Valentine's Day...well, almost :-)

We did a lot of celebrating today!!  Read on to find out.

After reading quietly, exchanging books in the media center, or practicing keyboarding skills, we began our math block.

Today, we did not do rotations.  Instead, the students partnered up and worked on a set of 20 tasks linking Valentine's Day and fractions.  Obviously, discourse was expected!

Around 9:45 we went to an assembly in honor of Black History Month.  We were treated to a wonderful concert performed by Terry Marshall and his band, taking us on a stroll of African American Music history.

After the concert, we returned to the classroom and reviewed the answers to the 20 Valentine's Day fraction tasks.

Then we enjoyed lunch and recess.

After recess, the students worked on watching the story, Too Many Tamales, and identifying the elements of a story by creating a story map in their writing journal.  Then they continued reading about their assigned African American and creating a fake "Facebook" page representing them.

During this time I grabbed a few reading groups.

Tigers:  We practiced sorting and reading our word work words.  Then we reread page 45-47 and stopped at the end of each page to visualize and discuss what happened.

Panthers:  We met and reviewed their lists of unknown words from last night's homework.  Then we briefly discussed the main character, Gregory and why he was unhappy.

After our shortened literacy block, we celebrated Valentine's Day with a fantastic party.  The children enjoyed playing games, decorating bags, eating cupcakes, and exchanging valentines.  There was a photo booth, too!!  Thanks to all who helped make it such a fun event!!

Finally, we ended our day by sharing our homework writing entries and having our weekly class meeting.  Our class meeting began with students sharing what was on their mind (I love this one!).  Some students shared their weekend plans, others craved candy, and a couple shared frustrations.  Next, we exchanged compliments and thank yous.  Finally, we moved on to challenges.

During the challenge section I discussed the groups behavior at dismissal yesterday.  On Thursdays, I have my weekly planning at 2:45, so the students are dismissed by a para educator.  Yesterday, at least 7 students, claimed they had to leave early to pick up a brother, sister, and even a cousin!!  In reality NO ONE does this on a regular basis.  So, we addressed this issue.  Then we reviewed the list of consequences that the class brainstormed last week during our meeting.

Overall, we had a great week!

Enjoy the long weekend!