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.