Rainy Monday

After such a beautiful weekend, today's weather is such a bummer, isn't it?!?!?!

This morning, in our reading and writing block, we used an anticipation guide to help us focus on our reading and improve our comprehension.  The anticipation guide was a list of 6 statements that the students either agreed or disagreed with, prior to reading.  This forced the students to recall any background knowledge they had on the subject, in this case whales.  After completing the anticipation guide, we read and discussed the book called Whales.

Next, I handed out the next spelling packet which is due May 25.  We reviewed the spelling words and previewed the grammar activities which focus on the use of commas.

After that we discussed good strategies to use when drafting a rough draft. These included skipping lines, writing on one side of the paper, circling words you think you misspelled and remembering that the bulk of the story is the middle where you state the problem and the events leading up to the solution.

This afternoon, while I meet with reading groups, the students will write a rough draft using their planning sheets from last week.  They will also practice using commas correctly as they complete an activity in the language arts textbook.

On to math--we will be taking the unit 5 assessment on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Today the students worked independently on a review packet.  Tomorrow, in class, we will go over each problem in the packet and the children will indicate which items were the most challenging.  On Wednesday, we will practice using strategies to solve problems similar to those identified by the class on Tuesday.  There is a basic facts math worksheet for homework tonight.

The students did not have music today.  Mrs. Thompson was out sick and there was not a substitute available.  So, we had extra time to begin our social studies research!!  :-)

Today the students divided up into small groups, received their research packets and used a text called Aztecs to begin gathering information about the culture of the Aztec people.  Prior to doing this, I introduced all four pages of the research packet and explained what information they would need to find.  Then I reviewed with the class how to use the table of contents and the index to locate information in the text.

Following lunch and indoor recess, the children worked independently while I met with reading groups.

Bears:  We reread and discussed page 82, especially the quotes, "today vegetables and tomorrow...the world" and "sometimes you got to be cruel to be kind".

Crabs:  We reviewed the vocabulary for chapter 7 and then began reading chapter 7.  We continue to struggle with our reading fluency.  For homework, this group needs to reread pages 72-74 twice and get a parent signature in their planner.

Lions:  We continued reading and discussing chapter 18...hopefully we will finish it tomorrow.

The students ended the day by using an app on the Ipad to continue their research about the Aztecs.