Ugh...rain, again?!?!

It seems like it rains every Wednesday...

In reading we reviewed the characteristics for writing a good summary and then applied them, along with a new approach. We read the fist section of a book called In the Deep. Then we reread this section and took notes as we read information that we felt was important. After that, we used the information we noted to write a summary of the section in our own words.

While I met with a reading group, the students continued independent work from yesterday.

Bears: We discussed the idea of people leaving one country for another in search of a better life and connected that to America being a "melting pot". Then I introduced our new book, Going Home. I also had groups of students look up vocabulary from this section, in the thesaurus, to share the meanings with the group. Tonight for homework the students need to read pages 4-9 and list 2 facts they read about.

In math we reviewed area and perimeter. I worked with two small groups. One group worked on creating conversion tables to solve word problems. The other group practiced identifying the area and perimeter of figures. There is an area and perimeter worksheet for homework.

Next we went to the computer lab where the students completed their decision trees, that we began last week using Kidspiration, from Uncle Jed's Barbershop.

Following lunch and indoor recess each student shared their main idea for their writing piece and we discussed how to support it using juicy details. Then they continued working on their independent work.

Lions: We read and discussed the rest of their book The Changing Earth. I modeled, and they practiced, using a comprehension strategy called STP, stop-think-paraphrase. Tonight they need to reread pages 13-15 and answer question 3, from the back of the book, on either a sticky note or in their RRJ...their choice!

We will end the day with a class meeting where we will discuss respect (their has been a HUGE lack of it) and active listening (lack here, too!).