TGIF - End of MP 2

WOW!  It is crazy to think that we are half way through the school year!!!

Our focus today is tying up loose strings in order to hit the ground running next Wednesday.

As a reminder, the children are off next Monday and Tuesday.  Teachers do work on Tuesday.  It's a report card prep day.  :-)

So, after reading quietly, exchanging books in the media center or practicing key boarding skills, we began our math rotations.

During small group instruction we practiced identifying and naming iterations of unit fractions using pattern blocks.  While doing math with a partner, the students drew representations of fractions and then played Fraction Bump or the Fraction Matching Game, all the while engaging in math discourse.  Finally, during technology, the students visited Sumdog and practiced recognizing fractions.

After math I reviewed the work that needed to be completed by the end of today, with the class.  This included both the written paragraphs and the multimedia presentations for the second marking period inquiry project and identifying how heating and cooling processes turn a material into a usable object.  When students were finished with these, they could complete any unfinished work and practice reading by themselves, with a partner, or listening to it via the laptop.

Then the students worked independently while I met with a guided reading group.

Lions:  Yesterday the students were told to use their text to answer the following question:  Why is Frederick Douglass often referred to as "the father of the civil rights movement"?  Today, in group, we reviewed their responses, drew a line of learning in their RRJ, and drafted a great answer, together as a group.

Following lunch and outdoor recess some students completed the MAP-R test that they began, and didn't finish, yesterday.  Others completed any unfinished work or practiced reading to themselves.  I didn't meet with any guided reading groups because I needed the room to be silent...and students, from each group, were involved with testing.

After testing was completed, the students had a chance to share their multimedia presentations with the class.  They were quite impressive!!!

Next, Ms. Snyder, our terrific guidance counselor, visited us and put forth a challenge.  After reading the book, Enemy Pie, Ms. Snyder encouraged every student to find a student at Wims, who they don't know well, and to ask them a question, as a way to get to know someone new!!  :-)

By the time Ms. Snyder was left, we only had a half hour left in the day.  So, the students voted on whether we should share their writing homework journal entries or have a class meeting.  They voted for writing journals...so that's how we ended our day!!

Have a wonderful long weekend!!