The Week Before...

I'm sure I don't need to tell you but these children are excited!!! Keeping this in mind, our focus this week in reading will be reading procedural text. Today we identified the characteristics of procedural text (directions). Then the students followed a set of written instruction to create Papel Picado, Mexican Cut Art.

There will NOT be a reading log assignment this week BUT spelling packets are due FRIDAY!!

Additionally, I will be assigning a "fun" cultural type of activity to EVERY student that will be due Friday. This project is to be done by the students...please do not let this burden you...it is meant to be quite simple.

Here's the idea...I want to spend Friday afternoon sharing holiday traditions, books, etc. that are special to each child. This can be done in many different ways...it can be as simple as bringing in your favorite holiday book to share with the class, or bringing in pictures that show a family tradition, or the child can write a few sentences describing a family tradition. This does not need to be an extravagant tradition...it may be as simple as baking cookies and watching the same holiday video each year or taking a picture each year in the same place...whatever it is your family does.

I want this to be a FUN way to spend the afternoon and learn about family cultures.

In math we practiced writing multiplications sentences using number lines. There is a array multiplication worksheet for homework. I pulled a few students to practice drawing pictures to find the product to number sentences. We also reviewed number lines and multiplication. Finally, the group practiced their basic facts with me using flashcards.

Following music, lunch and outdoor recess we tried to compare two pieces of writing using a chart stating the qualities of good writing. Unfortunately, the circuit breaker tripped several times and we eventually decided to table the lesson until tomorrow. I was disappointed, the kids, I think, were not.

While I met with reading groups, the students continued completing unfinished work and reading to perform a task to make Papel Picados. Miss Claudia worked with a few students to help them locate nouns and adjectives in sentences.

Reading Groups:
Bears: We read The Tortoise and the Hare and discussed the moral.
Crabs: We began reading A Pig in the Candy Store after we reviewed how to break down larger unknown words be recognizing the parts we do know.

We ended the day by attempting to investigate how sound travels. Unfortunately, we did not meet with much success. Therefore, we will try the experiment again tomorrow! :-)