TGIF

The students began their day in music.  When they returned to class we looked at a Norman Rockwell painting entitled, "Boy on the High Dive" and discussed what we saw.  We focused on the idea that this was probably the child's first time on a high dive and that he probably had mixed feelings....on one hand we appeared terrified in the picture, yet he most likely want to give it a try since he was on the diving board in the first place.

From there, we made connections to our next writing piece where our theme will be facing the unknown.  Then I modeled choosing my topic, discussing it with a partner (in my case, the class) and making notes as I talked.

After this lesson, we enjoyed the Key Note presentations that the students created, using the iPads, for their community action research project.  They were AWESOME!!!!  As an aside...we paused in the middle of the reading/writing block to do the presentations because that is when the iPads were available for our use!!  :-)

After completing our math warm up and reviewing last night's homework, I modeled writing a multiplication AND a division equation to solve the same word problem.  You can view the lesson here!  After that, the students got into groups of 3 or 4 and solved a similar problem using Educreations to capture their math discourse, as well as, their written work.  Before going to lunch, we shared some of the children's work.

Following outdoor recess, the students worked in small groups, choosing their writing topics, verbally telling the group about the experience from beginning to end, and taking bulleted notes about what they said.  Then they finished any incomplete assignments from the week.  I had hoped to meet with reading groups, but found myself working with small groups, telling their story and taking notes of the big events/ideas.

We ended the day by viewing a slide show presentation about teasing and bullying.  We began discussing bullying and will continue this during our class meeting on Monday.