I'm Back!

This has been a crazy week!  I apologize for the lack of communication!!

Tuesday I was at a meeting/training in Rockville, Wednesday was the ice storm and yesterday I had a medical situation pop up, unexpectedly.

Hopefully, today is the return of the routine I crave!!

The children began their day in PE.  When they returned to class we completed our math rotations from yesterday. 

Students who met with me generated measurement data, by measuring the length of their shoes, and shared it by creating a line plot.

Mrs. Bartel met with a group of students, too, who practiced measuring items to the nearest quarter inch.

There was no technology rotation.

After meeting in groups the students took a math quiz.  The quizzes have been scored and should be stored in the math section of the binder.  Please look it over.

We began the reading and writing block by reviewing verbs tenses.  Students were reminded that the verb is the action in the sentence.  They also reviewed the regular verbs add an -ed to the end to make them past tense and have a helping verb, either will or shall, in front of them to make them future tense.

Next we spent time figuring out where we were---which assignments had been completed and which had not.  Then I updated the independent work chart.

While I met with small groups the students completed independent reading group assignments.  They also finished drafting and revising the first two paragraphs oft eh character analysis.  To do this they were expected to view a lesson I had uploaded onto the third grade web site.  Next they worked on watching the author interviews and noting where they get their ideas.  Finally, they read about light and heat energy and identified new ideas they learned and a question they had.

Sharks:  We met and the students reread chapter 4 independently.  Then we discussed the changes in the main characters, since the beginning of the book, using examples from this chapter.  We started to identify how events built upon each other, but ran out of time.

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

Dolphins:  We met and the students reread, Old Jacket, New Jacket, with a partner.  They focused on identifying changes in the book and the main character's feelings and motivations that created the change.  When they were finished we discussed the problem in the book and how Iris solved it.  As we did we identified the character's feelings and motivations that led to the events in the story.

Cheetahs:  The students reread chapter 6 independently.  In group we discussed chapter 5and 6.  First, we shared the pictures that the students drew for homework depicting the argument between Mistress Trippett and Amanda.  Then we ventured into chapter 6 and shared our thoughts as to what happened to Amanda's money and how Amanda must have felt when she grabbed Jemmy and Meg and fled the house.

Pandas:  The students reread chapter 5 and created a vocabulary entry for the word mindful.

We ended the day by defining the concept of culture using non-fiction text.  Then we brainstormed and identified aspects of our school's culture.  The children really shared some great examples!!