Terrific Tuesday - Red Ribbon Week continues...

Today students wore team jerseys or sweats to school to remember that "Healthy Living is no Sweat" for Red Ribbon week.  Tomorrow students are encouraged to wear their pajamas to school to remember to "Follow your dreams and make healthy choices."

Before the morning announcements I helped several students complete unfinished work.

After the announcements we began our literacy block.  Before getting to independent work, we reviewed synonyms as words meaning almost the same thing and then identified how using words with more meaning can improve our writing.

While I met with reading groups the students completed their opinion paragraphs and turned them in.  Then they finished their thank you letters to Mr. Leggett.  After that they completed a written header sort using their new word work words.  Next they identified synonyms for the over-used words happy and think.  Then the students worked on their goods and services Google Slides presentation.  Finally they practiced writing the letters f, j, and p, in cursive.

Orange:  Unfortunately, the children didn't do their reading homework last night, so I gave them some time at the beginning of group.  Then we reviewed strategies for identifying the main idea in text (looking at the first and last sentence and thinking about what the paragraph is mostly about).  Next we identified the main idea of page 17.  After that, we practiced sorting our word work words, reviewing the patterns for the long/a/ and short /a/ sound.  Then we read a section of text, about penguins, and practiced identifying the main idea of the paragraph.  For HOMEWORK the children need to read page 18 and identify the main idea on a sticky note.

Pink:  We began group by reviewing the main idea of page 18, which they did for homework last night.  Then we practiced using the first and last sentence to identify the main idea in text.  After that we reviewed the focus of our word sort.  For HOMEWORK the children need to read page 19 and identify the main idea on a sticky note.

Green:  We began by reviewing and identifying the main idea of page 15 from homework last night. Then I collected their books. After that we continued to practice using the first and last sentence to identify the main idea of a section of text.  Then I passed out their new book, Whales. For HOMEWORK the students need to read pages 2 and 3 and use the first and last sentences AND the heading to help determine the main idea of this section of text.

Blue:  We began group by sharing the main idea of page 21 from last night's homework.  I collected their books and handed out a new book, The Life and Times of Peanuts.  After that, we practiced identifying the main idea of a section of text by looking at the first and last sentences and thinking about what the paragraph was mostly about.  For HOMEWORK the students need to read pages 4, 5, and 6, and identify the main idea for page 6 only.

After our literacy block the students enjoyed outdoor recess and lunch.

When we returned to class we changed classroom jobs, finally, and began our math block.

During the small group, teacher-led, instruction the students interpreted division situations and represented them with a model and an equation.  During math with a partner the students engaged in math discourse as they played multiplication bump using the basic 3s facts.  Finally, during the technology rotation, the children visited Camel Times Table to practice skip counting and relating it to multiplication facts.

There are two games (and a repeated lesson) posted on Google Classroom to practice solving division problems.

After math the children worked in their small groups to construct and test their Rube Goldberg machines.

Then, Ms. Snyder, our guidance counselor, came by to do a lesson about put downs and put ups, how words can make a person feel good...or not so good.