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!!