Terrific Tuesday

This morning, after reading quietly, exchanging books in the media center, or practicing keyboarding skills, we reviewed last night's math homework and then began our math rotations.

During the small group, teacher-led, math instruction, we focused on solving multi-step word problems by identifying the knowns and unknowns, writing equations with variables and then solving them.

Students began math with a partner by correcting and finishing yesterday's "Find the Pairs" activity.  Many students put answers that didn't meet the requirements of the problem, so they had to redo them.  After that, the children played Multiplication Mind Reader or Multiplication War to build fluency with their multiplication facts.

Finally, during the technology rotation, students worked on memorizing the basic multiplication and division facts using the site, "That's a Facts".

For HOMEWORK there is a word problem on Google Classroom, the homework page, and there is a writing journal entry due Friday.

After math we took a Go Noodle brain break and then began our literacy block.

First students will complete an independent guided reading group assignment.  Then they will watch an Educreations lesson where I explain and model writing the introduction paragraph for the issue inquiry project.  After viewing the lesson, the children will draft their own introduction.  Next the students will complete an assigned word work task.  Then they will begin creating a Google Slides presentation.  Using their habitat notes, in their science journal, they will create a presentation showing which plants and animals grow and live in each of four habitats, and HOW they do so.  Finally, they will practice writing G, S, and L, in cursive.

Panthers:  WE met and I handed out new books, The Three Little Pigs:  The Wolf's Story.  We previewed the front and back covers and the title to identify information we could use to predict what the story is about.  Then we reviewed some important vocabulary.  Finally, the students whisper read up to page 8.  For HOMEWORK they need to reread up to page 8 and write a summary of what they read in their RRJ...no more than 5 sentences.

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

Tigers:  The students received new books and independently read it, marking any unknown or tricky words with a question mark.  In group we reviewed the unknown words they had marked.  Then I modeled how to read two pages of text and retell, sing my own words, to make sure I understood what I had read.  Then we practiced, as a group, reading a couple of pages, stopping, and retelling what we had read in our own words.  For HOMEWORK the children need to reread up through page 11, stopping every two pages to retell, in their own words, what they have read.  They also need to do Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check, with their new word work words.

Leopards:  The students reread White Wave, and marked places where Kuo Ming made a good choice, with a G, and a bad choice, with a B.  In group, we discussed the portions they had marked with a G or a B to get a deeper understanding of the story.  For HOMEWORK the children need to reread White Wave and then orally summarize the story for an adult.  A summary should tell enough information to help someone who has never read the story understand it but not so much detail that they end up retelling it.

Lions:  The students reread White Wave, and marked places where Kuo Ming made was respectful, with an R, and disrespectful, with a D.  In group, we discussed the portions they had marked with an R or a D to get a deeper understanding of the story.  For HOMEWORK the children need to reread White Wave and then orally summarize the story for an adult.  A summary should tell enough information to help someone who has never read the story understand it but not so much detail that they end up retelling it.

F&P:  The children began group by rereading the book, A Dragon on the Roof:  The Surprising Achitecture of Antoni Gaudi.  After that we discussed the key understandings from the text and then the children searched the text to locate reasons the author gave as to why Gaudi's creations were important.

After our literacy block, we took some time to discuss challenges with the Habitat presentations and then focused on social studies and our study of economics.

Today we reviewed the terms consumer and financial.  We also reviewed the idea of a financial plan and learned about fixed expenses.  Finally, the students worked in small groups to devise a financial plan based on scenarios presented on "decision cards".  The groups presented their plans to the class.