Wonderful Wednesday

This morning the children completed the Wednesday portion of the vocabulary sheet for our word of the week, adapt.  Then, they practiced their spelling skills by unscrambling letters to form words using an online game.  After the announcements, we switched for math.

Math began with a 24 Challenge  and mental division warm up.  Then, we reviewed last night's homework.  After that, we began our rotations.

During the small group instruction we used different strategies to estimate quotients.  Then, we solved the equations, to check  our answer, and wrote it as a multiplication problem.  During math with a partner, the students began playing a game of Squares to practice dividing 4-digit and 3-digit numbers by 2 -digit numbers.  Finally, during the technology portion, the students completed a session of Xtra Math and then used two online links to practice dividing multi-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers.

In between the second and third rotations, the students enjoyed lunch and outdoor recess.

Math homework is posted in GC.  Sorry that it didn't post last night.

After math, we began our literacy block with a writing lesson.  First we reviewed what we learned about traveling west by wagon train on Monday.  Then, we reviewed the student directions for part one of the performance task, reading a journal entry, taking notes, and answering research questions.  After that, the students worked with their writing partner to read a journal entry written by a boy traveling west by wagon train and take notes about the sights and experiences mentioned in the text.  Finally, we reflected about why we read a text more than once and how we worked responsibly with our partners.

Next, we began our reading lesson and independent work block.  First we reviewed the characteristics of prose.  Then, we reviewed the characteristics of poetry and important vocabulary pertaining to it.  After that, I explained what idioms are and we reviewed the literal and figurative meaning of some.  Finally, the students worked independently on the following tasks.

First, they completed the Wednesday portion of the reading skills page.  Then, they read a poem, answered some comprehension questions, and identified two inferences they understood in the poem.  After that, they re watched the complex sentences screen cast and completed another follow up practice sheet (except for the 4 students who followed directions on yesterday's assignment).  Next, the children viewed the literal and figurative meaning, and illustrations, of many idioms, and chose one to illustrate and explain.

As they worked, I met with all three guided reading groups. First, we reviewed the Wednesday section of the reading skills paper...this provided practice with making inferences.  Then, we revisited the poem they read independently and identified two inferences they made, including the text evidence they used and their background knowledge.  Finally, we identified and discussed examples of the characteristics of poetry that we found and how they helped us understand the poem.

We ended the day with a science lesson.  After reviewing the vocabulary related to the magnet unit.  I did a demonstration where it appeared 4 magnets were floating in the air.  The students identified what they saw, what they thought was happening, and what they wondered.