Hump Day

This morning in math we reviewed rounding numbers to the nearest ten and hundred. I introduced the idea of drawing a picture of a number line to help. We also practiced solving subtraction problems with and without regrouping. After that, we took a formative. I only scored one side. The other side I provided feedback but did not score. The children have homework in their math journals this evening. Just in case, I will provide the problems below:
Round to the nearest 10:
29, 673
Round to the nearest 100:
889, 967
Solve:
602-181=
817-342=

We began reading with the morning message and then I read The Empty Pot aloud to the class. As we read we discussed character traits for the main character Ping and the importance of the setting. We also identified the problem and solution in the story and the events leading from the problem to the solution.

While I met with reading groups, the children wrote in their reading response logs and worked on other unfinished assignments.

Following PE, lunch and recess, I did a writing mini lesson with the children. I introduced the "hamburger" model for organizing a piece of writing...in short, thinking about the topic and concluding sentences as a bun of a hamburger...they are similar (made of the same ingredients) yet different (shaped differently). Well, topic and concluding sentences say almost the same thing in a different way. WE also discussed that a personal narrative needs to be about ONE topic...not a trip to Hershey Park but a ride on a roller coaster...the trip to Hershey Park is too broad.

I also took the time to share a student's piece of writing since it was on a specific topic, had a topic and concluding sentence and included GREAT sensory images!!!

Following the lesson, the children returned to their seats and worked on the reading assignment from the morning and then began a new personal narrative in their Writer's Notebook, trying to incorporate the teaching points from my mini lesson.

Then I met with reading groups.

Frog: We began reading The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Spring. For homework the children should finish reading it AND in their reading log they should write a character trait for King Shabazz and use information from the story to explain why they chose the trait.

JGB: Began answering and discussing the Animal or Human worksheet. For homework they are to finish the worksheet AND write one explanation for each item.

Dragon: Homework - reread Bread and Jam for Frances. In their reading log they are to write one character trait for Frances and use ideas from the story to explain why they chose the trait.

We ended the day with Mrs. Howard doing a lesson about respect.

Tomorrow is the LAST day to turn in book club orders.

Food for thought...

How many times do you have to repeat a direction to your child? (such as, put your jammies on, brush your teeth, take your shoes to your room, etc., etc.)

I am discovering that directions need to repeated more than 3 times on a REGULAR BASIS in here. This is just not a good use of our time!