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!!