Welcome Back!!!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Spring Break!!   My family and I certainly took advantage of the wonderful weather. 

Today marks the first day of the fourth (and final) marking period of the school year.  It's so hard to believe that we are in the home stretch...but we still have lots of learning to do!!

This morning I was in a meeting, so Mrs. Starkey helped me by beginning our poetry unit with my reading class.  They began by creating a chart of what the students knew about poetry.  After that, Mrs. Starkey shared MCPS's definition of poetry.  Next, the children had a chance to read through different books of poetry and locate two they liked.  Finally, and I was back to enjoy this part, they read poems out loud and shared why they liked them.

After completing our warm up in math, I gave the students a quick "exit card" to see what they remember about identifying fractions and mixed numbers on a number line.  You might remember that an exit card is a quick check in where the students complete one or two problems independently and then I analyze their responses to help guide my instruction.

Next we identified fractions of a set.  For example, what is 1/4 of 12?  I am teaching them to use the denominator to identify how many equal groups they need to make (using our example, they need to create 4 equal groups out of 12).  That determines the number in each group.  The numerator tells how many groups you are talking about.  We solved a couple of problems as a whole class today.  We will continue with independent practice tomorrow.  There is a fraction review sheet for homework.

Following PE, lunch and recess I reviewed and distributed a new spelling packet that is due April 20.  The spelling pattern is -are and the grammar focus is adjectives.  I also modeled how to fill out a personal inventory that we will use to help us write poetry.

While I met with reading groups the children completed their own personal inventory and worked on an  adjective activity.

Reading Groups
Bears:  We discussed the genre of fantasy and I introduced (but did not hand out) their new book, Bunnicula.

Lions:  We discussed the genre of fantasy and identified Gooseberry Park as a novel in this genre.  I had told the students we would begin a new novel after Spring Break but I have decided to continue with Gooseberry Park.

Crabs:  Unfortunately, we ran out of time and did not meet.

We ended the day by unpacking our next science unit which is Plant Growth and Development.  We also made a class chart listing predictions of what will happen to beans that we are soaking in water over night.