Merry Christmas!

Happy last-day-of-break-before-Christmas!! We had a quick morning because we went to special at 9:15. When we returned, we found that Santa Lambright had arrived and we had a fun book exchange game complete with a book for everyone with a little stealing along the way! Afterwards, we got caught up on any work we were behind on and designed ugly sweaters and worked on a Christmas crossword. After lunch and recess, we will be going to the talent show and then enjoying our holiday party! Thanks for a great 2013 and beginning of this school year!

Thursday, December 19

This hectic week is almost over... We began our day with Guidance. Mrs. Vidic talked with the kiddos about how they can make a difference. After Music, we took our assessment over fractions-equivalent, comparing and adding/subtracting. I counted wrong and so there are 2 scores--ignore the crossed out one-the one circled is the correct score. Sorry! Overall, they did well. If your child scored below a 75%, they need extra practice over the break. We have been working on these standards for quite a few weeks and they should have these skills more secure by now... We enjoyed another indoor recess and then read City of Ember. Poppy was found! Phew! BUT, the lights were out for 7 minutes! Uh-oh... Then, we played our math games. We will play them upon our return as a refresher of fractions and then they can come home. In Reader's Workshop, we completed a comprehension activity on either A Christmas Carol or The Reindeer and worked on our inferencing skills to finish the activity from yesterday where they got to be a spy elf for Santa. In Writing, we published our letters!

Wednesday, December 18

I'm out today so hopefully the kids will say that they had a good day. Here is what I hope happened:
In Social Studies, they worked more with the Northwest Territory. Now that they know how to become a state, they are working toward getting all the necessary prerequisites. In Math, today was the last day to work on their Fraction Story Games. If they didn't finish, they are probably working on it at home. There is also an assessment tomorrow that they should be practicing for... I'm sure it was indoor recess again and for Read Aloud, the sub read Auntie Claus to them-a very cute Christmas read. In Reader's Workshop, I had them reading independently, creating new words from a holiday word and reviewing inferences by being Santa's Sleuth! Students had to look over 7 comic strips about a boy and email Santa, as one of his elves, to let him know if the boy should be on the naughty or nice list. After the 7th day, they have to write a final letter to Santa for their overall opinion on the boy. I hope they are having fun with this activity! Finally, they finished revising and editing their persuasive letters. We will be printing and publishing them tomorrow and then you'll be able to read them and hopefully, will be persuaded!

Tuesday, December 17

We began our day with utilizing our technology for Technology Tuesday. Students love this day more than any day of the week! After that, we continued our work with the Northwest Territory by reading and completing an Ohio Studies Weekly. This magazine has really been helpful in teaching not only about Ohio but so many reading skills and strategies for informational text. After gym, we visited the holiday shoppe with our first grade buddies. With about 30 minutes left, we worked on our Fraction Story Games. We have one more day to work on these before we play them. After another indoor recess, we read City of Ember and learned how much Lina enjoys color and drawing as she spent $5 for one colored pencil! However, according to her, Ember is black and gray and dull and these pencils are so bright and vibrant! In Reader's Workshop, we worked in small groups with "Ovatniah," a fiction story in StoryWorks while others' read silently, played spelling games and continued working on their OSW from earlier. Finally, we ended our day revising and editing our persuasive letters.

Monday, December 16

Brrrr! What a cold and blustery day! We began our day greeting our new student, Dade and showing him the ropes. In Social Studies, we read about the Northwest Territory and what they needed to do to become states. In Math, we continued our work with writing story problems for our Fraction Story Games. After another indoor recess, we read City of Ember and were introduced to a new character and setting. Clary is a lady that works in the greenhouses. We had a shortened Reader's and Writer's Workshop today due to the Memorial Band Concert at the end of the day so not much to talk about there. The band was nice and got us all in the Christmas spirit!

TGIF!

Happy Friday! We had a crazy day so not much to write... We began the day wrapping the shoes for our Adopt-a-Family. These kids are not that great with wrapping so they could use some practice this holiday season! :) We had a chilly fire drill and then went to Art. After Art, we began writing word problems for our Fraction Story Game that each kiddo is creating. We will be working on these all next week and have an assessment over the first 3 fraction standards (equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, composing and decomposing fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers). After another indoor recess, we prepared for Mrs. Evans coming in to help us publish our "Diary of a ____" research projects. (Thank you so much!!) Then, we read more from City of Ember. This time we got a look at Doon's perspective and under the city, in the Pipeworks. We read independently, read instructions on how to create and play the Dreidel game and then played the game, worked on our persuasive letters and played Spelling games while kids were coming and going to cooking with Mrs. Shively's class and publishing at the Publishing Shop. Busy day!

Wednesday and Thursday, December 11-12

Wednesday
In Social Studies, we worked with the American Revolution with an Ohio Studies Weekly. In Math, we did a Tile Task. Students had to design a tiled table top and then find the fractional parts as well as cost of each design. They did a great job with this. In City of Ember, we were introduced to Lina and Doon. They got their assignments today! We continued our work with characterization in Reader's Workshop and some groups got a glimpse into our first StoryWorks! I already love this resource! In Writer's Workshop, we continued our persuasive letters. Finally, in Word Study, we sorted our words to find the oy/oi and ou/ow vowel patterns in our words.

Thursday
We started the day with our buddies! We will be having a fire drill tomorrow so we met we made Magic Reindeer Food with our first grade buddies today. It was a lot of fun and very messy! Then, after gym, we played Rolling Fractions in Math. Students had a difficult time understanding the directions but they got quite a bit of fraction practice in. In City of Ember today, Lina enjoyed her first day as Messenger. She even delivered a pretty sneaky message to the mayor. We worked on building our stamina with independent reading and characterization during Reader's Workshop. In Word Study, we proved that we understood the pattern by finding words that would fit in their lists. Finally, we completed our day by working on our persuasive letters.

Tuesday, December 10

Today was quite hectic at the start of the day due to many arriving late--lovely weather! Anyway, after enjoying Technology Tuesday, we got back into Social Studies by discussing the American Revolution and how Ohio was affected. In Math, we shared our mental math strategies in subtraction with Number Talks and then worked--very diligently--on improper fractions and mixed numbers and what those vocabulary words mean. After another indoor recess, we began our next read aloud--City of Ember. This is a great read that will be used in Science as well as Reading. In Reader's Workshop, we continued the work the kiddos began yesterday with Mrs. Dickman on character's thoughts, words and actions causing them to change throughout the story. Students are doing well with this new framework. Finally, in Writer's Workshop, we focused on grabbing the reader's attention with the introduction and how to conclude our letters. Then, students had time to work.

Homework:
Reading--5 longer entries; don't forget about the Book Genre Bingo
Writing--focus on spelling; about 30 minutes of practice/week
Math--fractions

Monday, December 9

We began our day finishing up our balance inquiry project in Science from last week and took a posttest on the material. These should be coming home in the next couple of days. In Gym, Mr. Burkhart said that we had trouble with respect. He said that they are not respecting each other or anyone, actually. So, we discussed manners and respect and students are working to be more respectful to each other, adults, themselves and our things at school. Hopefully, you're seeing this reflected at home as well. In Math, we had a subtraction number talk, the students continued their work with addition and subtraction of fractions with like denominators and they completed an exit slip. After indoor recess, we read a non-fiction book about Hanukkah. Then, Mrs. Dickman, a literacy coach in the district, came in to model a lesson with the students on a character's response to events in a story. Students also had a chance to read and work on this same skill with the book they are reading.  We are going to continue with this work and the framework she used this week to see if it makes our Reader's Workshop more efficient. We took a pretest in Word Study and then worked on our persuasive letters. 

Homework:

Reading-5 entries that are about 3-4 sentences in length

Writing-spelling

Math-fractions

Thursday, December 5

We are on a roll! Behavior and everything seems much more under control so students are really working on their self-discipline. Keep it up as the end of the day is still a little crazy but Wow! Mrs. Potato Head earned an ear today! In Science, we tried to finish our balance inquiry projects but students weren't getting as in depth with their thinking as I wanted them to so I clarified some things and got them back on track so we will need one more session to complete these. In Math, we worked with fractions using eggs. This was tedious but should not have been challenging. Unfortunately, students were socializing and didn't complete this activity and have brought it home for homework. Please help them to remember to finish it and bring it back tomorrow. After indoor recess, we read a book called The Name Jar about a girl from Korea that was embarassed by her name, Unhei, because no one could pronounce it. (I had a tough time too!) Ask the students about the significance of the title of the book and the solution that Unhei came up with for her problem. In Reader's Workshop, we worked, still, to build that stamina in independent reading as well as learning some vocabulary with words that came from other languages. Did your kiddo learn any new words today? Finally, we reviewed letter format and worked on researching and writing our persuasive letters--using our NEW technology!!

Late Start

Late Start days are always different. It feels like as soon as the students get to school, the day is half over. We started the day with Math. It was Word Search Wednesday so our word search was all fraction vocabulary words. Then, we read Whole-y Cow: Fractions are Fun! Students then practiced equivalent fractions by creating a Get-to-know-you type wheel. After this short math, the kiddos went to special where they watched the 5th graders try out for the talent show. From special, they went straight to lunch and then to recess. After recess, we finished Maniac Magee. I love this book! What did your child think? For Reader's Workshop, we worked on our reading skills and vocabulary. Our lack of stamina is what is keeping/getting us distracted during this time. We are working on it~I have faith in these kids! Finally, in Writer's Workshop, we worked with linking and transition words for our opinion/persuasive writing. These blogs came in handy to show this skill.

Tuesday, December 3

We began our day with updating our social media bulletin board for Technology Tuesday. Ask your student what their social means of communication was. Then, in Science, we continued our balance inquiry. Students are starting to see the connection between the numbers that their hexnuts are hanging on and algebra/math. Yay! After our first ever free art, we worked more with fractions by sharing the number stories we wrote yesterday about pizza. Then, we continued this momentum by practicing/reviewing equivalent fractions. Finally, we finished the class making "Fraction Avenues." In Read Aloud, students realized just how bad the feelings and ignorance was between the East End and West End neighbors. Maniac brought Mars Bar to the McNab's and it was not pretty. We added to our description of Maniac the adjective, brave. In Reader's Workshop, students are really struggling with building their independent reading stamina. Please help your kiddo with this skill by having them read at home, uninterrupted for 20+ minutes. Also, help them to read all different kinds of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Unfortunately, the majority of the class seems immature in their reading independence. How are they doing with their Book Genre Bingo? If they need another copy, I have plenty! Finally, instead of Writer's Workshop, we celebrated our classroom reward of completing Mr. Potato Head by having 30 minutes of extra recess!! Today was a great day~we even earned our first piece to Mr. Potato Head for our second reward. Well, actually, this time we are making a Mrs. Potato Head... :)

Monday, December 2

Happy Monday! We earned our first class reward of extra recess!! The students only needed one more Mr. Potato Head piece and they received it for their awesome hallway behavior this morning. We will probably be celebrating one afternoon this week. In Science, we began a balance inquiry project. Students are working with algebraic thinking and science inquiry to complete this over the next few days. In Math, we moved on to the next fraction standard!

Understand a fraction a/b with a > 1 as a sum of fractions 1/b.

     a. Understand addition and subtraction of fractions as joining and

separating parts referring to the same whole.

     b. Decompose a fraction into a sum of fractions with the

same denominator in more than one way, recording each

decomposition by an equation. Justify decompositions, e.g., by

using a visual fraction model. Examples: 3/8 = 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 ; 

3/8 = 1/8 + 2/8 ; 2 1/8 = 1 + 1 + 1/8 = 8/8 + 8/8 + 1/8.

     c. Add and subtract mixed numbers with like denominators, e.g., by

replacing each mixed number with an equivalent fraction, and/or

by using properties of operations and the relationship between

addition and subtraction.

     d. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction

of fractions referring to the same whole and having like

denominators, e.g., by using visual fraction models and equations

to represent the problem.

Ask your child to explain what we did with pizzas to better understand this standard today. After recess, we read from Maniac Magee and worked on Jeffrey's character traits. Students are working with using details from the text to back up their thinking. In Reader's Workshop, we worked with vocabulary by completing word ladders and some read an issue of Time for Kids. In Guided Reading Groups, we worked with a fictional story and more with characters. We started researching for our persuasive letters in Writer's Workshop. I can't wait for you to read these! :) 

Ohhhhh... we got our 2 laptops today!! Yay! I am so excited at how quick they got here! Thank you again, so very much for the added resources!!

Tuesday, November 26

Oh happy day! We began our day with a performance from the Columbus Children's Theater of Hansel and Gretel. It was a hoot! Then, we came back and played "Roll-a-Turkey" with partners. Afterwards, we practiced for our fraction test by doing some edible "Smarties Math." I tried to get the assessments graded so they could take them home today but some needed a little more time. Sorry. I'll grade them over the break and pass them back on Monday. After lunch and indoor recess, we read Maniac Magee. This time, Jeffrey met up with his old buddies, the Beale's, after beating Mars Bar in a foot race. Mars wasn't too happy so Jeffrey went back with the McNab's. He's starting to feel very torn between the East and West Ends... We continued our work from yesterday in Reader's Workshop and then wrote Team Thank You notes for each other for Writing.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Homework this week:
Reading~read and make 5 entries about what you read
Writing~write a letter of thanks to someone
(Math was to practice for the assessment today so there is no other math this week!)

Monday, November 25

Today was a typical Monday but a lot easier to swallow knowing that tomorrow is like our Friday! We began our day reading and discussing about the First Thanksgiving. Did you know it lasted for 3 days? Then, we read The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie DePaola. After we discussed what a legend is and looked at how Little Gopher documented things, we wrote our own legends of how we spend our Thanksgiving. In Art, they earned their 10th painting and we get FREE ART next time! For Math, we continued looking at the sub problem that we began last week. Then, we worked in small groups with a fractions game and with me with Cuisenaire Rods. Tomorrow will be our mini-assessment over the first two fraction standards: equivalent fractions and comparing fractions. After indoor recess, we read about a crazy new home that Maniac has ended up in...the McNab's are like no other! Jeffrey is trying to decipher who the actual orphan is... We had a tough time getting quiet in Reader's Workshop and completing our work. I managed to meet with two of the three reading groups... We read about how Thanksgiving's date changed a couple of times. Students also created their LearnZillion accounts and did some word puzzles to build vocabulary. In Writing, we are brainstorming a persuasive letter that has to do with Christmas... :)

TGIFriday, November 22

Oh boy. Today was not a good day. We really need to work on our manners, respect and cooperation. We are missing pencils, not getting along, off task and too loud and disrespectful when asked to get back on task... We are in desperate need of the break next week!
In Social Studies, we completed our questions about the Native Americans. In Math, we had a gallery walk with our posters from our fraction question yesterday. Students walked around and read other groups' explanations of their thinking. While the main response was, "confusing," they were able to see that they had the correct idea but that they just needed to explain it a little better or with more detail. We will have a mini-assessment over the first two fraction standards that we have been working on next week. After another indoor recess, we went to the Publishing Shop with Mrs. Divencenzo to plan out the publishing of our "Diary of a ____" books. I think this got them excited to finish their stories! With this schedule change, we had a weird afternoon and did quite a bit of getting everyone caught up to the same spot with their Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop work. We finished the day with working on r-controlled vowels.

Thursday, November 21

Today, we continued our Q & A of Native American conflict, cooperation and adaptation. In math, we began a 2-day inquiry about sub sandwiches. They were given a problem and they have to use what they've been learning about with fractions to solve this problem. They are using the mathematical practices while working on this problem. We found out more about Grayson and how Jeffrey is dealing, or not dealing, with his death today in Maniac Magee. Jeffrey started running again but this time, while trying to just give up, he encountered some twins that needed his help. Little did he know, an old 'problem' would come back to haunt him... In Reader's Workshop, we worked with explaining our thinking on a math problem, reading silently and trying to get our research report complete. I was able to meet with all of my groups but one group wasn't prepared which meant that we weren't able to work on what was planned. Was your kiddo in that group? Finally, I was able to get one of the laptop carts and we mostly finished our "Diary of a ____" so that we can visit the Publishing Shop tomorrow.

Homework this week:
Reading--write more! with each entry; focus on making connections
Writing--research and story
Math--30 minutes of fraction practice

Wednesday, November 20

Today was a good day! In Social Studies, we read about many different American Indian groups. We then, answered some questions about cooperation and conflict between Native Americans and other groups of people as well as how the Native Americans adapted to the environment and positive and negative consequences of humans on the environment. In Math, we finished our Pattern Block Puzzles and then practiced making equivalent fractions with a color-by-number/stained glass paper. We should be moving on from equivalent fractions and comparing fractions after Thanksgiving break. There was a shocking twist in Maniac Magee today! Ask your kiddo about the last sentence I read today. We had a pretty good Reader's Workshop. I was able to meet with all 3 groups today and with little interruption! We worked on our "Diary of a ____" stories in Writer's Workshop--only one more day in class before we publish! Finally, we took a pre-test on r-controlled words. This pre-test proved tricky to them as they weren't sure to use -or, -er or -ar. (I still find that troublesome!)

Homework this week:
Reading--write more! with each entry; focus on making connections
Writing--research and story
Math--30 minutes of fraction practice (I sent home a packet with games, websites and worksheets that you can use to help your kiddo. Attached are the standards~we are working on the first two right now.)

Tuesday, November 19

We started our day with a story about a boy named Wesley. Ask your kiddo what they learned from reading Weslandia and why I chose to read it during Social Studies. Then, we talked more about the conflicts between different groups of people around the time of the French and Indian War. After gym, we continued our work with fractions. Students played a More or Less game where they had to tell if a fraction was larger or smaller than a benchmark fraction. (For example, is 2/3 larger or smaller than 1/2? Prove it.) Then, we used pattern blocks to solve puzzles and tell the fractional parts of the puzzle. They should have brought home their exit slip to complete for homework. They should prove the statement using words, numbers or pictures. In Read Aloud, we got more insight into Grayson. We also learned more about he and Jeffrey's relationship. Has Jeffrey found the "father figure" he never had? We had a pretty good Reader's Workshop today. Students worked pretty quietly and stayed on task (mostly) so that I could meet with Guided Reading Groups. In group, we worked with non-fiction/informational text. Meanwhile, students worked on making connections, reading independently and working with reading a timeline and a chart from the Time For Kids. Finally, we completed our day working on our research and "Diary of a ____" story. I think everyone is finished with research! However, some are finding that they need a little more or different information after beginning to write. This is a great way to revise! Kudos!

Homework this week:
Reading--write more! with each entry; focus on making connections
Writing--research and story
Math--30 minutes of fraction practice (the exit slip should count toward this)

Monday, November 18

We began our day with Social Studies. We started talking about conflict and watched a few School House Rocks videos about colonization and why/how the Americas were founded. We also read from the Ohio textbook about the French and Indian War. Can your child tell you anything about it? In Math, we played some games comparing fractions. We also learned how to use benchmarks to compare them--is this fraction closer to 0, 1/2 or 1? Give your kiddo a fraction and ask them to show you. After recess, we read Maniac Magee. Jeffrey untied Cobble's Knot! Then, he realized, again, that he brought about trouble with the Beale's... so he left and ended up in the buffalo pen at the zoo! Luckily, Grayson found him and got him some food and a place to stay. I wonder what connection these two will have. My goal for Reader's Workshop this week is to stick to my schedule and meet with all my Guided Reading Groups--all week! The students need to use self-discipline to help make this possible. They did pretty well today but toward the end of the hour, it got a little loud and hectic. We'll keep at it! In groups, we worked on Informational Text features and how they are used to help. Students worked on building stamina by reading silently and independently, read a Time For Kids and then made connections to the articles. We worked on our research and "Diary of a ___" stories in Writer's Workshop.

Homework this week:
Reading--longer entries and focus on connections
Writing--research and report (Diary of a ___)
Math--30 minutes of fraction practice (i.e. cooking, explaining how to find an equivalent fraction to you, fraction game, etc.)

FRIDAY, November 15

Our day started off about 350 years ago with learning about the Historic Indians. Ask your child the difference between these groups (historic) and the other groups we've learned about (pre-historic). Lucky helped me teach Social Studies this morning too! :) In Math, used pattern blocks to create equivalent fractions but also to compare fractions. (Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as 1/2. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols >, =, or <, and
justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.) One of the 4th grade students in Miss Cross' class interviewed Coach Urban Meyer so we watched that interview~so cool!! We also watched one of our 5th grader's Hilliard Idol performance. (They were videos that had been shown on our ADE news but since our TV is dead, we didn't get to see them.) Then, we read more about Maniac. He is feeling icky for the Beale's because they are befriending him and it seems to be causing them strife. Such a powerful message/story! In Reader's Workshop, we continued our work with author's point of view in informational text (some will be bringing them home to finish...) and finished the Ohio Studies Weekly newspapers about the Native Americans of pre-history. Our day concluded with writing and/or research.

Thursday, November 14

We had an amazing speaker to begin our morning! Arctic geochemist, Dr. Samuel Mukasa, spoke to us about his studies in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. He also talked about climate change and gave us some great connections between what we have learned in Science about weathering, erosion and deposition, as well as a look into future studies in fossils. After his presentation to the entire 4th grade, he was able to spend time in each classroom for a Q & A session. Our kiddos were impressive! They asked some amazing questions and I was really proud! In between the presentation and Q & A, we were able to sneak in a little gym and some math as well. We will be moving on from equivalent fractions to comparing fractions tomorrow. (Compare two fractions with different numerators and different denominators, e.g., by creating common denominators or numerators, or by comparing to a benchmark fraction such as 1/2. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two fractions refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with symbols >, =, or <, and
justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual fraction model.) After recess, we went to the book fair to purchase books and I'm happy to say that every child was able to get at least one book at the book fair this year! Some shopped with their parents, but everyone is blessed with at least one new book! They were so excited for their new books that they spent about 45 minutes reading after we returned! Then, we worked on writing our "Diary of a ____ " stories or researching. We finished our day with reading more from Maniac Magee. I loved today's readings about colors of skin... ask your kiddo!

November 13, 20113

Another conference late night... sorry for the late post!

Yesterday, we began our day with Guidance. It started with a very troubling incident~about 2/3 or even 3/4 of the group blatantly made fun of another student all at once. We discussed this matter further and I expressed my disappointment as well as what it means to stand up and not go along with the group. Hopefully, students will show more compassion to others after our conversation-wow. After music, we came back and worked on our math menu. Students played games and worked in a small group with me to help their understanding of equivalent fractions, as well as manipulated color tiles and used their fraction kits to model this understanding. I had an appointment in the afternoon so a substitute was here. She read Voices in the Park, a book about different points of view/perspective, to them and then they worked on Ohio Studies Weekly, author's point of view in non-fiction text and read silently and, hopefully, independently. In Writer's Workshop, some were ready to begin their research project of writing their "Diary of a ___" while others used the iPads for research.

11-12-13 (love it!)

Today was a very productive day! We began our day working with information on the Mound Builders and reading timelines. We visited the Book Fair after Art to preview the sale. As always, they love the posters but I, along with the volunteers, encouraged them to look at and shop for BOOKS too. :) In Math, we continued our work with equivalent fractions (Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions.) Students had a math menu that they will be completing over the next couple of days with games and activities to secure this understanding. It was indoor recess because of the snow but students did a good job with this today. We learned more about Maniac today in Read Aloud. He finally has an address! Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee is teaching us about belonging and that color of skin doesn't matter, it is the person inside. In Reader's Workshop, we read, researched and worked on Ohio Studies Weekly. We had a great brain break, freeze dance, to some great music! (Thank you Samuel!) We ended our day in the Media Center completing (or what I thought was completing) our research... students have found the bare minimum and I am asking them for MORE!! Your child may have brought home their work to do some research at home~this will count as both reading and writing for homework!

Monday, November 11

Sorry this is late~I was here until 7:00 pm with conferences...

We began our day with finishing up our conference presentations and practicing with a partner in preparation for sharing with you. After special, we worked on our first fraction lesson. This group did great! We made a kit with fraction strips to help us along the way with our understanding of fractions. Then, we played "Uncover" and "Cover." Our goal over the next few days is:  Explain why a fraction a/b is equivalent to a fraction (n × a)/(n × b) by using visual fraction models, with attention to how the number and size of the parts differ even though the two fractions themselves are the same size. Use this principle to recognize and generate equivalent fractions. **I left at lunch for an appointment. Mrs. Debby Bowers (an AMAZING teacher) was our substitute for the rest of the afternoon.** For Read Aloud, they read The Wall by Eve Bunting and read an informational text about Veterans Day. Hopefully, they came away with an understanding of the observation yesterday and the importance of our veterans. In Reader's Workshop, they worked together to discuss point of view and perspective in literary text (narrator, first-person, third-person). They researched in Writer's Workshop and most did a great job getting their questions answered and their research logged.

Friday, November 8

Happy Friday! We began our day with Guidance since we missed it last week. Mrs. Vidic talked about tobacco, drugs and alcohol. Then, in Math, we had a "Progress Check." I took a few problems from everything we've learned thus far to see if they've made progress since our last test. For the most part, they did. They are coming home with your child today if you'd like to see them and have your kiddo make corrections. We are moving on to fractions next week! In Read Aloud, we found out how Jeffrey Magee got his nickname, "Maniac." For Reader's Workshop, we applied our figurative language understanding to a story about Princess Penelope and completed our silent letter word puzzles. In Writing, we continued our research.

Thursday, November 7

We started our day with making a timeline of events from our "Diary of a 4th Grader" stories. We'll be working with timelines of all kinds throughout the year. In Math, we worked with Piles of Tiles and tried again to solidify our algebraic thinking. After a chilly recess, we began Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli for our next read aloud. This is one of my favorite books and I hope the kids like it as much as I do. In Reader's Workshop, we played Inference Shoots and Ladders and worked with a problem and solution reader's response. I also took this time to get kiddos caught up with their workboard work... unfortunately a large majority have a lot to do to get caught up... We finished the day researching with the iPads. Overall, a good day.

Wednesday, November 6

Hump Day!! Today was an overall good day. We began the day with Social Studies and finishing up our learning on the Mound Builders in Ohio. We also looked at Fort Ancient, Ohio as well as the Shrum Mound which is near us, on Google Earth. (Thank you Mr. Sayers for letting us know about this very close resource!) The kiddos LOVE to look at our visual history markings using Google Earth. I think it helps them to feel connected with the history that we are learning about. In Math, we went over our exit slips from yesterday and talked about making T-charts to help organize our thinking. Then, looking at the T-charts, came up with patterns and used these patterns to find the rule for the pattern. Some even went a step further to create equations with variables! I gave them another exit slip to see if their understanding is any more secure... stay tuned! After an indoor recess :(, we read about Zeus and Poseidon as well as Medusa. We are in between read alouds right now so this was just a fun read that helped us to understand a little about the way Greek mythology has crept into our literary world. In Reader's Workshop, we worked more with this mythological language (Achilles' Heel, Midas Touch, Pandora's Box, etc.) so students can understand it when they come across it in their independent reading. We also read silently and independently as well as met with me for reading groups. We collected research using the iPads in Writer's Workshop after our "Diary of a 4th Grader" story was finished.

Tuesday, November 5

I was only at school for the first part of the day today as I had an appointment this afternoon. Here is what we did while I was there along with what I left in my plans for the substitute to complete.
It was technology Tuesday and I got the iPads today instead of the iPods. Students LOVED working with them. Unfortunately, more than 1/2 the class left for testing with Mrs. Nelli so instead of doing Science or Social Studies, we continued technology Tuesday and got more familiar with the iPads. After special, we finished our work with the school newspaper algebraic thinking math problem. Then we completed an exit slip to see if this knowledge transferred over. Unfortunately, it did not. Tomorrow, we will go over these exit slips, discuss, practice and try again. Students needed to find the pattern and continue it and then come up with the rule. I'm not sure why they weren't successful because they showed understanding during class yesterday and today. :( After recess, students went to the library to vote for the Buckeye Children's Book Award. If there was time left, the substitute read This Is Not My Hat, which is a nominee for K-2 students but a really cute book. In Reader's Workshop, they worked with vocabulary, read silently and began looking at Greek mythology. The way they need to understand this language is figuratively. For example, if when reading, they read that something was someone's "Achilles Heel," they need to understand what that means just as we learned about idioms, similes and metaphors. This is something new for 4th grade so hopefully, they will be able to apply this understanding to their reading. In Writer's Workshop, they either finished their "Diary of a 4th Grader" stories or collected research. Finally, the day ended with puzzles for our Word Study generalization, silent letters.

Monday, November 4

Another Monday! I don't know why Mondays have to be so hard... We began with learning a little about the Mound Builders. We also used Google Earth to locate the Great Serpent Mound which is a mound built by the Ft. Ancient people. In Math, we worked on our Algebraic Thinking and number patterns with a question/problem about collecting aluminum cans and began a second one on making a school newspaper. Students are really using their mathematical practices to work through and explain/prove their thinking. After recess, we went down to the media center to work with Mrs. Dorr on research. She showed us how to narrow our search and find valid resources. Then, we came back and watched a live webcast with Jeff Kinne~the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (see picture below). It was awesome! He gave us a look into his newest book, Hard Luck, which comes out this week, as well as his craft and how he goes through the writing process. Also, his day job is to run Poptropica. I had no idea! This is a site where there are games and things for kiddos to play. I haven't checked it out because it is blocked from our computers at school-the kids say it is appropriate but not educational. I'm going to check it out at home tonight but some of your kiddos may want to do the same since he talked about it today. We finished the day with a pre-test in Word Study.

TGIFriday, November 1

It's Friday!! We started our day with meeting up with our first grade buddies and making turkeys! Then, after Mr. B got them all sweaty and stinky in gym, we worked on our algebraic thinking. We went over our posters on frog and toad's jumps from yesterday but then did some whole group learning/thinking with equations and variables. Students did great with this. Next week, we'll see if they can transfer this understanding to other situations. Since we finished Guests yesterday, we read from the Ohio text book about the first people of Ohio. It doesn't seem like fun but was actually a pretty great discussion about how people first got to North America and Ohio. I don't think they minded our learning today. Then, we played "Befudiom" during the first part of Reader's Workshop. Thanks, Becca for the fun game about idioms! For the second part, we read silently as well as discussed the difference between main idea in Non-Fiction and theme in Fiction. Then, we finished writing our "Diary of a 4th Grader" stories. I can't wait to share these at conferences.

Happy Halloween!

Today was ok. Is it a full moon tonight or are kids just excited for the festivities?? Anyway, Guidance needed to be rescheduled because Mrs. Vidic went home ill. So, we worked on our Ohio Studies Weekly on Ohio's First People. Then, after Music, we continued our work on algebraic thinking with the California Frog Jumping Contest. With this activitiy today, they worked on multiples of numbers and using number lines to solve for the unknown. They struggled a little bit today. This is supposed to be Day 2 but was our Day 4 and we're still not done... the exit slips proved to show they are developing their thinking but I'd really like for more to be secure. We'll keep working! After recess, we finished Guests. Ask  your kiddo if they liked it. In Reader's Workshop, we read silently, finished writing our inferences and buddy read a non-fiction article and found the main idea. We worked on our "Diary of a 4th grader" stories for Writer's Workshop.

Stay dry if you're headed out for Trick-or Treat... :)

Wednesday, October 30

We began our day with a story, Miss Nelson is Missing. Ask your kiddo about it and how they can connect it to us. We also decided to focus on the core virtue of Self-Discipline this week. After our class meeting, we worked on helping to keep the Earth from being too damaged by Earth's processes. They came up with some great examples, even some that weren't too realistic--missiles? After Art, we worked with open number lines and division. Then, we worked more with the California Frog Jumping Contest and frog's and toad's jumps and where they meet up. This was helping them with multiples, factors and algebraic thinking-solving for the unknown. We had a great lunch and recess and then read from Guests. Moss' father told a wonderful story about how the people came to be where they are. We should finish the book tomorrow. In Reader's Workshop, we worked with inferences, buddy reading to find theme and main idea and silent reading. After a "Would You Rather" brain break, we applied our understanding of timelines as well as preparing for the final project of our research and wrote "Diary of a 4th Grader" stories. They really enjoyed these!

Tuesday, October 29

Oh boy, what a day... In Science, we talked about helping to prevent Earth's processes from being so damaging. Students brainstormed some ideas and we will hopefully try some of them out. During Science, the power went out unexpectedly for about 5 minutes and so we cleaned up a few minutes early. After gym, we continued our work with the California Frog Jumping Contest. Great job on problem solving and being thinkers!! Instead of Read Aloud, we went to the library to do some research. Students seem to feel that the information they need will just fall out of the books on to their papers so we had a little conversation about SEARCHing for the answers to our questions. When we returned to the classroom, we read silently and worked on writing/solving equations. We ended the day discussing timelines and making one of our day.

Monday, October 28

Well, it was another Monday. In Social Studies, we completed (some completed but no more class time will be devoted to these) our ABC Ohio Google documents. Students may continue working during their free time and/or at home. The beauty of Google Apps is that they can collaborate on their document with their partner but never be together. To access their document: hilliardschools.org --> click on the "STUDENTS" tab --> and then click on "Google Apps for Education". From here, they should be good to just enter their lunch number and password. After music, we went over our Math tests. Ugh. Most were awful. I think this is due to a combination of things: the language of the common core, application of skills, too much/too long and that some just need intense intervention. After going over our assessments, we began our algebra inquiry unit. This unit centers around the California Frog Jumping Contest so we began by watching a "frogumentary" about the history of this contest and even watched a little diddy about the Jumping Frog Jubilee! Students then, got into groups to solve some problems and discover how far each of MT's jumps and steps are. It was a beautiful day at recess and then we learned more about Moss and Trouble while reading Guests. I think Moss has a less self-centered approach to life after his "away time" and I think his family looks to him more as an equal now too. In Reader's Workshop, students secured and proved their understanding of figurative language, answered a question that had to do with division and remainders and worked to use details from text to answer questions about literature. We had a "Would You Rather" brain break today which was a good mix of weird, gross and fun. Then, we prepared for researching by creating four questions about our topic during Writer's Workshop. I also read Diary of a Worm and part of Diary of a Fly to them to show them the model of how they will present their research.

TGIF! October 25

I was exhausted today so I bet the kiddos were too... This morning, we finished our perspective writing pieces and hopefully, secured our understanding of slow and rapid processes that shape our Earth and how landforms are created. Some also worked on their ABC Ohio book. In Math, we finished our assessments. I will grade these over the weekend and send them home on Monday. We will be working on a 10 (or more) day unit, starting Monday, on Algebra that the district gave us to use in teaching Operations in Algebraic Thinking. They will continue to get support in numbers and operations throughout this unit so they should be securing their number sense. Most of them understand the concepts but are unclear of the language of the common core and applying these skills. This will get easier the more we work. After lunch and a very chilly recess, we read more about Moss and Trouble's "away time" and I am predicting that Moss might be headed back home... We worked on Time For Kids about the government shutdown during Reader's Workshop. In Writer's Workshop, we picked the topics we will be researching for our "Diary of a ____" piece that we will be making and sending in to Scholastic for a contest they are holding. We finished the day with a little organizing and cleaning up our space.

Wednesday, October 23 and Thursday, October 24

Sorry I didn't post yesterday but was super busy with fall concert rehearsals... Anyway, here's what yesterday brought us:
Fall Concert Rehearsal all morning. Indoor recess. We read Guests and found that Moss has decided to take his "away time" to figure out who he really is. In Reader's Workshop, we practiced for math, free-wrote and read silently, looking for figurative language in our independent reading book. I worked with students to use the words of literary text to answer questions. They like to put in their opinion but if the question asks for them to use details from the story, they NEED to do that. I'm not sure why they are struggling with that but we'll keep working at it. Finally, we set up a Google Doc for an ABC Ohio book that they will be making. This book is to help us get into researching.

Today, we had a normal day. We played catch up at the beginning of the day and either worked on our Science perspective writing piece or began researching Ohio for our ABC book. After gym, we took our math assessment. Woo hoo! We didn't finish, so we'll take tomorrow to finish. Students are working so hard and it is a long and difficult test. It is almost all application of skills and they are really doing a nice job with perseverance. Hopefully, their scores will match. After reading more about Moss and now Trouble in Guests, we learned more about why they are taking their "away time" which is for very similar reasons and for reasons I think all of us can relate to. After Read Aloud, we went to the computer lab to work on our ABC Ohio book.

See you at the concert tonight!

Tuesday, October 22

Hola! We had a short learning day today... Fall Concert rehearsal was from 9:20 until 11:45! Don't forget to send in your quarters for Mrs. Root to thank her for her amazing dedication to us! After lunch and recess, we read more from Guests, our new book for read aloud. We are still getting to know Moss and his family and a new character, Trouble, was introduced. In Reader's Workshop, we read silently and independently, worked on characters' thoughts, words and actions in reading groups, completed/began an Ohio Studies Weekly on the Early People of Ohio, played "Drop the Chicken," and some were able to free-write and practice math. In Writer's Workshop, we made collaborative stories at our tables. Fun!

Monday, October 21

Happy Monday! (or is that an oxymoron??) Today was 1 of only 3 normal days this week as we have rehearsal for the fall concert on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. In Science, we continued our work with our culminating activity for Weathering, Erosion and Deposition where we write from the perspective of soil or sand going through a slow and rapid process. We received our review sheet/study guide for Math. Most students didn't finish which is perfectly fine. They should work a little tonight and then bring it back because we will work on it more in class tomorrow. If they finished working in class, I checked over their work and highlighted any incorrect answers for them to fix. Some felt that they were finished but have a LOT of highlighter on their papers... Ask your child to see their study guides. The test will be very similar so if they do well on this review, they should do well on the assessment. The assessment will be THURSDAY since we have rehearsal the next two days. We began a new book for Read Aloud today. Guests by Michael Dorris is a story about Native Americans meeting Europeans when they came to the U.S. It is a great read told from the perspective of the Native Americans instead of what we usually read, from the Europeans. In Reader's Workshop, we read silently and looked for figurative language in our independent reads, worked on an Ohio Studies Weekly about Ohio's first people and played "Drop the Chicken." We then started a new thing where we take a Brain Break between Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop. Today, our Brain Break was a dance party! The entire class got a conga line going... :) Finally, we ended our day listening to music while reading the lyrics and picking out figurative language used. We saw similes, metaphors, alliteration, personification, hyperboles and onomatopoeia. All in all a great day!

TGIT(but really our Friday!), October 17

We MADE today a fabulous day. The sub report wasn't great and the students and I were all feeling a little down about things. So, we used Guidance as time to chat about our feelings and appropriate behaviors with and without a sub. The thing is, only 2 or 3 kiddos had a bad report from the substitute. I think the class is such a community that they feel everything that happens around them. After our discussion about making bad choices doesn't make you a bad person and moving seats around, we moved on. We completed 3 division problems in Math and the students shared their thinking on posters. I shared with them that they are lacking in confidence because they DID division and I have never taught them this skill. They figured it out themselves! This was pretty empowering. We read silently, worked on the who, what, when, where, why and how of informational text and visited the library if needed so we had enough to read over the long weekend. We also finished Nightmare at the Book Fair! Ask your kiddo what they think about the book. I also took some time to write down something I love about each student and passed them out. I want them to realize that I don't ever love them less because of a bad choice that they make. All in all, I'm leaving here today with a smile on face and love in my heart! (Too gushy?) :) Have a great weekend!

Tuesday and Wednesday, October 15-16

Hopefully, things are going well. I am out for day two of Problem Based Learning training. Mrs. Williams and I are busy creating some great, authentic lessons/units for our 4th graders. Overall, Mr. Metz said, things seem to be going well. Your child should be able to tell you what's been going on in the classroom but here is what I've left in my plans:
Science~Weathering, Erosion and Deposition perspective writing
Math~division and writing about numbers
Read Aloud~Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster and doing some activities with words
Reader's Workshop~comprehension worksheet, figurative language game
Writer's Workshop~cut out words from magazines and combine words to make "Nutsy News Stories"

Monday, October 14

It was another Monday. Goodness, they just keep coming! Anyway, it was a day that was a little out of the ordinary as we had our fire safety assembly this afternoon. This morning, quite a few kiddos visited the school store for their prizes from filling their reading minute punch cards. Kudos! After that, we worked on Science. Students are showing that they understand Weathering, Erosion and Deposition (the processes that shape Earth) by writing from the perspective of a rock, piece of sediment, soil or sand. They have to take us on their journey through a slow process and a rapid process as well as discuss a landform they helped in creating. They are really excited about this! After special, we worked on our number riddles from last week. They are doing a pretty good job of applying the vocabulary of prime, divisible, mutliple, etc. We also began division. This is a very beginning skill for 4th grade so we're not going to work too much with it. I just want them to know the basics of what it is and come up with a strategy that is mostly efficient in solving a division problem. We are almost finished with Nightmare at the Book Fair. Trip found the magical gold plated knick knack and when he awoke, he was at a girls' get together and surrounded in pink! I'm very girlie but this chapter is very exaggerated! I love reading it to the kids! We will finish up on Thursday. For Reader's Workshop, students read silently and independently and worked on questioning while reading a TFK article. This is a way to show close reading and from all the questions I had, students are not showing that they are reading closely but we'll keep at it. We finished our day with a video and Q & A with the Norwich Township fire department.
I'm out tomorrow and Wednesday for class on Project Based Learning. Mr. Metz will be in both days so they should have stability. Ask your child about the next two days and see what they can come up with on their own.

                     

TGIF!! October 11

Wow! Today was a catch-up day in a lot of what we did. It just worked out that we needed some time to just work and get ourselves caught up in Reading, Writing and Word Study. Unfortunately, we can't afford too many of these days so some kids may need to start bringing class work home to get caught up on or finish if they don't get it complete during the school day. If they used their time wisely, there should be no problem completing the work in the time given. If your child is bringing work home, it is a red flag to you that they probably didn't use their class time wisely.

In Social Studies, we finished our work with Ohio's resources. In Math, we cleared up misconceptions with multi-digit multiplication, practiced more and tried to apply what we've been learning through completing number riddles. This set some kids into a frenzy because they needed to apply and use all of the vocabulary we have been using. We will complete these number riddles next week. This group is very black and white and that fuzzy, gray area really stresses them out. I'm ok with this because it is teaching them perseverance and problem solving. They are not ok with this now, but it will get easier. After recess, we finished the animal fiction chapter of Nightmare at the Book Fair and began the fantasy section. This is a funny section because it really exaggerates fantasy literature. We played catch up with our Reading and Writing Workshop work during the afternoon.

Thursday, October 10

Happy Thursday! The report from the substitute was so-so. Some kiddos did excellent and received warm fuzzies, while the class as a whole earned a potato head piece for their behavior during the fire drill. According to the sub report, this is an "energetic" class. :) I have discovered that we need to work on our writing the most and the worst part of the day, behavior-wise, is during Writer's Workshop. I think that students are choosing to be noisy and loud during writing because they don't want to write. Wow-I'm amazing! Now, I just need to get them more into writing and everything will be wonderful...

In Science, we completed our Weathering, Erosion and Deposition sort and read books about Earth's processes. We continued our work on factors, multiples and prime numbers during math. After recess, we read from the animal fiction section with Trip as a cat! The students that have cats at home were able to make lots of connections! In Reader's Workshop, we wrote sentences using our words from Word Study, read silently and independently and then wrote a response about what we read. Finally, in Writer's Workshop, we continued our narratives about what happens on our street.

Wednesday, October 9

I was out today for Professional Development on the Common Core standards that we are implementing this year. I did take away a few things and a couple of resources that I'm looking forward to using in the classroom. Each day is still overwhelming but hopefully, things will get easier as the year goes on. Here is what the substitute, Mr. Metz, was able to complete. In Social Studies, they were reading about farming and agriculture in Ohio and then discussing the causes of this great farmland we have. In Math, they were continuing the work we began yesterday with factors by playing a game, factoring numbers and then moving into application of multiplication and division. I am selfish about not letting subs read our Read Aloud book so Mr. Metz read a picture book called, Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street. They brainstormed ideas about their own street and what "never" happens there, which they then used in Writer's Workshop to write a narrative about. In Reader's Workshop, they continued their work on math vocabulary, read silently or visited the library and showed their understanding of the Time For Kids that they read yesterday by completing a worksheet that accompanied it.
Hopefully behavior was good today... I'll find out in the morning when I return to school! Your kiddo could probably let you know, though.

Tuesday, October 8

What a great day! This morning, we listened to some amazing speeches for Student Council. It was a tough choice and after counting the votes, extremely close! Our winner only had 6 total votes...congratulations Jeffrey! In Math, we worked with factors and finding factor pairs and making factor rainbows for numbers. This also reaffirmed our understanding of prime and composite numbers. After lunch and recess, we finished the historical fiction chapter of our book. Trip got to walk on the moon! Then, we read an Easy Reader section about a boy named Reed McReady who loved to read. Hmmm..... sounds a lot like a kiddo we have in our room--great connection kids! In Reader's Workshop, we worked on close reading in reading groups, math vocabulary words and read a Time for Kids. In Writer's Workshop, we continued with our personal narratives. Finally, we completed our day with Word Study and sorting our spelling words.

Sorry this is so late...

Monday, October 7

Oh happy day! In Science, we continued our inquiry project with Weathering, Erosion and Deposition. We also looked into more processes that shape Earth and decided if they were rapid or slow processes. Our rehearsal for the fall concert ran long so we only had time for a number talk in Math. After recess, Trip went to the moon! We are in the midst of the Historical Fiction chapter and Trip is part of the 1969 mission to the moon. In Reader's Workshop, I met with groups to do some close reading and get the basics of literary text. Students also worked on their Ohio Studies Weekly on the regions of Ohio and defining some Mighty Math Words. In Writer's Workshop, we revised our personal narratives. After reading some of them over the weekend, I found that our writing needs to develop a lot more than where it currently is. We finished our day with a pre-test in Word Study.

Friday, October 4

We began this lovely Friday with our first grade buddies. Each kiddo read to their buddy and then they drew pictures. It was a great time to just chill out and be kids! After special, we had a number talk and then practiced 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication. In Nightmare at the Book Fair, we read a mystery as well as a reference chapter. Trip isn't any closer to figuring out what is going on or getting back to lacrosse tryouts. In Reader's Workshop, students read silently or visited the library, played Boggle and completed an Ohio Studies Weekly about the regions of Ohio and Ohio's place in the United States. We continued writing our personal narratives in Writer's Workshop.

Thursday, October 3

Hola! Konichiwa! Guten-tag! (These are just a few of the greetings I received today.) We had a different schedule today due to Guidance and Fall Concert Rehearsal. In Guidance, Mrs. Vidic read Three Questions to the class. This book began the discussion on compassion, empathy and following the golden rule. Ask your child about it~it seemed like a pretty powerful read. Afterwards, we researched the situations from our Weathering, Erosion and Deposition sort that we had confusion on. Pretty much what we decided is that Weathering deals with the breaking down of rock, Erosion deals with the movement of soil, sand and sediment and Deposition is when landforms are created from this erosion and weathering. We had a long special due to Fall Concert Rehearsal so Math was shortened but we were able to play Splat! This game got our brains practicing 2-digit by 2-digit but with multiples of 10. After lunch and recess, we finished up the Humor chapter with Captain Obvious and the Exaggerator. This was a great way to talk about figurative language and literal language. The kids loved that they used immature words like booger and snot but I loved that they learned a little something too! :) In Reader's Workshop, they proved that they knew their Word Study generalization by finding other words that fit the pattern and reviewed pronouns. Students also read silently and/or visited the library. In Writer's Workshop, we took our graphic organizers and used them to write a personal narrative.

Wednesday, October 2

Oh boy! Each student began the day with 3 tickets. If they needed any reminders for behavior and/or talking, they had to give me a ticket. Whatever tickets they had left at the end of the day went into a lottery and I pulled out a winner. Congrats Blaine! This was mostly effective. However, I did find that I still gave warnings without taking tickets so I'll need to be better at taking tickets tomorrow. Hopefully, this will curb our chatty behavior and loud transitions! There may still be Behavior Reflection sheets coming home, I'm still passing out warm fuzzies and the class earned another piece for Mr. Potato Head from the report I got from the substitute.
In Science, we sorted situations by if they described Weathering, Erosion or Deposition. There was some debate on some of the situations so we will research and decide at a later date. In Math, we focused on factors, prime numbers and composite numbers through working with cubes to make arrays and learning a little about cicadas. Ask your child what cicadas have to do with math... After recess, we read the chapter on Science Fiction from Nightmare at the Book Fair. This chapter had aliens and UFOs! One of my favorite chapters is next, Humor, with Captain Obvious and the Exaggerator!! The kids saw my excitement and talked me into reading a little from it and it was the best read ever! (Just kidding but that is an example of what the Exaggerator might say.) In Reader's Workshop, we read silently and independently, sketched characters from our independent reads and completed a Mad Lib that was turned in to be assessed. I think most understand and remember parts of speech which will be helpful moving in to relative pronouns... ugh... who, whom, whose, which and that. In Writer's Workshop, we gathered ideas for the beginning, middle and end of our personal narratives. Tomorrow, we'll take our graphic organizers and begin writing personal narratives. We finished our day by sorting our Word Study words. This week, our words have a vCe pattern where the silent e at the end of the words makes the vowel a long vowel sound.

Thank you for the added interest in reading the blog. I hope it has helped you to get a look into our day and guide better conversation with your children. Also, the kids really like giving me the secret message each morning! For tomorrow, have your child greet me with "hello" or "good morning" from another language.

Tuesday, October 1

Unfortunately, I have a sick kiddo at home today so I wasn't in class. You will probably get more information out of your child today than from me. Here's what I left in my plans for the substitute to do: In Social Studies, they were reading about Ohio's natural resources and using magazines to create a collage of examples of each resource. In Math, they were to continue their work with multi-digit multiplication and to play Multiplication Wrestling which will help them to understand the partial products method for multiplication and multiplying 2-digit by 2-digits. After lunch and recess, the sub read One Green Apple to the students for Read Aloud. This is a great read about accepting differences and compassion. Hopefully, your child was able to grasp the theme of the book. In Reader's Workshop, they read a Time For Kids, read silently and independently and worked with Mad Libs to practice parts of speech. In Writer's Workshop, they filled in a graphic organizer discussing the basics of a personal narrative or a story about something that has happened in their life. Most good personal narratives surround an event with great emotion. What did your student write about?
I should be back tomorrow as I think grandpa will be staying with Adison if needed.
For tomorrow's warm fuzzy, please have your child give me two thumbs up. Thanks for playing along and getting involved in the blog as well as getting your child involved!

Monday, September 30

Hello! In Science, we continued to work on our Weathering, Erosion and Deposition Inquiry project. The kiddos are making great connections between what they are doing in class and what happens to Earth's surface. Woohoo! In Math, we read a book about strategies to help us multiply our numbers, The Best of Times by Greg Tang. It is not good to simply memorize basic facts. If we understand the strategies, we can solve any problems with those numbers. For example, 8's. 8 x 4 = 32. Double 4 (8), double 8 (16), double 16 (32). So, 8 x 15 = 120 because: Double 15 (30), double 30 (60), double 60 (120). We also practiced the area method for solving multi-digit multiplication problems. Can your kiddo show you this method? After recess, we read more from Nightmare at the Book Fair. This time we read from the Adventure genre. Students shared that there was danger and action in this chapter. In Reader's Workshop, we practiced/reviewed parts of speech by completing Mad Libs. Fun! We also focused on characteristics of the characters in our independent reads. This is a way to show close reading~paying attention to details. In Writer's Workshop, we took that thought about characters from reading and applied it to writing narratives-fictional and personal. We rolled our story dice to get characters, setting and plot, and wrote about A police officer, on an island that helps a friend. We will work with the basics of writing narratives more this week and I'm sure will come up with some great stories! We finished the day with a pre-test but did not have time to write our words in our planners so check tomorrow for them.

**Have your child greet me with, "Here's looking at you kid," tomorrow to receive a warm fuzzy!

Friday, September 27

TGIF! I have never needed a weekend more... this cold is sticking around way too long! Hopefully, after a couple days of rest, I'll be back in tip-top shape. I miss my bubbly self! Anyway, we had a great teachable moment this morning during our inquiry project on weathering, erosion and deposition. Yesterday, they read about Ohio's glacier and how it carved out the land. So, today, while working with our sand, soil and gravel, they put an ice cube on top of each. They soon finally started to realize how their small simulations related to the bigger picture of our Earth. We will keep working with these concepts next week but while out and about this weekend, if you see any teachable moments, take them! In Math, we finished up with our math menu on multiplication from this week. We are by no means finished with multiplication but we are making progress. Please keep practicing those facts at home! In Nightmare at the Book Fair, Trip got away from Professor Psycho and ended up at the Super Bowl! Students also got their Book Genre Bingo forms. They need to read 5 different styles/genres of literature to get a Book Bingo. They have from now until the end of the year to complete this. Heck, if they return it next school year, I'd still reward them. In Reader's Workshop, they created words that fit their word study generalization by playing spelling games like Boggle and Words on my Mind as well as wrting a response about their favorite characters, setting and books. I can't wait to read these! We completed our day by writing about what comforts us. We used opinion writing in a different way by writing WHY things comfort us instead of choosing one thing or another.

**Have your child come to me Monday and say, "Purple Pancakes," and I'll give them a warm fuzzy for you reading the blog! Thank you!

Thursday, September 26

The students had a substitute this morning, Mr. Metz, and from his report, they had an overall good morning. The students told me that they needed reminded to get quiet though. In Social Studies, they learned about the glacier that carved through Ohio. They also learned a little bit about the ice age and played a game about it. In Math, they worked on their math menu and had pictures taken. After lunch and recess, we began our new read aloud book. We are reading Nightmare at the Book Fair by Dan Gutman. It is a great read! Each chapter gives the students a look into a different genre of literature. It is hilarious too because each genre is exaggerated. Ask your kiddo if they liked my imitation of Professor Psycho. In Reader's Workshop, we read, visited the library, read blogs by students and commented on them and wrote good, 4th grade sentences using our word study words. Would you rather spend the day as a ninja or pirate? Students wrote their opinions to this question and created evidence to support their opinion. They were great to read! Finally, we, unfortunately, ended the day with a lecture from me about respect and responsibility. Our rule that "Every child shall be safe and able to learn," is not being followed by all. I gave out some warm fuzzies to those that were helpful and quiet this afternoon and had to pass out some behavior reflections and give some warnings. Tomorrow will be a NO EXCUSE day. If kiddos are breaking the rule or core virtues, in any way, a behavior reflection sheet will be coming home. I hope not many though-hopefully my words this afternoon resonated with them.

Wednesday, September 25

Our first Late Start went well. Our morning was short! We worked on our Math Menu and then went to special and from special to lunch and recess. After recess, we finished Wonder. Sniff. Sniff. I LOVED it. What was your kiddos opinion? I also related the book to our behavior. At the end of the day, the same kids showed respect, responsibility and giving by cleaning up the classroom and the same kids didn't. I told the "Jack"s, "Summer"s and "Auggie"s to shine brighter than the "Julian"s of the class. This really hit them. Hopefully, tomorrow with a sub in the morning (I'll be at training), they can show that they understood my analogy. After we finished Read Aloud, students worked on their Prove-it for Word Study, read or visited the library and updated their kidblog. We ended the day writing our opinions on a better place to spend the day--the beach or an amusement park.

Picture Day is tomorrow!!

Tuesday, September 24

What a good day! In Science, we continued with our inquiry project on Weathering, Erosion and Deposition. The students are able to tell me what happened to their soil, sand and gravel but are having trouble making the connection to the Earth. Maybe if you are out and about, you could point out some evidence you may see of these processes or how Earth's surface has changed over the years. The biggest challenge is that these are very slow processes but what we've done in class to simulate is a quick process. We'll continue working on this-inquiry is a marathon, not a sprint. In Math, students practiced solving extended facts (3 x 2 = 6; 3 x 20 = 60; 3 x 200 = 600) and learned the area or rectangle method for solving 4-digit by 1-digit multiplication. In 4th grade, kiddos aren't expected to learn the traditional method for multiplication. Ask your child to show you how this method works. The majority should be able to show you. After lunch and recess, we went to the media center and learned about the Buckeye Children's Book Award nominees. I'm ecstatic to discover that Wonder is up for the award!! Mrs. Dorr also read us a picture book nominated and gave us a brief introduction to the other books nominated. I know what I'll be voting for! After learning that Wonder was nominated, we wanted to read more so we came back and read about Auggie and his FRIENDS! We will be finishing the book tomorrow and I'm a little sad to see it end... In Writer's Workshop, we worked more with opinions and forming a written opinion with reasons and evidence to back them up. We finished the day with sorting our spelling words.

Don't forget that tomorrow is LATE START! See you at 10:50!

Monday, September 23

I am still a little under the weather so the class being noisy and my voice being icky made listening a little inefficient. Anyway, we managed to get through the day! We began our day with a Science Inquiry project on Weathering and Erosion. They love Science because they get to DO but they can't forget the learning part too. In Math, we worked with multiplication. Students NEED to know their basic facts--no student scored proficient, or even above 60%, with their basic facts timed test when given 5 minutes. Yuck! We have gone away from timed tests as a district and I don't really believe in limiting students on the time they get to work, however, when it comes to their basic multiplication facts, in order to move on to 4-digit by 1-digit, knowing those facts and knowing them quickly is important. Please help your kiddo to practice these this week so that they don't struggle when learning tougher products this week. We also looked at arrays in Math in finding factors for numbers by reading One Hundred Hungry Ants. (A-hey and a-hi dee ho!) After recess, we went to the Library Media Center to take the TRAILS test. I'm not sure what they acronym stands for but it is a 16 question assessment on using sources and the library. It fits in with the Common Core in English/Language Arts and Mrs. Dorr does a great job going over the assessment results with the children and when they take it again in the Spring, they show tremendous improvement. When we came back, we read from Wonder. I'm not sure about your child, but this has become my new "favorite book!" It is worth the overdue fees I'm going to pay! :) Students also had some time to read silently. Quite a few kiddos need to build their stamina with reading. They have been choosing picture books only and not really reading when they are supposed to read independently. Please help them to build this stamina by reading 20 minutes at a time at home and choosing books that are longer and they have to return to instead of finishing in one sitting. In Writer's Workshop, we talked about opinions and persuasive writing. It is wonderful to have opinions and to express those opinions but they also need to be backed up with evidence and facts. We worked just on forming opinions and one reason for this opinion but will build this to three reasons with evidence and facts by the end of the unit. 4th graders should write multiple paragraphs. Finally, we concluded our day with a pre-test for Word Study. Their list is written in their planners if you'd like to peruse it. (If not, they didn't have enough time and will finish it in the morning.)

It's Friday, Friday, Friday, September 20

TGIF! Cough. Sneeze. Sniff... I've caught a cold. I'll bet the children will tell you how lovely my voice sounded today. They even tried to talk me out of Read Aloud because they were worried I wouldn't be able to do the voices as well. :) We finished up our Ohio Studies Weekly's on Ohio and the Constitution. These newspapers/magazines not only teach us about Social Studies concepts but also help us learn to SEARCH for information, skim, understand what we've read and many other reading and writing and vocabulary skills. If you still receive the newspaper, it would be great to have your child read parts of this with you and you can help them to search, skim and comprehend. In Math, we completed our subtraction activity on the explorelearning.com website. I liked it and the children seemed to enjoy it as well. I hope to use it a few more times over the 30-day free trial. In Wonder, we learned a little bit about Miranda, Via's best friend from before high school. They took a brief break but seem to be finding their way back to each other. We are almost finished with this book (which is good because it is overdue at the library and incurring fines...) and the final section comes back to August. In Reader's Workshop, students played spelling games--Boggle, Spill and Spell, Words in my Head--and checked out Destiny Quest on the computer, as well as reading silently. Final copies of book reviews are finished and will be mailed into Scholastic. I've got my fingers crossed that some of them might be published! We finished our day cleaning out our personal space and getting a little more organized.

Arrrgh! Thursday, September 19

Ahoy Mateys! Happy National Talk Like a Pirate Day! Visit Krispy Kreme for a free donut when you talk like a pirate or if you dress like a pirate, you get a dozen free!

In Guidance, Mrs. Vidic talked with the students about fears and how to address fears. It was a very nice discussion. Sometimes it is good to recognize and not be ashamed of our fears because the more we talk about them, the more we realize that we all have fears and can help each other through them. After Art, we went to the computer lab and worked on multiple digit subtraction using a "Gizmo" on explorelearning.com. I signed us up for a free 30-day trial. I'm trying to find resources that fit within the 21st century learning model and our new common core state standards--it's difficult but I'm trying! (If you ever happen upon something that you think could be helpful, please pass it along! Free is best... ) After indoor recess, we read Wonder. Unfortunately, Daisy did not make it. It was so sad! For Reader's Workshop today, we read How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long and David Shannon. Then, we made illustrations of what we would look like as pirates--including our pirate name (I'm Princess Landlubber). After that, we used our colorful illustrations to spark a story about our pirate selves. In Writer's Workshop, we continued our work with our Book Reviews. I'm going to mail them in to Scholastic over the weekend so they need to be finished tomorrow. Finally, we proved that we understand this week's spelling generalization by finding words around the room that fit the short vowel pattern.

Wednesday, September 18

We began our day with celebrating Constitution Day! It was actually yesterday but I had forgotten until watching Jeopardy reminded me. :) So, in honor of this momentous day, we read, We, the Kids and watched a School House Rocks video on the Preamble. These both helped the kiddos to understand the complexity of the Constitution and better understand the meaning behind this document. Then, we worked on an Ohio Studies Weekly about the US Constitution. Ask your kiddos if they know what this document is about. (On a side note, they are auditioning for Kids Jeopardy right now if you'd like to register your child. You have to register them and then they take an online test on September 25. Just google Kids Jeopardy!) In Math, we learned the standard algorithm for subtraction. We visualize this with base-10 blocks so if your child is practicing, they may be talking about trading in for longs or flats--this is what they are doing. Maybe they could explain their thinking to you. In Wonder, we got to a really emotional part--Daisy isn't doing so well and Mom is headed to the emergency vet. Uh-oh... For Reader's Workshop, we created a school with a "Dream Theme" as well as read silently and some met with me for a Guided Reading Group. In Writer's Workshop, we used proofreading marks to edit our Book Reviews and made sure we had good 4th grade sentences for revising. Finally, we sorted our words by short vowel sound in Word Study. Hopefully, after this second week of short vowel practice, we are getting better at spelling words on our own in our everyday writing--at least when it comes to the vowel.

Tuesday, September 17

We had a pretty good day--we are understanding the politics of school and that we need to get our work done and most of the socializing is coming at the appropriate times-lunch and recess. In Social Studies, we worked with partners to complete the Ohio Studies Weekly. This is a magazine/newspaper that helps teach us about Ohio's geography, history, government, economics, etc. Students read the paper, completed a crossword puzzle over the main ideas and vocabulary and completed a map skills activity to introduce themselves to the OSW. In Math, we had a mini lesson on the standard algorithm for addition. I heard a lot of, "well that's easier!" after I showed them this. Others needed to be reminded to line up their numbers but after working with some practice problems and graph paper, I feel much better. They then worked on their math menu. Instead of Read Aloud, we went to the Library Media Center for some work with Mrs. Dorr on the computer catalog and Destiny Quest. These are applications that students can get from home by visiting eSchool through the Student tab on hilliardschools.org . Once there, they can go to the MyLibrary tab and can search for books in our library as well as place books on hold and you can even view what books they have checked out and when they are due. Have your kiddo share this with you. Then, since we had missed most of Reader' s Workshop, we read silently when we returned. For Writer's Workshop, we continued our work with our Book Reviews for Scholastic. Finally, we took our pre-test for spelling. This week we are going to continue our focus on short vowels but with more challenging, multi-syllabic words.

Monday, September 16

Today was a Monday. :) We watched a video on Weathering and Erosion in Science. Students took away quite a bit of information from this video. Hopefully, over the next few weeks they will have a secure understanding of the processes that shape Earth. We got a new math menu for our math work this week. Our objectives for Math are to understand and demonstrate the standard algorithm (the way we learned) for addition and subtraction. We are also going to review basic multiplication facts. After lunch and recess, we read more from Wonder. This perspective was that of Justin, Via's boyfriend. We also took a look into author's craft with how the author wrote his section--NO CAPITALS. Ugh~it was difficult to read! Then, we had some guided reading groups and completed some work for Reader's Workshop. This week, in reading groups, we are focusing on close reading. I met with Green, Red and Blue today--can your kiddo tell you what close reading is? We are also looking at stamina and reading CHAPTER books. Kids are trying to find an assortment of books from the library that will keep them entertained or informed for a week as they will be going to the library weekly. I am keeping track of their independent reads and helping them to pick an assortment of genres and levels of books. Please help at home to be sure that they are reading independently many types of reading materials. In Writing, we are trying to practice multiple paragraph writing, editing and revising through writing book reviews. We are then going to send them into Scholastic News where there is a chance they could be published. Cool beans! (as Auggie would say)

Thank Goodness It's FRIDAY, September 13

It's Friday the 13th !! We had a pretty good day. We are recognizing our flaws as a class and working toward correcting them. As long as we are working toward being the best that we can be, we are good. We just can't forget about our Mission.
In Social Studies, we discussed Ohio's climate and how we hit a couple of seasons this week! :) We then moved on to review/learn about latitude and longitude. We talked about GPS and coordinates of places. Then, we used maps to figure out the latitude and longitude of places around the world and in Ohio. We checked how close we were by using Google Earth which was pretty cool! Maybe you and your kiddo could figure out the exact coordinates of something. If so, have them bring it in to share. In Math, we finished our math menu. Our rounding exit slip was MUCH better after playing the games this week for better understanding. After a chilly recess, we finished Jack's perspective and addition to Wonder and we got a glimpse of Via's boyfriend. I'm happy to report that Jack and Auggie are friends again! In Reader's Workshop, we played Spelling games like Boggle, Words in My Head and Spill and Spell. (This is what we do instead of Spelling Tests. I feel that students memorize their words for a test but never apply the generalizations in their writing. So, we play games and students have to recognize the generalization for extra points. I find that this is much better for all!) We also made rainbows that told a little about ourselves. We will use these next week to collect data about our class. We also read independently. Finally, in Writer's Workshop, we decorated our Writer's Notebooks! Beautiful and FUN!

Thursday, September 12

I should really start writing the blog in the morning because our mornings are so much better than our afternoons! I'm not quite sure why but we seem to fall apart around 2:00... We moved seats yet again to hopefully try to limit the talking--I'll let you know. We also had a 20 minute conversation about what is OK and NOT OK behavior at school. They DO know the difference, they now just need to demonstrate their understanding! Thank you again to the kiddos that always and consistently are following the core virtues--they know who they are!
In Science today, we took a pretest and learned a little about landforms. Ask your child what a peninsula is. We also followed the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon using Google Earth--pretty cool! In Math, we continued our work with place and value in our Math Menu and I worked with some small groups to solidify this learning. Next week, we will be moving on and I will be sending some kids further at a quicker pace-based on their needs. Today was our cooking day with Mrs. Shively's class! 5 kiddos each week will be cooking with Emma and the rest of Mrs. Shively's class. Today they made Rice Krispie Treats! After indoor recess, we read more about Jack and his thinking and perspective about life and Auggie in Wonder. Instead of reading independently, we buddy read in Reader's Workshop. We also finished our Science pretests and wrote sentences using our spelling words. In our Writer's Notebooks, we wrote using our 5 senses. This gives us another list of ideas to write about.

Wednesday, September 11

Not a good day. We didn't earn a painting in Art and we are going to be spending our recess tomorrow practicing "Ready to Learn", quiet transitions, lining up and walking down the hall quietly, working quietly, etc. (Well, some of us earned our recess back but I'm holding off on letting them know until lunch time tomorrow just so they keep it.) In Social Studies, we discussed Patriot Day--what it is, what a patriot is/stands for--and completed a couple of activities in honor/remembrance of Patriot Day. We continued our work on place and value with our Math Menu. I was able to meet with a couple small groups and help to fix any misconceptions and to solidify their understanding. After indoor recess, (what a storm!) we read some of Jack's perspective on Auggie in Wonder. We took some time this afternoon to get caught up with our work board work and finish up some things that some needed time for. We also read silently (at least they were supposed to be) and put Patriot Day words into alphabetical order. **Too many kiddos are reading I Spy books and short picture books where I'd like them to transition into reading chapter books. For Word Study, we proved we understand our generalization of all words have a vowel; this week, our words have short vowel sounds. We walked around the room and found words that fit this short vowel pattern. Some kiddos are still struggling with recognizing short vowels. Please help your child with this recognition if you happen to see or come across words in your reading or when you are together. They have their words written in their planners if you need a refresher on short vowels. :)

Tuesday, September 10

We have some awesome individuals in this class and I have been focusing on the talking and few kiddos that are loud and haven't taken enough time to say thank you to the majority of the class that have changed their behavior and are doing wonderful... so, THANK YOU! We played Homeworkopoly for the first time today. Some students are just hanging out until their next turn while others received rewards on their first move. Some of the rewards are chewing sugar free gum, first in line to eat, read with someone else and play computer games for morning work. In Social Studies, we learned about Ohio's location and landforms. Does your child know our borders? Or the region of the US Ohio inhabits? After gym, our stinky class :) worked in Guided Math. We are going to be learning Math kind of like we do Reader's Workshop. Students have a Math Menu that they work in partners and independently which allows me the ability to reteach or provide extension activities to small groups. Today, they just completed activities on their Math Menu and using their Exit Slip from today, tomorrow, I'll be able to pull some small groups. Instead of Read Aloud, we took the Scholastic Reading Inventory. Again, this is just another look at your child as a learnner. I am attending professional development on the 26th to interpret this data. After this assessment, we read silently while I continued to assess the remaining kiddos with their reading (6 more to go!) We worked in our Wrtier's Notebooks today and created a list of things we wonder about. Ask your child what they wonder--some were very profound, emotional, silly... Finally, we sorted our spelling words and found the generalization for this week's words-short vowel sounds.

Monday, September 9

Today was an overall good day. Mr. Potato Head has a nose! We worked with our Rubik's Cubes... this project is/was great is theory but some are really having a tough time and it seems to be causing unneccessary tears. Stay tuned. After special, we took the Scholastic Math Inventory. This was the first of 3 times we'll take it this year and it is just another snapshot of your child's math abilities. After recess, we learned more about Summer, Auggie's lunchtime buddy. She likes Auggie because he is cool beans! We had a pretty solid Reader's Workshop (this is where we earned the nose) where we worked with vocabulary, reflected on our reading capabilities and read silently. In Writer's Workshop, we discussed and practiced writing without boundaries. Students really enjoyed this! Finally, we took our first pre-test in spelling. We are working with short vowel sounds this week. Most students have their list in their planners but others will be finishing in the morning. Finishing the day a little earlier than last year is proving to be a lot tougher than I thought! 3:25 comes pretty quickly...