spelling Tickets for misspelling of words within their writing. This will be a focus for this week as we've talked about HOW to use resources to find spelling of unknown words.

Tuesday, April 2

I was out today to take Adison to the doctor (asthma and pneumonia again...) but Mr. Martin was in for me and he does amazing with the kiddos... We began our Yahtzee tournament today! I'm anxious to see who won and for them to share any strategies that they are using with us. The students worked on vocabulary, read and read about testing in an issue of Time for Kids during Reader's Workshop. In Writing, they wrote a short story but also continued their focus on spelling words correctly by figuring out the spelling of unknown words using resources. They then used scholastic.com to learn a little more about some young immigrants.

Monday, April 1

Welcome Back! In Math today, we went over our Measurement Assessment with a fine tooth comb. Students asked questions, I explained common mistakes, we kidded about some nonsense answers (ask about the width of a 3rd graders finger) and they circled the question with either a green mark (they made a silly mistake or didn't read the question completely but UNDERSTAND the concept) or blue mark (they DO NOT understand the concept). Please go over this assessment with your child, sign it and have them return it so that we can secure any misunderstandings within measurement. Tomorrow, we will be competing in a Yahtzee tourney! We tried to catch up with Puddlejumpers in Read Aloud but we are still a little confused right now. We are in the Down Below or Underneath and this world is very surreal. Hopefully, in the next few pages, we will grasp what is going on. At least we can appreciate the fantastical vocabulary! This week's focus in Reader's Workshop is to solidify our concepts of reading in our Guided Reading groups, increase our vocabulary and just read independently. In groups, the Red and Blue groups worked on a basketball article about the sad defeat of the Buckeyes. We talked about background knowledge needed to understand the article and all the information gained from this non-fiction resource. (They did awesome with this and taught me some things other than just appreciating Aaron Craft!) The Purple Group read a recipe for Gazpacho Soup and answered some questions about it. We discussed that although in life you don't answer questions after reading, you still go through the questions in your mind while reading. They enjoyed this but I think most were turned off by all the vegetables the soup contains. :) The Green and Yellow groups read about Dads, Greek God Style. Thankfully, a few kiddos are really up to date on their Greek Mythology and were able to help us with a few pronunciations and to keep our Greek Gods straight. We were able to have great discussion and answer questions pertaining to this passage. A week or so before break, I gave the students a benchmark assessment on words that contained generalizations we have learned this year. Today, they corrected their mistakes. We discussed how and where we can find and check spellings of unknown words. Then, they practiced this and 'fixed' their mistakes. Tomorrow, they will be writing a short story while paying attention to the spelling of words and not just the ideas. Finally, in Social Studies, we read about more recent immigrants and how, why and when they came to America.

Thursday, March 21

Snow? Really? We took our measurement assessment today in Math. I haven't graded them all but overall, scores were lower than I anticipated. This was a long, challenging test. I'm going to look them over, over break and see where any misconceptions are or if there is something that needs re-taught or more practice. We learned more about the puddlejumpers in Read Aloud and students worked on getting caught up with their reading and writing. Finally, we visited with our 1st grade buddies and made Easter Basket hats! How fun!

Wednesday, March 20

First day of spring?? In Math, we worked on a pretty tough review sheet for the measurement assessment tomorrow. Students will be expected to measure, convert between units in metric system and U.S. customary systems, find perimeter and area as well as estimate and visualize to choose appropriate units. They have learned these skills and will now show their secure understanding through application of these skills in more realistic situations. In Reader's Workshop, we continued our workboard work and in Writer's Workshop, students continued the writing process to publish their historical fiction pieces. In Social Studies we started looking at more recent immigrants to Ohio.

Tuesday, March 19

In Math today, we practiced area and perimeter. The students did a phenomenal job adding for perimeter and multiplying with area. However, they are struggling with labeling their answers. Perimeter should be labeled with just straight units (ft., cm, m, in., etc.) where area should be labeled with square units (sq. ft., sq. in., sq. cm, sq. m, etc.). Please help your child to remember this label. Wawaywo, the Rainmaker, received his spiral tattoo today in Puddlejumpers making him an official puddlejumper! This fantasy book is very fantastical and a little hard to follow but we are making ends meet and it has such rich description and vocabulary that we are getting a great model for our own writing. In Reader's Workshop, we continued our resumes on Ohio Inventors and worked on some math based off of a Guinness World Record of the most NFL games at all the NFL stadiums. We resumed revising, editing and publishing our historical fiction personal narratives. These need to be finished by Thursday. If not, they will need to be working on them over Spring Break. I have given them oodles of time and there is no reason to not be finished. Finally, in Social Studies, we wrote journals based off of pictures of immigrants in the 1800's arriving in the United States from the perspective of one of the immigrants in the picture.

Monday, March 18

In Math today, we practiced conversions with capacity and time. Tomorrow, we will be practicing Perimeter and Area and then review on Wednesday before our test THURSDAY over Measurement. We were only able to read one chapter in Puddlejumpers so not too much to add about Shawn's kidnapping. In Reader's Workshop, we read about Ohio Inventors and are creating their "resume's" which takes some clear inferencing which is tripping the kiddos up a bit. We also read and worked with  a TFK about pennies and how they may be going away because it costs more to make them than they are worth... hmmm... a world without pennies... We re-visited our historical fiction personal narratives in Writer's Workshop today. We focused mainly on revising and adding more detail to our stories. In Social Studies, we continued our focus on Immigration by reading and learning about the Amish and Appalachian cultures.

Friday, March 15

In Math today, we made a friend for our Gallon Man. Then we used him to make conversions with capacity. We have been practicing and practicing with conversions and they are getting pretty secure with the skill. Next week we will be practicing but also reviewing area and perimeter. We will end our week with a measurement assessment. In Read Aloud, baby Shawn or the Rainmaker--according to the Puddlejumpers, was kidnapped! I wonder what the connection is with the first chapter... In Reader's Workshop, we finished our workboard work. We read about Ohio Inventors, finished our Guinness Reading and Math papers and applied measurement with a story. I give workboard work to reinforce skills and I've found that the kiddos aren't putting forth the effort needed--they see it as busy work so I'm going to be holding them more accountable for this work so you may see some things coming home if not completed in class. We were able to see the first grade musical this afternoon which was so cute! Our buddies are in first grade as are a lot of siblings! We completed the day playing a few rounds of "What's the Word?", an app on my iPad that I showed the kiddos this week. I like this app because it is free and teaches them vocabulary and patterns and paying attention to detail.

Pi Day--Thursday, March 14

Whew! Today, in Math, we continued our work with conversions and application of measurement. Tomorrow, we'll work with capacity and Gallon Man! We read more about the Puddlejumpers during Read Aloud. It is starting off very good and they don't want me to quit reading! In Reader's Workshop, we began reading about Ohio Inventors and worked on reading about and applying measurement skills.  After that, we visited 2 Cities of Ember (Miss Cross and Mrs. Andrews) where they taught us a little about circuits and showed us what they have learned about electricity. Finally, we ended the day with the Charlie Brown video about Leukemia shown by Student Council to inform the kiddos what Pennies for Patients truly is about.

Wednesday, March 13

Today was a chaotic but fun day. We had our author visit with Mr. Charles R. Smith, Jr. and it was soo very cool! His presentation was amazing and very motivational and meaningful. He talked about his life and how he got started but also discussed that discipline, focus and control are necessary. Hmmm...I seem to say that a lot but it sounded much cooler coming from him! Anyway, other than our presentation from Mr. Smith, we also worked on converting using the metric system in Math, began our new fantasy book, Puddlejumpers and had Guidance with Mrs. Vidic where she discussed self-discipline with the kiddos. Thank you to Clare, Baylie and Kimmie for sharing their finished poetry with Mr. Smith! They put their nerves aside and delivered. (Thank you also to Carter and Natalie because we shared their poetry with him and he really enjoyed it even though you weren't there...hope you don't mind!)

Tuesday, March 12

It's a great week here at ADE! In Math, we learned about the Metric Staircase. This is an extremely challenging topic with converting between the units and they did an amazing job for our first day working on this and no worries because we will continue to work on conversions for this week and maybe next. In Read Aloud, we discussed the genre of Fantasy. Students looked for books within the genre for us to read next...we'll begin our new Fantasy book tomorrow. In Reader's Workshop, students continued working on their workboard work for this week--ask them about the gross, long nails! We finished up poetry or free wrote in Writer's Workshop and in Social Studies, learned about African American immigrants and what brought that cultural group to Ohio.

Monday, March 11

I hope you are staying dry on this very soggy, sleepy Monday. We started the day with Art and then in Math, reviewed measuring and measurement. We practiced making common conversions between US Customary system for length. Tomorrow, we are going to focus on the Metric System. After lunch, Mr. Whitt from COSI came and did some fun experiments teaching us about the different states of matter. We got to be "in a cloud" again and I got to have dragon breath! (Ask your kiddo...) In Reader's Workshop, we worked with a Guinness World Record for the longest nails and read in the Time For Kids about kids having too much stuff--I agree! We shared our poetry and finished Heartbeat to round out the day,

TGIFriday, March 8

We took our Data Analysis assessment today in Math. It went pretty well. If students missed parts of questions, it was because they forgot labels or a title or didn't read the questions carefully, not because they didn't understand the graph, for the most part. In Read Aloud, Annie's little brother was born and Max raced with the 'herd' but lost. We finished up our workboard work from yesterday in Reader's Workshop and put any final touches on our poetry in Writer's Workshop. Our day ended with an assembly to kick off the Spring flower sale.

Thursday, March 7

In Math today, we worked backwards with data. I gave them some landmark statistics and they had to create possible data points that fit the statistics. We also practiced reading graphs and charts. Tomorrow will be our assessment over this unit. We learned more about Grandpa's memory loss today in Heartbeat--he has Alzheimer's and his granddaughter, Annie, is trying to understand and cope with this. In Reader's Workshop, we worked on some spelling, word problems and a reading passage about Snow Elephants. We are finishing our poetry in Writer's Workshop and talked about immigrtation in the 1800s. We discussed the who, where and why of immigration during this time. We will be looking at immigration then and now over the next couple of weeks.

Tuesday, March 5

In Math, we worked really hard looking at graphs, tables, charts, landmarks and line plots. I explained to them that they do an awesome job going from point A to point Z when it comes to graphing and data analysis. However, they have trouble going from Z to A or even from S to Z. We also tried to label or title line plots to show that we are truly looking at the data. We also got the laptops out and worked with the website ixl.com to practice answering questions about graphs and line plots and such. We read more about Max and Annie during Read Aloud in Heartbeat. Sharon Creech does an amazing job connecting the readers to the characters all while doing this through poetry. In Reader's Workshop, we continued to catch up from last week...unfortunately/fortunately, the kiddos have been so into reading and writing poetry that they got a little behind in their workboard work. They may have brought some home to help get caught up. Then, we completed our day in the computer lab putting our poetry to music using Garage Band. These are sooo cool and we are excited to share them with Charles Smith, Jr. when he visits next week. All students will be getting a CD compilation of our class poetry (but not too soon...Mrs. Parker-Jones has to burn all the CDs for all the students in 4th grade...be patient).

Monday, March 4

We were pretty productive today... In Math, we continued our work with Data Analysis and from their work, I gave a pop-quiz/mini-assessment to see what we still needed to work on. We were about 50-50 for our understanding with answering previous OAA questions--all multiple choice. I think they do very well with gathering, reporting and interpreting the landmarks of data. However, they do not show secure understanding when they have to APPLY their understanding--so what all this means. The rest of the week, we will practice working backwards, understanding the process and they why of each step in data collection and analysis and will take an assessment on Friday to show this secure thinking. The best way to "practice" for this would be to show real graphs and charts (like in the newspaper or online) and ask them questions about what they mean or show or about how the author/source collected the information. In Read Aloud, we had a birthday treat and discussed their behavior from last week with the sub. Overall, I think they were ok-behaved, they just had an issue during the Fire Drill and left the room messy after being asked to clean it up. Mr. Potato Head is not very happy that he lost an arm and his nose... In Reader's Workshop, they worked on catching up from last week with homophones, a reading passage, reading bar and line graphs and playing Boggle. We are also writing a class book inspired by a picture book of poetry we read, There's a Zoo in Room 22, called We Need a Pen in Room 110. They are writing alliterative poetry comparing themselves to an animal, which they worked on as well. We recorded our poem with Mrs. Parker-Jones to be used with Garage Band tomorrow and we published and illustrated this poem during Writer's Workshop. For Science, we concluded our sort of physical properties of matter by actually sorting the objects back out by their materials.
A lot of stuff completed and worked on today, huh?!

Wednesday, February 27

In Math today, we learned how to find the median or middle number in a set of data. Most kids are doing great with this unit, however, some are still unsure as to which numbers to report when working with numerical data--the labels or the tallies? We will continue to practice this week and at least part of next week so there is plenty of time to figure things out and practice. In Reader's Workshop, we continued to try and understand poetry as well as play a game using context clues. We kept writing poetry in Writer's Workshop and picked the poem, or at least narrowed down the choices, for which poem we are going to use for working with garage band? We concluded the day with Guidance.

Monday and Tuesday, February 25-26

First of all, sorry about not blogging yesterday--didn't get home until 8:30 and well, you know... Anyway, yesterday, in Math, we began data collection and representation--which the kiddos are doing amazing with by the way! We continued reading Heartbeat for Read Aloud and then worked on Poetry in Reader's Workshop with reading, interpreting and comprehending the author's message and then wrote different kinds of poetry for Writer's Workshop. We concluded the day learning about the physical properties of matter--luster, density, conductivity as well as shape and size.
Today, in Math, we used individual packs of Skittles to collect and interpret data. We found that in our class, red is the least represented Skittle where purple is the most. Most students had 15 Skittles in their packs while Evelyn was a big winner with 17 in her pack! In Read Aloud, Annie told us more about her life. In Reader's Workshop, we illustrated our riddle poems, tried to find poems that had deeper meaning and interpret the author's words and read lots of poetry. In Writer's Workshop, we continued to experiment and try out different kinds of poetry. Some kids are still just staying at the surface of their emotions and writing about things like Goldfish, Jelly and Sports while others are tapping into their deeper emotions and showing their vulnerability in some pretty awesome poems. We will be picking one poem to publish. illustrate and create music to. In Science, we took our knowledge of the physical properties of matter to explain the physical properties of different objects.

Thursday, February 21

We took our Multiplication and Division assessment in Math today. Overall, the children did great. They understand the process of multiplication and division and can show how they solve problems. Unfortunately, even with many reminders, quite a few of them did not read the question for meaning and missed them because of that reason. In Read Aloud, we continued to read more about Moody Max and Annie's grandpa in Heartbeat. We worked on poetry for Reader's Workshop and in Writing, wrote oodles of poems to put on our "tree." Our day concluded with Social Studies and discussing the many different religions and new communities in Ohio in the 1800's.

Wednesday, February 20

This morning was all about practicing and reviewing for the Multiplication and Division assessment tomorrow. Please help your child practice tonight so that they feel prepared for the test tomorrow. It is not just about understanding the process of multiplying and dividing but also interpreting the remainder and deciding when to multiply and when to divide... We finished Love That Dog yesterday and began another Sharon Creech poetic novel called Heartbeat today. In Reader's Workshop, we worked with understanding the nuts and bolts of poetry and how to decipher theme and meaning of poetry which led us to writing different kinds of poetry in Writer's Workshop. Yesterday, we learned about the different kinds of figurative language that we can include in our poetry to emphasize our ideas. We have also created a "Poet-tree" to display our poetry. :) We ended the day learning about the people in Ohio in the 1800's and the progression of education too.

Thursday, February 14

Happy Valentine's Day! In Math, we found the perimeter, area and volume of our boxes and then we decorated them. They did a pretty good job but will obviously need more instruction and practice which we will do soon. Instead of Read Aloud, we passed out valentines. The students then read them and were able to eat 2 things. This made for a sugar high of an afternoon! In Reader's Workshop, we read a story about Valentine's Day and then did some vocabulary with some of the words associated with the holiday. We also read a poem about a Clockatoo--this was quite a bit more challenging but students should now understand what a cockatoo is as well as understanding what weep, punctual and plight mean. We also took a trip to the book fair for some to purchase books. In Social Studies, we talked about the changes in transportation that happened in the 1800's, now that Ohio is a state and the population began increasing.

Tuesday, February 12

We browsed the book fair today! I know my children came home with an extensive list... In Math, we made a flip book for what to do with the remainder in a division problem--ignore it, round it or report it as a decimal or fraction. For Read Aloud, we began Love That Dog--a book in which the story is told through poetry. In Reader's Workshop, we continued our work from yesterday with fluency practice and vocabulary practice. We finished up our day in the computer lab working on our conference presentations. (or wrote stories, poetry, played Mangahigh...)

Monday, February 11

Today was a great day in room 110! In Math, we continued our work with division by interpreting the remainder. Students struggled with this a little because they understood this to mean that they could CHOOSE what to do with the remainder. I had to help them understand that the question determined what to do with the remainder and they needed to read and apply the words in the problem to decide what to do. In Read Aloud, we read some poems to jump start our poetry unit. Hopefully, students will begin to gain interest in reading and writing poetry. In Reader's Workshop, we read, practiced our fluency by reading a poem with a friend and looked at latin roots for vocabulary help. (This will help them next year, especially, with the common core standards in 5th grade.) After Reader's Workshop, we headed down to the computer lab to complete our conference presentations.

Thank Goodness It's Friday, February 8

We were sooo chatty, loud and needy this afternoon... whew! We spent most of the day in the computer lab working on our conference presentations so that made us a little bit crazy but at least the presentations are looking good. In Math, I showed them the traditional method of division and some caught on quickly while others are still preferring to use the partial quotients method. I am fine either way, however, the traditional way is much more efficient and leaves room for fewer mistakes so that is the end goal. We also read some and had indoor recess, again.

Thursday, February 7

The kids were a little crazy today... By crazy, I mean loud AND we got to go outside for recess so it's not that they were stir crazy... Anyway, we had a great day. In Math, we continued to work on the partial quotients method or "marshmallow" method for division. I'm going to teach the traditional method for solving division problems tomorrow but my rule is that if that don't completely understand, continue to use partial quotients as they'll have plenty of chances to pick up the traditional method throughout this year and next year too. Instead of beginning a new book for Read Aloud today, the students worked on their presentations for conferences next week. In Reader's Workshop, we read, worked on our fluency and practiced with some OAA passages. In order to help some kiddos get caught up in Writer's Workshop, some of us worked on our historical fiction pieces while others worked on conference information, which is how we finished the day.

Wednesday, February 6

We had an amazing day! We earned 3 potato head pieces and were able to even choose our new seats! In Math, we learned division by using the partial quotients method. Their homework is to share this method with you by completing a problem. We finished The Beaded Moccasins! Some didn't want it to end. For Literacy, we read silently, proved that we knew our Word Study generalization by finding words that fit the pattern. We finished our day on a wonderfully positive note with Rachael's mom teaching us about Chinese New Year!

Tuesday, February 5

Today was a semi-normal day... our special time was changed so Math was split into 2 parts but other than that, we had a great day, typical day. In Math, we worked with division. We began with dividing marshmallows among the class. We didn't estimate too well but each student was able to receive quite a few marshmallows! Then, we practiced some basic division with equal answers-no remainders. For part two, it was a little more challenging as some of the division problems did not come out even and students had to decide what to do with the remainder. For the first day of division, they did awesome! In Read Aloud, Mary realized that things and even people can be replaced but never forgotten... we ended today with Mary saving her family/tribe garden but hurting her hands to do so... I met with the remaining two reading groups to set individual reading goals during Reader's Workshop while the rest of the class read and read out loud with a buddy to practice their fluency, reading rate and accuracy which were most of the goals they set yesterday. We worked with temporal words, linking words, similes and writing amazing introductions in Writer's Workshop. We first looked at mentor texts to get a plethora of ideas and then revised our writing to make it more emphatic and interesting. Finally, we discussed and characterized solids, liquids and gases. Try to add a little of this matter conversation to your dinner talk this evening and see what they can say about what they've learned.

Monday, February 4

Today, in Math, we began division by factoring numbers. We created factor posters for numbers using arrays and factor rainbows. Students were dividing but I don't think they realize this yet. Tomorrow, I'll help make that connection between multiplication and division. We also played "I Have, Who Has" which is a game we try to play with every new ideas and units in Math as we love this game! In The Beaded Moccasins, Mary visited Mrs. Stewart who was traded to Sequin for muskets. My how things have changed at the trading post. In Reader's Workshop, we got our new reading groups. I met with some groups today and we went over their current reading levels and statistics of their reading. Then, we set individual reading goals. Ask your child what their goal is and how you can help them to achieve this goal! We continued drafting our historical fiction personal narratives in Writer's Workshop. Some are doing really well with this while others are really struggling to grasp the concept of putting these two genres together. See where your child is in the writing process and if you are able to help them at all. In Science, we began our study of Matter by watching a Bill Nye the Science Guy video. The first few lessons should mostly be review of previously learned material but then we'll build upon this prior knowledge to learn about physical and chemical changes and properties of matter.

Friday, February 1

Happy Friday friends! Today, in Math, I assessed the students on their understanding of multi-digit multiplication. The majority of the class is able to multiply 2 digits by 2 digits. The students that are unable to complete this task are at least able to multiply 4 digit by 1 digit. We will be moving on to division next week but will continue to practice multiplication. Keep practicing at home too! In Read Aloud, Mary started to think about her future. Will she ever be rescued? Will she get married to a Delaware? We finished up our work board in Reader's Workshop and played spelling games on the ipods. In Writer's Workshop, we starting drafting our historical fiction personal narratives. We discussed that we need to "squish" the two genres together and this may take more than one revision and draft to get it just right. We finished the day with a video about Ohio and all the great things we have here. They truly enjoyed most of it--very cool!

Thursday, January 31

In Math, we practiced and practiced multiplication of multiple digits. In Reader's Workshop, we continued our work board for the week. We continued/finished up with researching our historical time period for our historical fiction personal experience narratives. We finished the day with reading more about Mary Campbell from The Beaded Moccasins. She has been held captive for about a year now and is only speaking Unami. No more English!

LATE START January, 29

Although it was a shortened day, I feel that we got quite a bit accomplished. In Math, we practiced multiplication and we got at least 4-5 more people securing their understanding. One student seemed to struggle with knowing her facts, not the process so keep practicing those basic facts at home! We continued our work board work in Reader's Workshop and we spent over an hour working on our historical fiction personal experience narrative planning and research. Tomorrow, we will begin drafting the actual story tomorrow and learn how to tie in the history with the fictional story. We completed our day playing a states game on the ipods. I realize that some of our kiddos seem to be geographically challenged when it comes to the other 49 states, capitals and important features. It might be something to look into reading about at home.

Tuesday, January 29

Oh happy day! We finally got the ok for outdoor recess...unfortunately, it began raining about 5 minutes after we got outside so we ended up with another day of indoor recess. This lack of outdoor recess is making us all go a little stir crazy so we've had some extra reminders to settle down but it is understandable. Hopefully, they'll get some outside time this evening and get some rest in the morning which should make things a little better but with it being Late Start... Oh well! Anyway, in Math, we learned the traditional way to solve multiple digit multiplication problems. Most grasped this way of solving the problems but some still need some more practice and instruction but it looks like we will be heading in to division next week! Mary met Mr. Sequin today in The Beaded Moccasins. He is a french trader and the students learned how Lake Erie got its name. We continued our work board work for Reader's Workshop and followed the Plot Rollercoaster for where in the plot students are in their independent reading. Most are finding that they didn't make much progress on the coaster from yesterday to today and we discussed that in longer chapter books, it takes a while to get through the plot of a story. In Writer's Workshop, students continued their research on their historical time period as well as continued planning their story. They have some really great ideas and I am looking forward to reading these when they finish! Be patient though because I'm thinking it might take us a little longer than other writing pieces have taken. Guess what?! Ohio finally became a state!! We have finally reached 1803 in our Ohio history! Now, we should have smooth sailling because there isn't as much turmoil in the last 200 years than there were in the first 1800... 

Don't forget that tomorrow is LATE START!

Monday, January 28

What a glorious day in Room 110! In Math, we practiced and practiced and practiced multiple digit multiplication. We worked with the value of numbers using the partial products method. This is kind of the long way of doing it but makes the traditional way much easier and helps them to see what and WHY we are doing things. Tomorrow, I will be teaching them the traditional way to multiply numbers (like we learned and know) so practice, practice, practice this week! That is really the only thing that is in this unit of study so we will not be spending too much time on this. Have your child teach you the partial products method... this is the best way to see their understanding. Ask them questions as you work together. They will feel like pros! The Beaded Moccasins was a little gross today as Mary learned what really happens when deer hides are tanned to make leather! Yuck! I did give a warning ahead of time though. In Reader's Workshop, we talked about plot and the plot roller coaster of stories. We are going to be changing reading groups up next week so this week, for work board, we have more of a task list and students will be working at their own speed to get things completed. In Writer's Workshop, we began the planning and research portion of our historical fiction personal experience narrative. Students may have brought books home today or may want to research on the computer some to help with their writing. Finally, in Social Studies, we read and discussed about the frontier wars in Ohio. We talked about the causes and effects of these battles and treaties. I saw some a-ha moments too! Ask your kiddo why they speak French in parts of Canada...

Friday, January 25

Yesterday, the students did great with an afternoon substitute. In the morning, for Math, we had a Multiplication Wrestling Tournament with brackets! The ultimate winner was... Natalie! Today, we worked on estimating products so that we can tell if our actual answers are reasonable or not. For Read Aloud, we caught up with Mary Campbell and how she chose to gather strength. In Reader's Workshop, we read silently and then played spelling and writing games on the ipods. Some needed more time in Writer's Workshop to finish their setting story while others that were finished continued to play games on the ipods. We completed the day with finishing our Weather Assessment.

Wednesday, January 23

Another brrrr chilly day with indoor recess. In Math, we completed a basic facts test, practiced extended facts on dry erase boards and then we WRESTLED!! Ask your child about our tag team matches... :) Instead of Read Aloud with me today, we went to the library where Mrs. Dorr talked and read to the them about the author coming in March, Charles Smith, Jr. I am very excited for this visit! In Reader's Workshop, we read and researched about historical time periods and worked on vocabulary we received from other languages. In Writer's Workshop, we continued with our setting pieces. We finished the day getting closer to Ohio becoming a state by reading about settling Ohio! Almost there!

Tuesday, January 22

Brrrr! It sure was a cold one today! We had a very out of the ordinary day because we were all over the place performing our Reader's Theaters on Martin Luther King, Jr. We completed our MAP assessment on the computers but other than that, had a very loosely planned day. We caught up on Social Studies review work, completed a TFK on Martin Luther King, Jr., practiced some math facts, sorted our word study words, read silently and worked on some writing. Tomorrow will be back to the daily grind!

Friday, January 18

TGIF! This week seemed to go pretty quickly but was packed full of information and learning. In Matrh today, we went over our assessment from yesterday and then went on to learn about extended facts. It is super important for our students to know their basic multiplication facts! This unit will be learning how to multiply multiple digit by multiple digit numbers and the only way to be successful is to know and understand the basic facts. The ones that struggled today were the ones that didn't have their basic facts memorized. In Read Aloud, the young boys of the tribe learned how to be strong by jumping into the frozen Cuyahoga River every morning for months. This puzzled the students as to why they would want to do that. In the next part, Mary shows that she has strength too. Maybe they will feel the understanding after that. We then finished our checkpoint writing assessment and practiced our reader's theaters. 

Thursday, January 17

Great day in Room 110! We took our Math Assessment this morning and I think we are doing better. I truly believe that the majority of the class completely understands fractions and probability. Unfortunately, I don't think all of them show it very well on assessments... 12 students "passed" with a 72% or better while 10 did not. I don't like that 10 students still aren't showing proficiency but I feel we need to move on. I will continue to put fractions into my weekly plans and probability will continue to pop up in data analysis and many other areas as well. Please feel free to continue to practice fractions and probability at home as well. The afternoon was a little out of the ordinary. We began our checkpoint writing assessment which is an assessment every 4th grade student in HCSD gets for teachers to assess their progress in writing. Today, they read the text and created pre-writings on "What It Means to Be a Citizen." Tomorrow, they will complete the writing. For Reader's Workshop today and tomorrow, they practiced their fluency by working on a Reader's Theater about Martin Luther King, Jr. We will be performing these for some classes on Tuesday. They asked why we had Monday off of school and I thought this was a good way to show them!

Wednesday, January 16

Yay! Mr. Potato Head has eyes and a nose! Anyway, in Math, we continued to practice and review probability and fractions. I saw some light bulbs flick on as well as others growing brighter and am hopeful that it shows in the assessment tomorrow! Please help your child practice fractions and probability tonight. They are still learning what it means to study and practice for Math tests. In Read Aloud, someone the same age as Mary tried to befriend her and although she longs for companionship, she is not quite there yet with the acceptance of her place as a member of the tribe. In Reader's Workshop, students read and caught up on work for the beginning of the time and then met for their Book Clubs. Some kiddos are gaining the independence and joy for these meetings while a few others still need some help to see that reading can be enjoyable and entertaining. In Writer's Workshop, we began a fictional narrative for a specific setting. When finished, we will be hanging these up and trying to match them to the settings they were written for. Finally, we ended our day with Guidance. Mrs. Vidic read and discussed virtues.

Tuesday, January 15

So I spent the day assessing students on their reading with non-fiction text but I was only out in the hall and could hear that the students did well with the substitute. Her comment was that they were an "active group"--I'll take that. I think that could be why I am so exhausted at the end of each day... In Math, students practiced probability with spinners, dice, letter tiles, and word problems. They practiced fractions with making specified shapes using color tiles. Tomorrow, we will continue to practice and then I will assess on Thursday. I want and think they should be able to apply their knowledge of fractions and probability with all of the extra practice so I will not be giving a review sheet with this one. Check out the standards that came home in the homework packet if you have questions as to what they are responsible for. In Read Aloud, they learned a little about Martin Luther King, Jr. as many of them had been asking why we had Monday off of school. We will also be doing a reader's theater of his famous speech. (In assessing today, I found that a lot of students' accuracy has improved but we still have pretty slow readers--we need to work on speeding up their cadence and this should help with that.) In Reader's Workshop, they read independently, worked on an OAA passage and continued more with the setting they worked with yesterday. Today, they imagined the kind of characters and problems could be possible in their setting. Almost everyone finished publishing their personal experience narrative today in Writer's Workshop! I can't wait to read them, although, from the titles, I'm not positive that I want to as some sound really gross, i.e. Foot Hole, Bloody Hand, etc. In Social Studies, they reviewed what led up to Ohio preparing for statehood. We should be a state sometime next week! Man it took a long time to get to 1803...

Monday, January 14

Today was a little abnormal in that I was out this morning to take my daughter to an appointment but the learning was still the same--they had a great substitute! In Math, they worked on creating all the possible combinations of probabilities. For example, if they had 4 different color shirts and 4 different color shorts, what are all the different combinations? According to the sub, this went great. I was back at lunch only to "remember" that I had a meeting to plan library and technology for a little while in the afternoon... :)  Students read more Cinderella books-this time about a dinosaur and one about big foot. I'm sure they had a lot to say about the settings here. Then, in Reader's Workshop, they read silently, described certain settings using all different parts of speech and completed a reading OAA passage from a previous test. In Writer's Workshop, they continued with the writing process on their personal narratives. Some are very behind and might need to work a little at home. This CAN count for their writing homework. We got new words in Word Study and in Science, we made before and after pictures of Earth's Surface with rapid processes.

TGIFriday, January 11

Today, in Math, we worked as responsible learners and determined which skills we really needed to work on and practiced them. For some, we made fractions of the class. For others, we created spinners, predicted results, found actual results and then compared the results. Some students used dice or pennies to find probabilities too. We continued to looke at similes in Beaded Moccasins as well as looking at the author's craft with the inner monologue of the character and how the author used italics to show that the character was thinking to herself. Mary has just reached the Cuyahoga River and I was able to show students pictures from the cave where Mary stayed as I visited it quite a few years ago in Cuyahoga Falls. They thought that was pretty cool! It always make a story more enjoyable when you connect to it. In Reader's Workshop, we continued to increase our cadence and stamina with independent reading. Most of us are finished with our personal narratives and were able to free write today while others continued with the writing process. All of these need to be finished by Tuesday so some students brought them home to work on over the weekend. In Social Studies, we performed our skits and commercials. Good job kiddos! Most of them showed their understanding of the times as there were only a few slipups like cooking in an oven... :)

Wednesday and Thursday, January 9-10

I was out yesterday afternoon for an appointment and there was a substitute. In the morning, for Math, we practiced fractions and probability. We figured out fractions of a square, created our own and solved others' as well as played various fraction and probability games. According to the sub, the classroom behavior was not good in the afternoon and it seems that from her notes, she will not be returning anytime soon-if ever. The students agreed that their behavior was not great and so today we went back to the basics. Maybe we got a little too comfortable and our behavior mirrored that. So, today, we spent the majority of the day in our seats, working mostly, independently. We also kept our shoes on instead of getting comfy and ate snack two times instead of whenever. Boys also have had difficulty with playing in the restroom so now boys may not use the restroom as a group. Hopefully, these changes will change the behaviors as well, as it did today. We had a wonderful day! Tomorrow will be the same and we may slowly get back to the way things were as long as the behaviors continue on the positive. Academically, students read different versions of Cinderella to focus on the setting and its importance to a story, built their stamina by reading independently and met with their book clubs. They also continued writing their personal narratives and in Social Studies, they got into groups to create skits to show what the new settlers experienced.

Today, in Math, we did an experiment and practiced creating and comparing predicted results to actual results. We have a few more things to work on so our assessment over probability and re-assessment over fractions will probably be later next week. We followed Mary on her journey with the Delaware in Beaded Moccasins and tried to improve their cadence and words per minute as well as stamina with independent reading in Reader's Workshop. (Ask your kiddo about cadence and stamina...) We continued with the writing process for our personal narratives in Writer's Workshop. In Social Studies, we practiced our skits and will be 'performing' them tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 8

Today was a great day! We got a lot done and a lot of learning was happening. In Math, we worked with probability by creating and using spinners. We had to use our knowledge of equivalent fractions to create the spinners and then use our understanding of  'fraction of' to find expected results of the spinners. After some extra explaining and more practice, I think we got it. Mary started feeling more like the Unami tribe after Hepte gave her leggings and beautiful moccasins in Beaded Moccasins today. We also found quite a few similes while reading and wrote these down on paper moccasins to be hung around the room. In Reader's Workshop, we continued to build our stamina while reading independently. Today wasn't as great as yesterday but hopefully, their stamina will increase as the week goes on. They also concentrated on the setting and its importance while reading. We continued to work on our personal narratives in Writer's Workshop. Most are in the rough draft or first copy stage of the writing process. These need to be descriptive and I'm sure they will need to elaborate and add details during revising. Settlers are moving into the Ohio territory in Social Studies! We read together and discussed the steps needed to make the state of Ohio and read about what life is like for those new settlers. They are excited about taking this understanding and using it to "show" this description tomorrow in a short story, skit, advertisement or commercial.

Monday, January 7

Hello! Today was a pretty productive day. In Math, we continued to practice our problem solving skills with fractions. I gave them some tough activities and they proved to be really tough. Some children had some trouble with perseverance though and would have rather just given up. Some of the papers are in their orange folders if you'd like to use them toward math log. In Beaded Moccasins, our newest read aloud, Mary Campbell was captured by Delaware Indians to replace the Sachem's granddaughter! It is a really good book and helps to solidify the concepts we are learning in Social Studies as well as helping us to understand historical fiction. Students are reading longer independently this week. We are reading longer books for Book Clubs and with longer historical fiction or other fiction books, they need to read for a longer period of time to gain the information needed to understand what is happening in the book. I am also trying to build stamina up as they are used to only sticking with one thing for about 20 minutes or so. They have a tic-tac-toe activity log to help guide them with their independent reading. In Writer's Workshop, we discussed personal narratives and students are going to be writing their own this week. Finally, we completed some Social Studies, discussing the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. These are tough concepts for kiddos to understand and I'm doing my best to help solidify their understanding. Any insight you can give at home is much appreciated to help with this understanding.

TGIFriday, January 4

In Math today, we played some fraction games in the computer lab. We went through eSchool to get to Illuminations to play Equivalent Fractions, Fraction Models and Fraction Game. They really liked the last one. If you would like to try any of them out, you can access them by going to illuminations.nctm.org. From looking over the assessments a few times, I feel that they mostly understand the basic concepts of fractions but lack the application and problem solving so I also had them working on these skills through some problem solving worksheets. We will continue this work next week too. We finished our Year in Pictures during Reader's Workshop and met for Literature Circles with book groups. They are reading fictional chapter books and kind of in charge of how much they read and what they are discussing. These books are at their INSTRUCTIONAL level therefore they may need some help with understanding certain words, concepts or situations. In Writing, we reviewed our previous Word Study generalizations and focused on the patterns and generalizations using Rainbow Spelling. Anytime we can use crayons is great! Knowing these generalizations is important as they are going to be held more responsible for using them in their writing. After discussing weathering and erosion yesterday and again today in Science, we imitated this process using soil, sugar and sugar cubes. Students did a great job with distinguishing between the two terms. They also were able to make the connection of imitating the processes because the processes actually take years and years.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

In Math today, we fixed our assessment on fractions. Only a handful "passed" the assessment. I did some re-teaching and gave them a second chance to complete the problems they missed. I will grade these tonight and send them home tomorrow. Hopefully, they will do better this second time around...unfortunately, the ones that needed to, didn't spend much more time fixing their mistakes. We'll see how it worked for them! Please look for them to come home tomorrow. We are also still working with probability and homework for the week is to play a game. Tough, right?! In Reader's Workshop, we continued working on our 2012 in pictures. We need one more day to finish these. For Writer's Workshop today, I had the students write about Math. Some did an amazing job. I told them that I was looking more at their writing and spelling than their math but some truly struggled with writing about math. I will look these over and make some notes but I found that some are not putting forth the effort they need to be successful. We finished our day with a video about Weathering and Erosion for Science. We will be doing some more work with the changes to Earth's surface tomorrow and next week.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013!

Wow! I can't believe that it is already 2013...time flies when you are having fun! We are almost halfway through this trimester and I feel like we are a little behind in a few areas-especially Science and Social Studies. Oh well... nothing we can do but keep on keeping on! Today, we began the day reminiscing about Christmas and what we all did over break. I wanted to get this out of the way so we didn't share all day long. For the most part, this worked great. In Math, we worked with fractions in the form of probability and chance. We talked about outcomes using playing cards. Some kiddos play cards more than others and therefore had a little easier time today. In Reader's Workshop, we read a Time For Kids about 2012 in review in pictures. We will be making our own Year in Pictures too! Some students had a lot of important events that happened in 2012 where others found it a little more challenging to find these landmark events of the previous year. In Writing, we discussed and wrote resolutions and ended our first day back with Guidance.