Money, money, money!

Well, we had an AWESOME day today, especially during our morning meeting. I was SO proud of our kids! Part of R-factor is to "Stand up and own it." So, we did just that. Almost every kid shared what they did in their behavior that was not so great yesterday with the sub. I mean, they really reflected and owned it! For example, one student said, "I was being bossy," and another said, "I was talking over the teacher." Wow. So, we left the past in the past and moved on. Each student received $0.18 (fake money) for the day. Their goal was to keep all of their money. At the end of the day, they'd be able to spend their money on treats and prizes. We used the behaviors they owned as below the line from yesterday and created a $ amount for each behavior that they would lose if they did that behavior. Here's what they decided:

How much did your kiddo end the day with? What did they earn as a reward? 

In Math Workshop, we continued adding and subtracting using the traditional methods-regrouping. Some students feel they are ready to test on this tomorrow. Others needs some more practice. Try it out with your child tonight to see if you agree.

Others, that had been working with multiplication and division, started working with factors and prime and composite numbers. This afternoon, we continued working on our Sandwich Book Review and close-reading questions, writing our small moment story and finishing up our balance inquiry project. 

Substitute Days

Well, I'm not sure about yesterday, but today, I could hear the volume of voices from our classroom-I was assessing out in the hall-when we shouldn't have even been talking... Mrs. Bowers (not Art Mrs. Bowers, substitute Mrs. Bowers) said that in reflecting at the end of the day, students shared that they were louder and talked more than usual-when I am there. I think they talk a lot when I'm there!! So, we are going to try something tomorrow. I am going to give each kiddo a certain amount of fake $ (coins but not sure how much yet) and they need to try and keep as much money as possible for the end of the day, when they'll be able to purchase treats. As the day goes on, if they talk when they aren't supposed to, talk over each other or use a volume louder than they should, they will need to give me a coin. I'm hoping that by pointing these behaviors out, they might realize what they are doing and we can curb this over-talking and loud volume. Then, maybe we can start earning potato head pieces again!

Anyway, in Math Workshop, students continued working where they left off: addition and subtraction using the most efficient way possible-traditional algorithm or multiplying and dividing. In Read Aloud, they read Wolf! a book about enjoying reading and today a wordless book, Flotsam, about focusing on the details and perspective. They continued writing their Sandwich book review and paying attention to details in the non-fiction story about the Hindenburg in StoryWorks for Reader's Workshop and continued with the Writing Process with our small moment story in Writer's Workshop. Some kept revising and editing while others began publishing. Yesterday, students continued working with timelines by reading a book, Miss Rumphius, which talks about the timeline of her life and today, students worked on their balance inquiry projects for Science.

Specifics

We started our day like usual, with picking a seat that sets us up for success and getting ourselves Ready to Learn. These are things they hear me say and read in our morning message daily. Unfortunately, they aren't truly and actively listening to these words. So, when it was time to write our daily SMART goal, we made sure to be specific with our goal. For example, if someone wrote a goal to "Press Pause," I asked them to add more like when. Or if they said, "Stay Focused," they needed to put more information for how or why or when. This made things run a little smoother today. We are still chatting too much but we are doing better. Mrs. Vidic came in for our first Guidance lesson today where she introduced us to Zones of Regulation. We then related these "Zones" or colors that represent different emotions to which are Above and Below the Line. We discovered that Red emotions are typically Below the Line and Green emotions are Above the Line but Yellow and Blue kind of straddle the line and these emotions are where we need to "Press Pause" and get our mind right to determine if we end up Above or Below the Line. Math Workshop was chaotic for me but really good for the kiddos because I truly feel they are getting what they each need right now. Some took their test, others used base-10 blocks to learn the traditional algorithms for addition and subtraction (ask them about my friends: Juan, Tim, Henry and Thad...), some used what they learned last week about these more efficient methods to practice adding and subtracting and some worked with multiplication and comparisons. We were grooving so great that we were almost late to special! Mr. B said that gym was good and after lunch, we had our first indoor recess of the year-wow! Other than the room being messy, they did great. After writing in our planners, since we ran out of time before special, we finished up the Humor section in Nightmare at the Book Fair and learned some figurative language like hyperbole (exaggeration), idioms (raining cats and dogs) and alliteration (Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers). After reading independently, visiting the library and conferencing with me about their books, we discussed what a book review is and will be creating book review sandwiches this week. Today, they decided the book they will be reviewing. They also worked some more on answering close-reading questions (proving their answers and taking closer looks into the text to justify their response) about the StoryWorks story we've been reading. Next, in Writer's Workshop, we revised-made it sound better-our small moments narratives. Some shared that they switched out worn out words with more delicious words, some added more detail, some reworked the lead or title... At the end of writing, we created a writing timeline for the week which jumpstarted our look into understanding and reading timelines. They enjoyed practicing reading timelines with information about video games and animation. They even did a little research to add to the timeline. Way to extend your thinking!

Finally!

It's been a long week but we made it to Friday! We began our day with our M4T assessment and Ohio Dailies, followed by i-time. Then, in our morning meeting, we shared a goal we had for the weekend and played a few "Would you rather?" scenarios. They love these! Then, in our controlled chaos, AKA Math Workshop, we post-tested, pre-tested, practiced, reviewed, played games, enjoyed free math, etc. After math, we went to Music and then lunch and recess. After recess, we finished up the Science-Fiction chapter in Nightmare at the Book Fair and then began the chapter on Humor with Captain Obvious! After some independent reading/library/conference time, we listened to Lauren Tarshis read us "The Flaming Sky" from StoryWorks, while we followed along. Lauren Tarshis is the editor of StoryWorks but also the author of the I Survived... books. We also watched a little "Behind the Scenes" video about the Hindeneburg and zeppelins. Next, they began re-reading to find and write more specific information. In Writer's Workshop, we finished writing our small moments story and some of us had a little time to make cards for Ava who is out with pneumonia AND today is her birthday! :( We ended our day working on our balances in Science and making discoveries that relate to math!

Picture Day! :)

Our day started like all other days-we completed our morning procedures and got ourselves Ready to Learn. After i-Time, we greeted our friends and met for morning meeting. In meeting, we shared our favorite season and why it's our favorite (since today is the first day of fall) and played a new game-category challenge. We said the Pledge of Allegiance and then braced ourselves for a very differentiated Math Workshop. Some students took our first unit test as well as the pre-test for the next unit while others worked on reviewing for taking the unit test either tomorrow or Friday. Everyone worked really well with doing different things as well as determining that they were or were not ready to take the test. We had Art today and then lunch and recess. After recess, we went to the Media Center where Mrs. Dornburgh worked with us on identifying the characteristics of Science-Fiction and Fantasy texts. Students had time to look at some that interested them too. Maybe they'll pick one of these genres for their next book to read? We, then, headed down to get our pictures taken and then came back to our room with a little time left to read independently. In Writer's Workshop, we continued writing our small moment story and conferencing with me. Our day ended with working on our balance inquiry project in Science.

Well...

As you may have heard, my un-luck continues as I "broke"ish my toe last night. I ran into my husband's barbell and smooshed my toe so much that my bones are resting on top of each other. With rest, elevation and a decrease of inflammation, the joint space will return to normal but it hurts and I'm hobbling around. It's hard to teach without walking around!! I guess I didn't realize how much I move during the day!

We had a quiet morning of M4T and i-time and in our morning meeting, we watched a video explaining our first safety drill today. We discussed our options in case of a "lockdown" or emergency. We also shared one thing that we are going to do, specifically, to help us reach our goals. In Math Workshop, we worked with identifying and generating patterns with shapes and numbers. We used pattern blocks, in and out boxes, application with real world situations, a challenge and then more practice problems. (We earned a potato head piece for our quiet behavior during the drill!) We got all sweaty during gym and had a yummy lunch and fun, even sweatier recess! In Nightmare at the Book Fair, Trip was thrown from a plane in the Adventure genre! We continued our work with identifying inferences and then read the non-fiction story in our StoryWorks magazine after looking at some of the content vocabulary about the Hindenburg, using the StoryWorks website. After picking our small moments story to write, and beginning to craft our leads yesterday, we continued with the writing process and conferenced with me about their writing. We moved on from the Great Ohio Mail Race for now! :) Today, we began a science experiment using a balance but AFTER some reminders about working together as a team.

Typical day

We began our day with M4T, Ohio Dailies and i-time. After greeting our friends with an "H," we met for our morning meeting and shared our least favorite chore to complete at home. Next, we played "Popl" and counted by 10s, 100s, 1000s, 10000s, 100000s and 1000000s starting at different numbers and continuing the pattern. Our Math Workshop went really well today (we even earned a potato head piece) as we applied our understanding of place, value and rounding to some real world problems. Some also played a round or two of "Guess my number!" with a partner. At the end of Math, students decided where they were in their understanding and if they feel they are ready to test. Do you agree with what your child thinks?

Today was Music (Mrs. Root said they were really talkative...) and then after lunch and recess, we headed down to the Media Center to meet with Mrs. Dornburgh to learn how to better pick "Just Right" books. Is your child reading a book that is "Just Right" for them? Once we returned to the room, we had some time left in Reader's Workshop to finish up our comprehension quiz and read independently. In Writer's Workshop, we picked the seed moment that screamed, "Pick me!" to begin writing about and then we read the beginning of a few books to learn about crafting a lead. Some shared the seed moments they picked and/or their leads and they are on the right track! We ended our day with Social Studies and map skills with Ohio. (Some continued working on their Great Ohio Mail Race...)

It's just another manic Monday...

Our day began with M4T and i-Time. We got i-Time log sheets today so we can keep track of the activities we are completing and any new ideas we learn. In our meeting, we shared about our weekend and then read the book, What If Everybody Did That? Our behavior is not bad but we have received 1 potato head piece in 2 weeks...we are talking too much and not focusing on the tasks. We need to make sure that we are all, individually, keeping our behavior above the line, so that we, as a group, stay above the line. What goal did your kiddo set to help us achieve our goal of "quick and quiet transitions?" In Math today, we completed an entrance slip to make sure that we are on the right track with our learning to keep moving. Today, we moved on to rounding. They understand rounding. However, they struggled with the application of this skill and problem-solving. *Their math homework this week should center around problem-solving. (I put some ideas on Canvas.) After cleaning up a messy room and trying and trying to get in a quiet line, we headed down to Art. Once we took our restroom break after lunch and recess, we finished up the Horror chapter and read the Sports Fiction chapter in Nightmare at the Book Fair. I think we understand the characteristics of those chapters pretty well~now for them to READ those genres of books! Students are also practicing making inferences during read aloud and in their independent reading. In Reader's Workshop today, we took a quiz on the fiction story in StoryWorks USING the magazine!! Hopefully, their scores will be much higher this time... In preparation for writing our own stories, we practiced storytelling today using fairy tales. Ask your kiddo to tell it to you! Our day ended with finishing up the Great Ohio Mail Race questionnaire and envelope addressing.

F-R-I-D-A-Y!

I moved some of our tables around a little bit to try and help with chitchat and I asked students to choose different table mates. Well, they kind of sort of did that but once we began working and moving around, friends paired back up... We completed our M4T assessments and i-Time and then in morning meeting, 11 kiddos read their speeches for why we should choose them for Student Council. I tallied the votes and our class representative is Griffin with Noah and Saya as our congress members! Congratulations! In our math workshop, we continued practicing the skills that we felt needed practiced: place and value, 10x more, patterns, etc. A few of them chose to complete a challenge problem about bicycles posed by a math guru that I follow, Marilyn Burns, who even liked our tweet! They got all sweaty in gym, as usual, and after lunch and recess, we started our new Read Aloud, Nightmare at the Book Fair by Dan Gutman. This book is written where each chapter is written as a different genre. We continued our work with making inferences in Reader's Workshop and in Writer's Workshop, we addressed envelopes...um...a LOT of kids do not know/understand an address, first of all, and second, they can NOT write it on an envelope! Great life skill lesson today! Some, a small handful, were able to find a school in their county for the Great Ohio Mail Race and address the envelope so that they could move on to complete the informational sheet about our school and county. Others, worked for almost an hour on finding a school, IN OHIO, and writing down the address. What a stressful way to end the day...

Controlled Chaos

If you were to walk in the room during most of our learning, you would witness what I like to call "controlled chaos." My husband thinks it's so weird how different learning is these days and why I am so good at multi-tasking...well, in our Math Workshop for example, I had a group of kiddos working on growing and changing patterns, a group of students practicing place and value and a group of students working with me for some re-teaching of skills. School is so differentiated now that it could be seen as chaotic when in reality, I know exactly where every student is in their learning and am trying to allow them to learn at their own pace.

We are on day 2 of formally beginning i-Time in the building, although we've been doing it for a couple of weeks now. I'm working with a small group with math practice so it is important for students to be independent. MOST of the class is doing what they need to be doing in order for this time to be successful. In our morning meeting, we shared our favorite animals (a lot of different types of cats...) and played a quick game of Coseeki. We checked on our individual goals and then practiced the idea of x10 for our number talk before beginning our Math Workshop. Students used ipads in Music today but not sure exactly how-you'll have to ask. After recess, we finished our book, Fish In a Tree, and we LOVE how Ally grew in her confidence and reading ability. Great minds DON'T think alike! Or at least they don't have to! We also made inferences about some character traits of Ally from her feelings, actions, things she said and thought and proved our inferences with text. After reading independently, conferencing with me and/or visiting the library. we continued our work with inferences by playing a game, Shoots and Ladders, making inferences from pictures and working with the story, The Day It Rained Cats to make inferences. I read, The Giving Tree to show how to write using sequencing and then students practiced writing their own narrative from a small moment using what we have compiled as traits for writing Good Narratives. Finally, in Social Studies, we continued our work with map skills of Ohio (states that border, cities within, rivers, etc.) and then started researching Franklin County for our Great Ohio Mail Race.

Wacky...

Wednesday's are so weird and wacky with only having 19 kiddos for most of the day... I miss our friends! Luckily, they weren't gone all day. We completed our morning procedures and i-Time and in our morning meeting, we read, Ada Twist, Scientist. In Math Workshop, we continued working on place and value. We are doing much better than we were but we still need practice understanding places, values and relationships between numbers. I'm going to find some resources and put them on Canvas tonight so your kiddo can practice. After Art, lunch and recess, in Fish In a Tree, Albert stood up for himself, Keisha and Ally with the bullies! I don't think they'll be bothering him anymore. We read independently and/or visited the library and conferenced with me. Then, we discussed observations vs. inferences and practiced making inferences from text using our StoryWorks story. We began Writer's Workshop with me reading, Author A True Story to show writer's craft and the struggles with writing and BigMamma's which is a story created from a seed. Then, they were able to take one of their small moments or seeds, and begin writing their own narrative. Finally, in Social Studies, we worked on map skills about Ohio and got started on the Great Ohio Mail Race!

Our first new piece!

We are still working on coming in and getting right to work. They like to mosey around and chitchat... Our morning procedures are to check in for lunch and come in and find a seat that will help them to be successful-not with their friends. Then, they get themselves "Ready to Learn," and begin working on their Math 4Today. At the bell, (actually 9:05-we don't have a bell) we switch over to i-Time. I will begin working with a small group during this time, tomorrow, while everyone else is working INDEPENDENTLY to better themselves at a skill that needs practiced or to research something they wonder about or want to learn. In our morning meeting, we talked about yesterday being Eid-a holiday that a few of our students were out celebrating-and shared our favorite holidays. Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween, were the most popular. After the pledge and a few rounds of "Would you rather?" we did a number talk on reading and writing numbers with identifying place and value of numbers. Then, we completed an Exemplar-a real world application of understanding place and value-that was either average, a little less challenging or a little more challenging. I let them pick which problem they felt were best for them and they honestly picked the problem that I would have picked for them! Then, in Math Workshop, they completed some problem-solving activities involving 10x more, played a place and value card game or played ST Math. Today's workshop was very productive with little reminders from me, so we earned our first piece! We had gym and then lunch and recess and then read more from Fish In a Tree where we visualized-sketched our "mind movies"-and kept track of how Ally is changing now that we are almost at the end of the book. After reading independently, visiting the library and/or conferencing with me about their independent reading, we worked on answering critical thinking questions about our StoryWorks story we've been working on, played chess, like Ally, or tried to figure out the coded message that Mr. Daniels gave his class to try to figure out in Fish In a Tree. I also worked with a couple of groups in Guided Reading with close reading, bringing background information to our reading and self-correcting/monitoring as we read aloud. In Writer's Workshop, we talked about our Small Moments story ideas and decided if they are true "seeds" or if they are "watermelon" ideas. Our day concluded with Science and drawing their perception of a Scientist (19/24 drew male!), the tools Scientists use and what they do.

Man Voice Monday...

I have a bit of a voice but it is very deep and manly and the vibrations make my head hurt!! Anyway, we set a class goal today for: quick and quiet transitions. Students then wrote personal goals to help us to reach this class goal. After completing our M4T, we greeted our friends and shared about our weekends. Then, we tried "Laughing Bandana" again and this time, we rocked it! :) In Math, we began with a video from LearnZillion on reading and writing numbers. Students received their login information for LearnZillion and can now access the videos that I've put in Canvas. Then, to practice reading and writing numbers in different forms, we practiced some edible math! Yum-o! Students had a little difficulty with writing numbers in words. Some are also struggling with the place of numbers past hundreds (thousands, ten-thousands, hundred-thousands, millions) so you might want to ask them about it and see if your child understands. We had Music today and an uneventful lunch and recess. Phew! In Fish In a Tree, Ally continued to grow in her positivity and mindset! We practiced creating mind movies or visualizing as we read so we could clearly understand the story. We also are keeping track of the characteristics that describe Ally so that we can see how she changes over the course of the book. We began Reader's Workshop with independent reading and I conferenced with students while Monday's kiddos visited the library. Then, we moved on to the workshop part and I met with groups for Guided Reading while others worked on StoryWorks and played chess or read independently. Now that our Writer's Notebooks are personalized, we focused on creating seeds for story ideas. Today's focus was on small moments. We read about the small moment that happened that caused R. J. Palacio to write Wonder and the small moment of a teacher in 6th grade that caused Lynda Mullaly Hunt to write Fish In a Tree. Then, we wrote our own list of small moments that could create future stories for us! We ended our day dusting off the cobwebs of our Ohio Textbooks! They are literally older than the kids~16 years old! So, we discussed that some things didn't change, like our history and geography, but we won't be using this resource for government!

Fantastico Friday!

I still do not have a voice but at least it's not as squeaky as yesterday! :) We started our Friday with our M4T assessment. After a quick meeting where students wrote on a post-it, "One thing I wish my teacher knew about me..." Our Number Talk was focused on doubles again today and then we practiced and hopefully, solidified our understanding of 10x more in Math Workshop. We had Music, lunch and recess and then in reading Fish In a Tree, Ally was voted-by her classmates-as class president!! Her mindset is taking an even bigger turn toward believing in herself! We had discussion about the characteristics of Ally and how things are changing these characteristics about her. Then, students were able to look at the main character in their StoryWorks character, Sheera. They also read independently, conferenced with me, some visited the library and some played chess, like Ally, during Reader's Workshop. In Writer's Workshop, we personalized our Writer's Notebooks! Finally, our day concluded testing our cookie theories from yesterday. I think they really enjoyed this! :)

What?

Well, I have lost my voice. It isn't completely gone but comes and goes and when it's here, it's either a really manly voice or a squeaky mouse-like voice...students are practicing their careful listening skills today so they don't get lost! After completing M4T and trying to finish these Ohio placemats, we greeted our friends and met for our morning meeting. In meeting, we shared our favorite apps~some I've never heard of including one called, "Dump Trump..." Then, we tried to play a new game called Laughing Bandana but we weren't that successful so we'll need to try again another time. After our daily goal writing, we met for a Number Talk but instead of using friendly numbers, we practiced using doubles. We did a quick review of reading numbers and identifying their place and value using a little musical "chairs" and then I squeaked out reading Sir Cumference and All the King's Tens. We headed outside to better understand the concept of 10x more by first counting how many times we can kick our leg up for 10 seconds. However, they decided that it would be better to do it for 6 seconds and then multiply by 10 to get how many kicks in a minute. Then, we figured out how many in 10 minutes. Next, using chalk circles for the ones, tens and hundreds, we modeled numbers using each other. We came back inside and completed some work with values using money and then showed our understanding with an exit slip. (I'll use these to now decided who still needs more instruction or practice with 10x more and who can move on.) Today was gym, lunch and a sticky outdoor recess and then more Fish In a Tree. Mr. Daniels cleared things up with Ally and her overall attitude about herself and school was much better today! In Reader's Workshop, we read independently, some of us went to the library, some fixed their quiz from yesterday but this time USED the story to prove their answers, read the fiction story in our StoryWorks magazines and learned some new vocabulary like plunge and glare, and with inspiration from Ally in Fish In a Tree, played a little chess. For Writer's Workshop today, we took a sensory walk and wrote down what we noticed with our senses. We also sketched any mind movies that were created from this walk. It was so relaxing that we actually had two kiddos that kept nodding off to sleep when we returned so we signed up for GoNoodle and did our first brain break-the Chicken Dance with Maximo! After we woke up, we were able to better focus on our Science. I gave them a probe or question: If I have a whole cookie and break it into pieces and crumbs and weigh all of the pieces and crumbs, how will the weight of the cookie compare to the weight of the crumbs? They were given 3 choices and had to justify their reasoning. Then, they got into groups to see what others thought. Finally, I surveyed the class and we found that 9 kids believe that the whole cookie will weigh MORE than the crumbs and 15 students think the whole cookie will weigh THE SAME as the crumbs. I then, asked what we could do to prove which was correct. Of course, they said to try it out with real cookies! And what did this amazing teacher have on hand?? Cookies, of course! We also said that we could use unifix cubes or other things that we could break apart to test our theories. So, tomorrow, we are going to do just that and prove which answer is best. Yum-o!

Hump day already!

Well, the beauty of not realizing yesterday was Tuesday has hit today, realizing that we're halfway through the week! We had a small group today with 7 of our kiddos out for Focus, so I feel like we've been on fire getting things accomplished! After going over our M4T, in meeting, we read, There, and related it to our goals and knowing our There. Then, we shared our favorite There... (mine is the beach!) We said the Pledge of Allegiance and then played a few rounds of "Would you rather?" before setting our goals for the day and having a Number Talk. We finished up with the friendly numbers in addition section of Number Talks and then read, The History of Counting. We knew about our number system and numbers but never realized how it developed~this was pretty neat! Next, we played musical "chairs" but standing and with digits to make numbers, read numbers, identify place and state the value of the digit. (This was a lot of fun!) Then, we got into smaller groups and created numbers and showed the value of each digit. After writing our assignments in our planners, we went to Music, lunch and out to a sweltering recess. (I had recess duty-I know!) In Fish In a Tree, Ally felt betrayed by Mr. Daniels because a sub kind of called out that she didn't need to write an assignment and could draw instead... we don't think he meant to... In Reader's Workshop, we took a quiz over our first StoryWorks story and were encouraged to use our story!! I'm a little concerned at how few kiddos actually used the magazines. We began Writer's Workshop with reading The Best Story and then either continued to collect words using newspaper or magazines or write our own stories. Our day concluded with our first celebration~Electronic Party!

It's Tuesday?

I've already been off all day... It's Tuesday. I have to keep reminding myself! Our day started with completing days 1 & 2 in M4T and then working independently for a little bit of time to practice skills we need work with. Then, after greeting our friends, in meeting, we took care of some housekeeping details and then shared about our weekends (lots of kiddos visited grandparents or went camping). We played a quick "Just like me!" said the pledge and then made sure our goal was set for the day. After a great Number Talk, we got our brains going with a problem-solving activity involving newspapers and stacking them efficiently, added without adding and played a place and value game. It took awhile to get them truly thinking and pushing past their first answer but overall, they did well. Today was Art, lunch and recess. After we returned, we cooled down while I read, Fish In a Tree. Ally finally came out and shared with Mr. Daniels that she can't read and he told her that he knew and had her tested for dyslexia-which she has and they've developed a plan for getting her to read. We had some time to read independently and received bookworms for doing this today! In Writer's Workshop, we read, Max's Words and used newspapers and magazines to collect our own words. Finally, Mrs. Shively came in and talked to us about differences and read a book to us to show that all kiddos have differences and there is a also a difference between fair and equal.

Well...

We earned our final potato head piece!! Now, we need to keep it until our celebration next week... We are chatty and our transitions aren't great but we'll do some fine tuning next week and try to stick to our schedule and we should be good to go! This may cause some stress for those that are not paying attention or staying on task or socializing...

We completed our second M4T assessment this morning and did much better than last week. Then, in meeting, we played Coseeki again, and it was so much fun! After saying the pledge, we checked our goals from yesterday and if we achieved our goal, we wrote a new one and if not, we made some changes or adaptations in order to achieve it. Then, we completed our Number Talk and took our first pre-test to get our Math Workshop started. After we completed our pre-test, we had some choices for which tasks and in what order we completed our workshop choices. However, we needed reminders that they had choice with what they did, who they worked with and in what order they completed their tasks NOT if they completed the tasks! Today was gym and then lunch and recess. In Fish In a Tree, we either continued with our mind movie or focused on the mindset of the characters. We decided that Ally has a fixed mindset, Keisha has a growth mindset and Albert's mindset depends on the topic or task. We are hoping that Ally grows her mindset and positivity! In Reader's Workshop, we read independently, completed a synthesizing worksheet about the paired texts we've been reading and some met with me. (In Guided Reading this week, we focused on: feelings about reading, types of books we read/like to read and what we want/need to learn to become better readers.) We ended Reader's Workshop a little early so that we could finish our important paragraphs in Writer's Workshop and our ABC Ohio books in Social Studies. We had a lot of technical difficulties so some mentioned they wanted to work on these at home.

Back to usual!

Yay! I'm back and we all survived... with a few hiccups along the way~geesh! Once students finished with their M4T this morning, they got caught up on decorating/coloring their OHIO placemats. In meeting, we discussed the last 3 days from their perspective as well as from the substitute. Then, we discussed E + R = O (events + our response = outcome) and how we can't control the events that happen but what we can control is our response to these events. So, they had a substitute (E) but their response (R) could have been a little better for her to create a better and less chaotic outcome (O). Unfortunately, there are days that I will need to be out. So, we created a poster listing Above the Line behaviors for a substitute. We also realized that these behaviors should be the same for any guest, or me, in our room.

In Math Workshop, we finished up our posters from yesterday and then did a gallery walk to look at the posters to see how/if everyone made their thinking visible. We also signed our Teamwork Contract and put it in our binders so we know how to best work in teams. After Music, lunch and recess, we finally read Fish In a Tree and visualized our thinking as "mind movies" as Ally puts it. In Reader's Workshop, we continued our work with our first StoryWorks issue focusing on the paired texts, some met with me for Guided Reading and we conferenced about our independent reads also. Then, in Writer's Workshop, we continued writing/publishing our Important Paragraphs using Google Apps. Finally, we continued with technology and added to our ABC Ohio books for Social Studies.