Wonderful Wednesday

The students started the day with Mrs. Rose, as usual, but in the computer lab since the book fair is occupying the media center.

When they returned to class we read the myth, "King Midas and the Golden Touch".  Today we focused on enjoying the myth and the moral, be careful what you fish for.  We also briefly shared examples of effort depicted in the story.

After that, I modeled reading an article about the issue of teaching cursive in school and adding facts (from the article) to a pros and cons graphic organizer.  During this lesson I identified and defined key words that indicated is a fact was for or against the idea.  I also explained the use of titles following people who were quoted as a means to establish validity and reliability to information shared within the piece.

Independent work today includes reading group assignments, a natural resource follow up that will require rereading of the natural resource article they read last week, and completing the pros and cons sheet by gathering information about their issue and posing their issue as a question.

Sharks:  We reviewed the change in mood in chapter 4.  Then we defined unknown words from chapter 5 and discussed the big idea in the chapter.  For homework the students need to reread chapter 5, write a title for the chapter and explain their choice, on a sticky note.

In math we reviewed solving 2-step word problems. Then the children continued working in table groups to solve the garage word problems they began yesterday.  Mrs. Head worked with a small group on this task.  I met with a small group to work on an accelerated math activity, designated by MCPS as part of the assessment process for the compacted math class next year.  For homework the students have a 2-step garage word problem worksheet.

Following lunch and outdoor recess the students continued working on their independent work while I met with more reading groups.

Cheetahs:  The students read pages 54-62 and listed unknown words.  Then they created vocabulary entries for two of their words.  For homework they need to reread pages 54-62 and identify one thing they liked and one question they have on a sticky note.

Yellow Jackets:  The students read chapter 4 and wrote about changes in the chapter in their RRJ.  In group we discussed the motivation for Cat showing Journey the picture that made him realize he looks like his grandfather and the changes in chapter 4.  We also reviewed their titles for chapter 2.  For homework they need to read chapter 5 and list unknown words.

Snakes:  The students wrote about a character trait for Brett and used evidence from the story to support their choice.  In group we discussed the significance of the title of the story.  We also discussed various problems (and their solutions) from the book.  For homework the students need to reread the entire book.

We ended the day by reviewing the idea of a budget and the vocabulary words income and expense.  Then we read about economic decisions and were introduced to the idea of an opportunity cost.