TGIF!!!

I can honestly say that we are all ready for the weekend!  :-)

The students started their day in music.

When they returned to class, I identified and explained that tasks we needed to work on today.   These tasks included; identifying the main idea of non-fiction text (worksheet), reading group assignments from yesterday, the newsletter story boards and the planning sheet for our folktales that we will create with our Kinder buddies (from last Friday).

So, after this discussion, I told the students I wanted to share/demonstrate a feature of the Promethean board that creates more interaction during lessons.  It is called Active Expressions. Active Expressions is an engaging way to keep students focused.  Using a flip chart on the Promethean board, I can ask a question and poll the entire class.  Each student has their own hand held device (looks kind of like a Blackberry).  When I activate Active Expressions, each child enters and sends their answer.  Then we can see how many students chose each answer and discuss the results.  It is completely anonymous to the rest of the class.

So...as I tried to figure out how to teach the students how to use this tool, I stumbled upon a main idea flip chart with embedded Active Expression questions.  PERFECT!  Or, so I thought!  I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, an hour later (no joke there!) we had more questions than answers!  We were all frustrated!!!

NOTE:  Since that time, I met with the experts from the county and have figured out the answers to all of our questions!  I am now more confident on how to utilize this tool and have shared my new knowledge with the class.

Next up was math...I planned to forgo the warm up since our quiz was long.  Therefore, we began by reviewing last night's homework.  Unfortunately, half of the class didn't complete the back...uh oh...more frustration...on both sides!

We ended the morning with our math quiz.  As I stated earlier, it was long!  SO, some didn't finish before lunch and recess.

Following lunch and recess, I we revisited the Main Idea flip chart and successfully used (go us!) the Active Expression tool!!!  WOO HOO!!!!

Then students were given time to complete the math quiz.  These have been scored and returned to students.  They should be in the math section of their binder.  PLEASE look for it and review it with your child.

We ended the day with a social studies lesson.  Using a Power Point, provided by MCPS, we identified and discussed the ways technology has impacted producers.  There were some great moments...for example, one student shared that when her grandmother was little there were no cars!  LOL!

Before packing up we had a talk about coming back to school on Monday with a positive attitude and ready to put effort into assignments!