Marvelous Monday

This week promises to be a great week, both inside and outside of the classroom!  :-)

We got a lot done in our morning reading and writing block.  First, the students had a chance to share the couplets they wrote on Friday, as part of their independent work.  After that we read another chapter in the Jack Prelutsky book.  Then, because of what we read, we reviewed how and why to use a thesaurus and a rhyming dictionary to improve our poetry.  Finally, I began an author study of Shel Silverstein.  We read and discussed a short biography about this famous poet.  I also shared some of his books.

For independent work today, the students will reread the Shel Silverstein bio and write 2 facts and 1 fib based on their reading.  This is a comprehension strategy.  After that, the students will write at least 2 more couplet poems.  When they are finished they will read poetry, look through a thesaurus or practice using a rhyming dictionary.

In math, we are taking a short break from fractions to learn how to solve 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication problems.  Students worked independently on a worksheet while I met with small groups.  One small group worked on identifying fractions of a set.  The other group placed mixed numbers on a number line.  There is a basic fact multiplication worksheet for homework.

After music lunch and recess, the students continued their independent reading and writing work while I pulled reading groups.

Bears:  We reviewed the chapter 1 vocabulary that we worked on last week.  Then, after passing out a copy of Bunnicula to each student, we began reading and discussing chapter 1.  Midway through the chapter, the students returned to their seats to finish reading it independently.  They were given sticky notes and instructed to mark places with a ? where they had a questions and mark places with a ! if they were surprised or liked the part.  We will use these to guide our discussion tomorrow.

Lions:  We reviewed the whiteboard summary we wrote, in group, last week.  Then we began reading and discussing chapter 11.  Midway through the chapter, the students returned to their seats to finish reading it independently. They were given sticky notes and instructed to mark places with a ? where they had a questions and mark places with a ! if they were surprised or liked the part. We will use these to guide our discussion tomorrow.


Crabs:  In group, the students read chapter 9 independently to identify 2 surprises.  Then I asked the group a couple of "right there" questions...questions with answers that were specifically answered, clearly, in the text.  They struggled a bit with answering these.  SO, we discussed the need to make meaning of what is going on in the book as you read.

We ended the day by observing our plants and recording our first observations in our plant packet.