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!