We built our solar ovens, but have yet to use them thanks to this recent rainfall and cloudy skies. So the S'mores will have to wait till next week...just letting the anticipation build.
As this week was Celebrate Freedom week, we focused on the Constitution and good citizenship in social studies.
In reading workshop, we formed reading partnerships and discussed how to be a good listener and practiced the "turn and talk" strategy many times. Students received their first Time for Kids magazine, which we usually work with every Tuesday. This week, we learned how to code text based on our reading comprehension of a magazine article. Students use certain symbols such as a check mark for "I already knew that" or a question mark for "this raises a question with me" or an explanation point for "this is exciting or surprising. The goal is to make sure they are actively thinking about what they read. We had our first weekly class checkout time in the library, it will fall on every Wednesday at 9am. And finally, the kids thoroughly enjoyed taking a Kahoot quiz (online interactive game-show style quiz. Mr Grubb, a 4th grade teacher, created a quiz with this new online tool for the Bluebonnet book The Day the Crayons Quit. It was an engaging story that I read aloud to the class, and then the kids showed off their comprehension skills in a competitive quiz game. Based on their enthusiasm for the quiz, I will definitely find ways to incorporate Kahoot in the future!
I think that writing workshop was my favorite part of the week! We are focusing on "show don't tell" which basically means that instead of writing, "I was really sad," a good writer will SHOW the reader that the character is sad. For example: "Tears streamed down my face as I waved good-bye. The lump in my throat made it impossible to speak, and my heart felt heavy." You will have to ask your kids about what I did to trick them on Wednesday, but after a great brainstorming session, we turned the sentence "My teacher was mad" into a well-written, descriptive paragraph. Side note: I was not really mad at them, but I sure scared them into thinking I was for a moment, to demonstrate my point! It was priceless!
We did stations again in math on Monday to review the various strategies for solving a multiplication sentence. Tasks included laptop games to practice skip counting, number lines on the table (always fun to write on furniture!), an array matching game, and sticky note strip diagrams. They really seem to have mastered these various strategies and we moved on to a quick review of place value. We will start addition and subtraction strategies next week, along with rounding and estimating skills.
I have a couple of things to let you know about for next week. I will be out on Tuesday for TAG training and Ms. Satori will be my substitute. She is a 3rd grade parent, and has subbed for me before, so the kids are in great hands! It will be business as usual. Fall photos will take place on that day as well, so make sure to dress your child appropriately for that. Don't forget that Wednesday is an early release day at 12:45, and many of you have conferences scheduled. Email me if you have forgotten your time! Conferences are scheduled in 20 minute increments back-to-back, so please be on time. I will not be able to extend your time if you are running late. I will have progress reports available at the conference, but if your conference is not scheduled for Wednesday, I will send the progress report home in the Thursday folder. Have a great weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment