Wonderful Wednesday

This morning the children worked on their writing Wednesday stories.  After the announcements, some shared their writing.  Then we began our next persuasive writing lesson.

Today we focused on effective opening paragraphs that grab the reader's attention and clearly states the author's opinion.  We began by identifying different techniques the author's used in the model essays we have read thus far.  Then the children, with their writing partners, revisited their writing from yesterday to see if they had an interesting beginning and included a clear opinion statement.  After that, the students worked on their persuasive essay while I moved around to meet with individual students.  Finally, the children each shared their opening sentences/questions.

Next we switched for math and took a Go Noodle brain break.  Then we worked on a fraction warm up and reviewed last night's homework.  After that, we began our math rotations.

During the small group instruction the students subtracted fractions with like denominators
and were introduced to the idea of decomposing mixed numbers in order to solve subtraction problems.  During math with a partner, the students played a memory game involving the decomposing of a target fraction.  Finally, during the technology rotation, the students watched 2 Khan Academy lessons about adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators.  Then they completed 2  practice acitivities.  After that, they used Xtra Math to work on basic fact fluency.

There is a worksheet for HOMEWORK.

After math, the students enjoyed lunch and outdoor recess.

When they returned to class we began our literacy block.  After reviewing the characteristics of a good summary, I explained how to use the Stop-Think-Paraphrase strategy to understand text they are reading.  Then, using chapter 5, I modeled how to Stop-Think-Paraphrase and capture the "big picture" on an organizer.  Then I used the organizer to write a summary for the chapter.  After that, I read chapter 6 out loud to the class.

Next, the children enjoyed art with Mr. Cosgrove.

After art, the students reread chapter 6 and used the Stop-Think-Paraphrase to identify what is happening in the text.  Then they used the organizer to help them write a summary of the chapter.  Once they were finished, they completed a new WTW sort.

Homework is posted on GC - Holman's Homework.  Students should use the links to review chapters 5 and 6.  Then they need to complete their new word sort, or do a practice activity if they completed the sort in class.