Wonderful Wednesday

This morning, after the announcements, we took care of some housekeeping tasks (updating dismissal schedules and seating charts) and then began our literacy block.

After reviewing how knowing the meanings of common prefixes and suffixes can help us comprehend unknown words, we reviewed today's independent work.

First, students reread their plays thinking about character's actions and how they impacted events in the plot.  Then they used 10 of their word work words in meaningful sentences.  After that, they continued researching their inquiry topic and taking notes on the organizer.  Next, they completed practice pages identifying the meaning of words with the prefixes un- and re-.  Finally, they practiced writing the letters O, A, D, O, C, E, and Q, in cursive.

As they worked I met with guided reading groups.

Orange:  First the children reread their scripts.  Then we discussed the question; What factors caused Zillard to take Scruff into the desert?  Next we reread the first half of the script and underlined (and starred) portions that explained why Zillard took Scruff into the desert.  Finally, we orally rehearsed answering the question.  When students returned to their seats they used the markings in their script to write a response to the question.   For HOMEWORK the children need to reread their script.

Pink:  The students reread their scripts thinking about character's actions and the events they caused.  Then we created a t-chart in our RRJs to identify the character's actions and the events they caused.  Together we reread the script, stopping along the way to discuss the actions and events.  FOr HOMEWORK the children need to continue reading their play, beginning on page 4, and marking important actions with an A, and important events with an E.

Green: The children reread the entire script thinking about important actions and the events they caused.  Then we continued reading the script together, identifying, discussing, and charting the actions and events in the plot.  Finally we reviewed the prefixes re- and un-.  For HOMEWORK the children need to reread their scripts marking factors that caused the lazy people to become monkeys with an M.

Blue:  The students reread their scripts marking places with an A to identify actions integral to the lot of the play and places with an E to indicate events caused by the actions.  Then we began discussing their markings.  For HOMEWORK the students need to reread their play.

After our literacy block, the students enjoyed indoor recess and lunch.

When they returned to class we began our math block.

During the small group, teacher-led, instruction, the first two groups took notes about area in their math journals and then wrote equations, using a variable for the unknown area, and solved them to determine the area of a rectangle.  Half of the third group participated in the second task of the compacted math assessment portfolio, while the other half worked on the initial assessment for Sumdog.

During math with a partner the students practiced their 3s or 6s facts by playing either of the games from the past two days; Keep it, Toss, it or All Lined Up.

Finally, during the technology rotation the students finished watching the Learn Zillion lesson about Finding the Area of a Rectangle by Multiplying Side Lengths and taking notes in their math journals.  Then, if they finished early, they were able to log into Sumdog.com and take the initial assessment.

HOMEWORK is posted on Google Classroom.

The students ended their day in music with Mrs. Graf.