Wednesday Wackiness

• 1st and 2nd period we had math.  We started the day by writing down the I Can statement for math and the new vocabulary.  Today's focus was "I can multiply by 5 and 10".  Our new vocabulary word was MULTIPLE.  
• The students had their first quiz on 2's and 4's today.  They took a little longer than expected so I think they let us know they are not practicing at home!   We then did the On the Spot Math video for lesson 4.2.  We did the problem of the day looking at information on a graph.  Then we watched the animated Math Lesson on counting 5's and 10's.  We worked through unlocking both problems and coming up with as many ways to solve it as possible.  Lots of good turn and talk discussions.  After watching the animated interactive lesson, we opened the student books and worked through the similar problems with great ease.   Finally, students were released to work independently to practice the skills they learned.  It was one of the first times in a long long time when people didn't move to small group for extra support.  I guess 5's and 10's are pretty easy when multiplying!
• We went a little over today because the math quiz that we thought would take 10 minutes took closer to 25.  Live and learn right!  We also spent some time going over how to find websites using the class blog.  Tomorrow we will try and do some classwork on the ThinkCentral website to see how the students do following directions.
• 3rd/4th - Today our focus was looking for literal vs. non-literal in our text. 

• We discussed the different learning tasks and then I had three questions that students had to go back to the text and find the answers.  Today, they worked in pairs to go back and answer the questions.  It was nice to see them work so hard and really pull together and find the answers and struggle to say the answer the correct way.  My little guys are starting to grow!
• After we practiced the skill enough, we passed out T-Charts and students broke into Independent Reading areas and read their book of choice and worked on finding Literal and Non-Literal expressions and explaining them.  Today we tried for just 12 minutes of independent reading work.  It worked really well so tomorrow we will try for 13 minutes until we build up to 20!
• We had to cut literacy short because we had to go to the BOOK FAIR for 30 minutes to sample and buy.  Students who brought money could buy books, students who didn't were able to browse so they could see what they wanted.   Remember, the book fair is open during Open School tomorrow so bring your $$$!  Mr. McDougall spent $44 bucks buying new books for the class library today.  
• 5th - Lunch / Recess
• 6th - Gym
• 7th - We finished our lesson from ReadyGen 1B.9 which was about why authors pick certain pictures and graphics.  We looked at several samples from the book to model why they put a graphic in a certain place (TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE INFORMATION!).  We then passed out homework, went over how to do the Math and Spelling, and then wrote down our homework.  Finally, we ended the day reading our class novel.

Just a reminder, Thursday is 1/2 day due to Open School afternoon and night.  Everyone has an assigned meeting time so we will see you then.  We encourage you to bring your child because the conference is about them.  They need to be a part of the conversation!

Homework:

• Math - Practice Homework 201/202
• Facts - Practice your 2's, 4's, 5's and 10's
• Reading - Finish filling out your T-Chart using your IR Book
• Read - 35-40 minutes (reading log)
• Spelling - practice sheet (test Friday)