Thrilling Thursday

This morning, after completing the Thursday portion of our vocabulary sheet for our word of the week, compare, the children worked on our weekly puzzles.  Then, after the announcements, we switched for math.

Math began with an area word problem for warm up.  Then we reviewed last night's homework.  After that, we began our daily rotations.

During the small group instruction, we used the area and perimeter formulas, for rectangles, to help us solve word problems.  During math with a partner, the children continued playing the Snakes board game, to practice partial products.  Finally, during the technology portion, the children completed a session of Xtra Math and then played an online version of Truth or Dare which relied on the knowing and using the formulas for area and perimeter of a rectangle.

In between the second and third rotations, the children enjoyed lunch and outdoor recess.

Math homework is posted on GC.

After math, we began our literacy block.

We started with our writing lesson.  First, we reviewed the essay, "Insects Are Amazing," and identified the author's opinion and the three reasons used to support it.  Then, the children began a new opinion piece and wrote for 20 minutes, silently.  During this time, I touched base with each child to ensure they were clearly stating their opinions, and helping those who hadn't done so.

After writing, the students enjoyed music with Mrs. Graf.

When they returned to class, we ate snack and reviewed the independent work assignments  for our reading block.  First the children viewed the first seven slides, including Brain Pop video, of a Google Slide presentation about identifying the main idea in non-fiction text.   Then, they read an article about The Pueblo People.  After that, they worked on their slide for their group's Native American web quest.

Guided Reading Groups:
All reading groups met with me.  During each group we used the slides in Google Classroom reading to review the idea of what is a topic versus what is a main idea.  Then, we looked over the article, "The Pueblo People," and identified both the topic and the main idea.

After our literacy block, we began Module 5 of the science curriculum.  First we reviewed content vocabulary.  Then the students worked in groups to classify various organism cards.  After creating posters identifying their groups, we took a gallery walk and discussed how the organisms interact with one another.