Overcast Friday

• 1st - Science with Ms. Galan
• 2nd - Class Novel / Homework Collection
• We were supposed to have a visiting teacher do a demo-lesson today in our class, so we decided to not start Math right away.  Instead, we picked up homework and gave the students a their independent reading time when we got in.  While waiting for the visiting teacher, we decided to read the next chapter in our new class novel "The BFG".  We read the chapter about "THE GIANTS".  I love that our students are able to use context clues to figure out the made-up words that are in the text.  It is times like this that I sit back and realize how much these little 2nd graders who came in at the beginning of the year have matured and grown into full fledged 3rd graders.  
• After reading our chapter, students were allowed to study for the spelling test.  After a brief study session, we took our "compound words #2" spelling test.
• 3rd / 4th - Math Block
• When we realized that the visiting teacher wasn't coming (they went to the room next door instead without telling us), we decided to get busy with GoMath 12.5.  After doing our I Can statements and vocabulary review, we got to work with NUMBER TALKS! After number talks we did our problem of the day.
• We watched the On Demand math video lesson first.  Then we did the interactive unlocking the problem. 
• Finally, we did the Unlocking the Problem (I DO), the Share and Show (We Do) before students started working independently on the On Your Own (You Do).  This explicit teaching method works very well and students get a chance to see it and try it before doing it.  
• 5th - Lunch
• 6th / 7th - Literacy Block
• We ended the day with wathing "Monkey Kingdom".  This Disney documentary movie focuses on a family of monkeys off the coast of India on the island of Sri Lanka.  To get students to practice the skill we have been working on "grouping notes by topic" - students used a graphic organizer to gather facts about the following topics:
• Where they live
• What they eat
• Family Life
• Other interesting facts
• We will be using these facts in the upcoming week to write a "news report" about monkeys.  If they didn't take good notes and group them correctly, they will have a hard time writing their news report.
• We thought this would be a fun way to practice our skills learned in literacy and still enjoy our "Fun Friday" even with a gloomy, wet, overcast Friday.

Homework

• Math
• GoMath 12.5 - homework/practice pp 727-728
• Literacy 
• Reading Comp Wk26D4 
• Writing Prompt - Full Page 
• Add facts/ideas to Monkey Kingdom note page