A Full(ish) week COMPLETE

Our day started just like it did yesterday and the day before that. Students took the Narrative part of the PARCC today and of course, did awesome. Afterwards, Mr. Buss continued with Chasing the Falconers where Meg and Aidan are "on the run!" Then, we had a wonderful time playing Apples to Apples, Jr. We first played in 3 smaller groups but then played a couple rounds as one giant group. I was a little disturbed to see that someone thought of 'teachers' when the word 'smelly' came up... :( I hope I don't smell... This afternoon, we completed more decimal and fraction practice by writing our name using 100 grids. Students will find the decimal and fraction of each letter in their name. Art was our special and afterward, we had some free computer time where some wrote stories using Google Apps, others played fraction and decimal games in MangaHigh, some used our LEGO StoryVisualizer software and others chose to check out our online classroom in Canvas. TGIF!!

2 down, 1 to go (this week)

I saw a ton more effort today on the research simulation unit of the PARCC. Kudos to the kiddos! After working super hard, Mr. Buss, our Ohio State FEEP student, began his read aloud. He began, Chasing the Falconers by Gordon Korman. It is the first book in the "On the Run" series and so far, they seem engaged. I dislike relinquishing control of my favorite thing to do each day though! I can't wait to read it myself to them on days he's not here--shhhh! :) We also set up our brackets for March Book Madness. Will The Very Hungry Caterpillar beat Scaredy Squirrel?! Will Diary of a Wimpy Kid win against The Watson's Go To Birmingham-1963?! We only completed the Pre-2014 bracket and I've encouraged them to read up on some of the 2014 books so that we can complete that bracket as voting begins next Wednesday. Then, we can cast our votes and see how we do. We looked at the map of classrooms/schools participating and almost all of the continents are playing along! I've posted the site on my Canvas page (ask the kiddos about this) but here is the link if you'd like to check it out yourself. marchbookmadness.weebly.com/ After lunch and recess, we continued with better understanding of decimals by modeling and representing decimals using base-10 blocks, stamps of the blocks and money. We also counted on by tenths or hundredths using calculators. Students showed a much more secure understanding today. We had gym and then came back and completed one more English/Language Arts PARCC practice example of what to expect tomorrow--there was a different rubric so I wanted to be sure and show them what is expected of them.

Testing #1--DONE!

We did it! We survived the first of many, PARCC tests! The students didn't feel it was that bad, so cool! The test took about an hour for everyone to finish. Then, we read, wrote and blogged until lunchtime. After lunch and recess, we started our learning with decimals! They did awesome! Then, we had special and guidance.

Spoke too soon...

Well, we won't be having a FULL week but hopefully will be here all 5 days at least. I almost think late start days are harder than a full day--the kids are off, I'm off, our schedule is off and we are trying to cram an entire day's worth of information and learning into a 2-hour shorter day. Oh well~we made it work!
This morning, we completed the research portion of the practice PARCC and they scored well below the score they received yesterday on the written portion. We discussed that I had been able to predict this outcome because of the work ethic I noticed between the two days. I also shared about a movie I saw over the weekend, When the Game Stands Tall. It's a true story about a football team and has a REALLY good message about confidence, teamwork and believing in yourself no matter what. I shared this with them and that even though the team was the underdog going into the game, they played with heart and confidence and it showed. While we were on the sentimental talk, I also mentioned about an acceptance speech I read about from the Oscars. I didn't see the speech but I read some quotes from the screenwriter that reminded me of the message I give the kiddos, "Stay weird. Stay different..." They love that I love being weird and different than everybody else and I hope they continue to feel this way. Anyway, I said that there has been a lot of talk about the PARCC and these tests and that they've probably heard their parents talking but that this was their time to shine. To show the state of Ohio that we "got mad skills!" and that we can take whatever they give us and do awesome! :) (I should totally be a motivational speaker, right?!)
After lunch/recess, we took our math fractions test. I know, really? But, Dr. Marschhausen mentioned something at my Professional Development last week that really stuck with me. He said that if we truly KNOW and understand the information, we shouldn't really need to study. Huh. So, we took the fraction test and so far, so good with what I've graded. After this test and because we didn't have special today, the 4th grade decided to take a brain break. In my room, we had free art. There was some kooky dancing with a video in Miss Cross' room and students worked on making blankets for the silent auction in Mrs. Williams' room. Finally, our day ended with some reading, writing and blogging.

Finally!

We had a day of school~woohoo! However, our schedule was a little crazy and will continue to be for most of the week. Our morning was spent talking about the PARCC and doing a little more practice. Today, we practiced completing a writing question within a time limit as well as scoring the writing using the rubric. This part of the PARCC is completely new to them so it was good to practice completing and scoring it. I think it's always good to know what is expected. This afternoon, we had an introduction to research and HOW to efficiently use sources to research, with Mrs. Richardson in the Media Center. Then, we used our LEGO StoryVisualizer software to complete our stories with our buddies. It seems short but our day was packed!

Valentines + sugar = crazy day!

OMG-today was crazy! They were loud and chatty and just plain crazy! We started with M4T and then after going over the answers and watching the news, we passed out valentines. The goal was for this to take about 15 minutes and then for students to enjoy 1 treat while they wrote in Writer's Workshop. However, at the end of Writer's Workshop, most students barely had their name on their paper. So, after special and after finishing Love That Dog, we finished our writing prompt. I let them know that as I've been grading their Checkpoint Writing Assessments, most of them have fallen in the mid-3rd grade level band. This didn't make them very happy. I also explained that the only way to become a better writer is to write more. This got them working (but only for a short time.) After turning in their prompt, they read, wrote poetry and blogged. It was inside recess thanks to the mini-snow storm we had this morning and frigid temperatures and when I returned, I found out that students snuck candy and put on tattoos from their valentines that were supposed to be in their bookbags until they got home. So, Math Workshop wasn't as fun as we thought because I wasn't Miss Happy... We finished up our Exemplar from yesterday about planting crops and then moved on to a little game-ish thing where we had to multiply fractions times whole numbers and model it with an area model, number line and equation. Math was cut a little short and we finished out the day sharing our Pitches for inventions. Good job inventors!

Conference night-sorry so late!

We had a good day-sorry this is being written so late. Hopefully, your kiddo has filled you in on our day but here's my interpretation of how things went. We began with M4T and then continued with our writing prompt from yesterday. However, the technology wasn't as readily available so I'm not sure it is their best work. They will have another chance tomorrow to work on their writing with a pretty interesting prompt. After gym, we continued reading Love That Dog and discussing poetry. Jack's poems are getting longer and showing more emotion. Has your child added to our POETree?? We also went over the PARCC poem and questions that we had answered this week. Students agree that they did not do as well as they could have done. Don't forget that they can practice online if they want by going to parcconline.com and parcc.pearson.com. The format is similar to StoryWorks but way different than they are used to. The rest of Reader's Workshop was spent blogging, writing poetry, reading and/or visiting the library. After OUTDOOR recess, we worked with multiplying fractions by whole numbers with some real life examples as well as some basic procedural practice. Finally, our day concluded learning about careers, passions and inventions in Guidance with Mrs. Vidic.

1/2 day

This time, it was Ella home sick with a sinus infection and ear infection so I took my shift-the afternoon. We had a familiar substitute so hopefully, things were great. Here's what we did this morning and what was supposed to happen in the afternoon:

We completed our Math 4 Today and within today's problems, we were able to make a connection to what we began in math workshop yesterday. They had to shade 2/6 of the sets. I helped them to see that they were really just multiplying a fraction (2/6) times a whole number (the total number in the set.) It was a big a-ha! for some of them. Then, we practiced homophones and learned some new vocabulary too-troupe (troop), hostile and hostel, compliments vs. complements... Afterwards, I gave them another prompt for a short writing experience. I needed to reiterate that short refers to the amount of time, not the amount of writing, however. They got started but we had a fire drill and weren't able to complete today so we'll be finishing with the same prompt tomorrow. In music, they learned a new note or two on the recorder! Students are starting to connect more to Love That Dog and to poetry more too. They are noticing how Jack, the main character is changing throughout the story and how he's growing as a writer by being inspired by other great authors/poets. Afterward, we completed some practice PARCC questions that accompanied a poem. Students blogged, read, visited the library and wrote poetry to add to our class POETree. (Ha! I kill myself!) This afternoon, in math workshop, they were to read a book, The Doorbell Rang to jumpstart their work with multiplying fractions with whole numbers. Then, they worked with beans to complete riddles. In Social Studies, they completed an Ohio Studies Weekly about the Frontier Wars. Ohio is getting close to becoming a state...!

Manic Monday

I don't know what it is about Mondays...

We started off with completed our M4T and realizing that students need to practice their multiplication! Some forgot how to multiply--uh-oh! Then, in Word Study, we focused on homophones. We watched a cool little video :) and then used what we recognized and learned to write a short opinion piece. Which would you rather have: the ability to never need sleep or the ability to read people's minds? Most students picked to read people's minds but clearly, as an adult, I say that there is never enough time in the day and would love to not need sleep! In reading Love That Dog, we found that poetry is full of emotion and feelings, which is what makes is awesome. Some were even eager to begin writing their own. We also learned about onomatopoeia-ask your kiddo what that is. After lunch and recess, I handed back our math assessments and overall, they did better. Then, for today, we looked at multiplying fractions by whole numbers. This was a great connection to multiplication being repeated addition and knowing how to add fractions. We read a book, Full House and completed a couple of realistic problems based off the book. We also used a new problem solving model to help us understand the problem better. Does your child like number lines or models better? Addition equations or multiplication equations? Finally, we listened to a few more pitches for our Science inventions.

5 days!

We made it! Today, they were crazy! However, we completed our Math 4 Today assessment and had 6 students score 9/10--which is one of the best weeks we've had with our M4T. Then, we worked on our Winter Progress Presentations or Portfolios to share their part for conferences next week. (I will either share these with you as a pdf or have them log in and share with you at home.) Since we finished The Beaded Moccasins yesterday, (I hope they shared this with you.) we began a new book today. We are going to read Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, which is a quick poetry novel and then Mr. Buss will be reading our next book. After beginning our new book, students read, worked on their "portfolios" and some worked with me on making inferences. After indoor recess, we took our math assessment. I worked closely with about 5-6 kiddos and some others asked some clarifying questions but other than that, I'm hopeful that they did well as they didn't need my assistance. I'll grade them over the weekend and return them on Monday. Finally, we ended our day with some "Pitches" about inventions. So far, so good!

Shhh!

Oh my goodness they were chatty today!! Our M4T went well this morning and then we started our portfolios on Google Slides/Presentations to share our progress with you. After gym, in The Beaded Moccasins, Mary made it to see Mrs. Stewart-now Mrs. Sequin-and she is doing well. She's going to have a baby and name him/her after Sammy. Seeing Mrs. Stewart "move on" has made Mary question a lot of her feelings right now. Then, in Reader's Workshop, we finished reading the paired texts about hamburgers and tacos and compared and contrasted them. Can your kiddo tell you what group of people started eating hamburgers and why they are called hamburgers? We also spent time just reading. It was indoor recess again but students seem to not mind much. Then, we USED our knowledge of fractions to complete line plots. The first one was about our shoe size and the second was about our head circumference. We will have our assessment on Friday so practice, practice! Finally, we ended our day working on our inventions and pitches. We will be pitching our ideas to the "investors" beginning on Friday.

Monday, really?

I didn't like this Monday thing. Ugh. :)

We started with our M4T and a really good review of multiplication. Then, we visited Wonderopolis to find out about Groundhog's Day. We also watched the video of Punxsutawney Phil. We took inspiration from these and created shadow images and then wrote about our shadow figures. We ended up with a lot of bunnies. After a lovely recorder session in Music, we learned about marriage with Mary in The Beaded Moccasins. Mary also discussed the daughter she is replacing with Hepte. She wanted to know more but the Delaware no longer talk about them once they are stars leading to heaven. In Reader's Workshop, we read the paired texts about Hamburgers and Tacos, after we learned some pretty cool new vocabulary. Ask your kiddo what ecstasy means or what cumin is. Some of us also started blogging with our Columbus State students about books we're reading. Recess was indoor but then we practiced our Math problem solving and application of fractions by completing real world problems involving fractions--one about cutting a board and another about using string. Then, we sat down together and just talked about how we solved these problems. Man, these guys are good at explaining their thinking IF THEY WOULD JUST TRANSFER THAT TO WRITING IT DOWN!! Please help them to write more at home to make this easier. They need to share their thinking in writing on the PARCC assessments and will be much better prepared if they have more practice. Finally, we worked on our inventions and pitches.