TGIF!

Today was a good day-Friday's are always good! We began by taking our M4T assessment with the incentive of donuts on Monday for 2/3 of the class receiving 8, 9 or 10/10... In Science, we started by observing fossils and replicas of fossils. Then, sorted cards to put them in the order that some fossils are created. Next, we read the book, Fossils Tell of Long Ago. One student made a connection to our Ohio Energy Project when reading that coal is actually a fossil that coal is a fossil fuel so... ! LOVE to see these connections happen! In Math Workshop, we continued measuring using protractors and added some art to it by making designs that contained certain angle measures and other geometric samples. After cleaning up, we headed to Art, lunch and indoor recess. After recess, in Read Aloud, we finished reading The Fourteenth Goldfish! I won't tell you what happened but it was a happy ending and a possibility of a sequel. We read independently and then in Reader's Workshop, worked with some activities to help us find theme, since we struggled a bit with this yesterday. In Writer's Workshop, we did some free writing.

Practice makes perfect!

Our day began as usual with M4T and Ohio Dailies followed by i-time and morning meeting. In our meeting, we went over the blueprint for our first AIR test next week. They know exactly what they have to do and about how many points there will be. Then, they worked either on their own or with a partner to take the first practice test. As a whole, they did pretty good but 3 areas of weakness stood out: figurative language using greek mythology, informational text structures and theme. The 2 latter were areas I had noticed previously that we needed work with. The greek mythology though... Anyway, we'll work to help fill these holes or to make them feel more secure over the next few days leading up to the test. They know how to access the site and can continue to practice at home if they start getting nervous or feel unprepared. Next, we continued our work with measuring angles with protractors in Math Workshop. They are doing pretty good with this skill! They have always done pretty well when they get to DO things though. We had gym (which this is the first time they've ever groaned when I told them it's time for gym-that last gym day must've really hurt their legs!!), lunch and recess. In The Fourteenth Goldfish, a little romance sparked between Raj and Ellie and grandpa started getting some bad "growing pains"...I hope this isn't a side effect from the T. melvinus... We read independently and in Reader's Workshop, worked to find theme. This didn't go very well so we'll be working more with this tomorrow! Finally, in Writer's Workshop, we finished up our response to the reading about rainbows from yesterday and then switched papers and analyzed each other's responses.

Busy, busy

Tuesday:
We began our day with M4T and Ohio Dailies and then in our meeting, we shared our favorite songs and for as much as these guys listen to music, they can't name their favorite songs! We played a little game of "Finish the song..." where someone would begin a theme song or any song really and the rest of us finished it. Then, in Science, we started by drawing a picture of a dinosaur then discussed how we were able to draw a picture of something we've never actually seen in person--fossils! and read a book about fossils. In Math Workshop, we took our post-test over unit 7 and our pre-test for unit 8. Most only needed to answer a few questions for the post-test as they did well on the check in we took before break. We had Art, lunch and indoor recess and then read more of The Fourteenth Goldfish. Today's reading was kind of blah to me. We're still learning more about Melvin (grandpa) and the relationships between him and Ellie and him and Mom and there are some funny parts but after reading such amazing and dramatic books earlier this year, this one is just kind of ok for me. Has your kiddo mentioned it? We read independently and then in Reader's Workshop, worked on inferencing with "Lost and Found" from StoryWorks. We analyzed the comparing/contrasting about the oak and birch trees and then improved the writing to make it "really good" not just "ok."

Wednesday:
This morning, we completed our M4T and Ohio Dailies and in meeting, shared what homework we did last night--some didn't do anything and others read while only 2-3 completed some math work and no one had started or worked on their book review writing yet... we played coseeki and it isn't much easier with less people either. In Math Workshop, we learned how to measure angles using a protractor and then went to Music, lunch and a beautiful outdoor recess. There was a substitute this afternoon but my plans were for them to read, Fossil Girl for Read Aloud, work on the theme in Reader's Workshop, write their own response to a reading in Writer's Workshop and learning about the branches of government for Social Studies.

Welcome back!

I missed them so much! I loved seeing everyone today and getting back into the swing of things. Once we said hello and got caught up, it was time to get to work! We began our day with Guidance and then had our class picture. Finally, around 10:30, we got to Math Workshop. Before break, we did a check in on our Unit 7 understanding and I found that most students needed a more secure understanding with sorting and classifying shapes based on their attributes as well as some application of understanding symmetry so we practiced and reinforced that understanding today. We had gym, lunch and recess and in The Fourteenth Goldfish, we learned a little bit more about grandpa and his relationships with Ellie and her mom. After reading independently, we read, Lost and Found in StoryWorks and worked with the vocabulary found in the story. In Writer's Workshop, we read two stories about trees and then discussed how we would attempt the prompt to compare and contrast the two stories using evidence from the text. Finally, we read about the NW Territory's next steps toward becoming a states and found that we need to create a government and want a democracy like Ohio, so we need to learn and understand our 3 branches of government. To begin this understanding, we watched a School House Rocks video, "Three Ring Circus."

What do you like that is green?

Our day was filled with some out of the ordinaries. We took a fossil pre-test so that we can begin our fossil study when we return. Then, Mrs. Andrews came in and showed us all of the tools available for us when we take the AIR tests next month. We are taking the assessments on the ipads and I want to be sure they get assessed on the content-not the format. We will continue to "play around" with these tools in class but they can also access the practice test and tools at home through a link on my Canvas page. Next, we took our unit 7 math check in to see what we need more practice with or re-teaching on when we return and after we finished, we had some fun with BreakoutEDU digital. Today was Music, lunch and indoor recess. After cleaning up from recess, we read The Fourteenth Goldfish, read independently, completed our reader's responses and narratives and then spent the remaining time making leprechaun traps!

Trying to finish up

This is how the week before a long break always ends up...spending the last couple of days tying up loose ends so that we aren't left in the middle of projects when we head out for Spring Break.

Wednesday:
In Math Workshop, we learned about symmetry by reading, Seeing Symmetry and then completed some activities followed by using symmetry to create SuperHero Masks! However, to personalize learning, we also made hair bows and sunglasses and antennae... :) Then, after Gym, lunch and recess, in The Fourteenth Goldfish, we actually had 2 really great impromptu learning moments. This book has a lot to do with Science so they were talking about Jonas Salk, the scientist that discovered the vaccine for Polio. Well, my grandfather was the last person to die in Ohio of Polio. So we looked up the newspaper article and read about it! (It was when my dad was 10 so I didn't know him.) Then, they were talking about how Scientists never give up and how Science is like a puzzle which led us to look at famous failures. We read independently, blogged and worked on our discussion post for the debate question in StoryWorks: Should gum be allowed in school? In Writer's Workshop, we continued revising, editing and completing our final copy of our narrative using dialogue. We concluded our day with Social Studies and a little on the fly project we began about our classroom becoming a "state."

Thursday:
Today was crazy. We had special at 10:00 and then the 5th grade musical performance at 10:50 and then they wanted me to read more from The Fourteenth Goldfish. While today's reading was good, nothing jumped out at us like yesterday! Then, we had lunch and outdoor recess and then we did our Math Workshop. It was pretty differentiated with kiddos in 3 different groups based on their needs, but worked with classifying shaped based on their properties, name symmetry and began designing a geometrical town. At 2:00, the OSU researcher came in and gave the pre-test over fossils and then we worked on finishing up our reading and writing work from the previous days'.

Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day! (and my Adison's birthday!) Our morning questions today was, "What is your favorite kind of pie?" and surprisingly, a few kiddos don't like pie, at all! We worked on our M4T and Ohio Dailies (which now I can tell they are actually completing them because they are starting to talk about facts they are learning!). In our morning meeting, we shared about our evenings and then played, "Laughing Bandana." Math Workshop was all about Pi! We brought in circular snacks but before we ate them, we read, Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi. This story taught us, in a punny way, how to find pi by measuring the circumference and diameter of circles. So, we measured our circular foods and then ate them, after they helped us find pi! What did your kiddo eat for their circular snack today, other than the cookie I gave them?! Today was Music, lunch and indoor recess and then we read a little bit more from The Fourteenth Goldfish and found out that this cranky 13-year old truly IS her grandfather! He has found a way to regenerate senescence (we learned what these science terms meant...) While half of us read independently, the other half worked on a padlet helping to explain the above terms-then switched. https://padlet.com/heather_lambrig/the14thgoldfish1 In Reader's Workshop, we got our new StoryWorks and read the debate article about allowing gum chewing in school. Then, they formed their opinion and wrote their "argument" on a discussion thread in Canvas. We continued revising and editing our narratives and then finished brainstorming steps needed for us to become a "state."

Prescription for shout-outs

I felt like I worked at a carnival today...I walked around carrying raffle tickets for those that waited to speak, quietly, with their hands raised. At the end of the day, we put all of the tickets given out into a drawing and Miren won! Hopefully, this will help to quiet us down and keep us from shouting out! :)

We are getting our M4T checked by me this week to hopefully improve our accuracy on Friday assessments as well as getting caught up on our Ohio Dailies work. In our morning meeting, we tested out our contraptions from the MakerSpace challenge on Friday. We wrote new SMART goals and then did a little "Mrs. L says" to review our geometry terms. In Math Workshop, finished up our work with applying our geometry terms to look for attributes in 2-dimensional shapes. After writing in our planners, we headed down to Art, lunch and outdoor recess. We began our new Read Aloud today, The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer Holm. So far, we've met the main character, Ellie, her mom, babysitter and some grouchy, kid that she thinks is her grandpa?! We read independently for about 20-25 minutes and then worked on our reader's response in Kidblog. We also voted for March Book Madness and replied to others' responses. In Writer's Workshop, we focused on REVISING our narratives. Instead of hoping to not have any marks on our papers, we are trying to make lots of marks. Finally, in Social Studies, as Ohio is working toward statehood, we decided, maybe we (Room 110) can try to become a "state." We brainstormed potential steps to statehood!

Dogzilla!

Our day began as usual with our M4T assessment and Ohio Dailies, however, according to the substitute from yesterday, they were pretty chatty, so we worked quietly this morning. Then, we worked on finishing up understanding our geometry work from yesterday and doing some application of the vocabulary using two-dimensional figures. After we got to a stopping point with our math, we moved on to MakerSpace which was a Dogzilla challenge using the book by Dave Pilkey. It was great! I can't wait to test them out on Monday. After gym, lunch and a chilly recess, we came in and worked to complete our Writing about reading on Kidblog that was started yesterday and continue writing our narratives that we began with LEGOs. Finally, our day ended by helping the 5th graders out by being their audience for their upcoming Jungle Book Musical practice.

I surrender...

By the end of the day, I waved the white flag and surrendered. Teacher 0, Class 1. :0) It was just a little hectic trying to get some things to the point where I needed them to be, as I will be out tomorrow for my uncle's funeral. It wasn't a bad day, just stressful for me.

We started our day working on our M4T and Ohio Dailies and then worked on bettering ourselves during i-time. Then, in our meeting, we finished reading Inch and Miles and completed our Pyramid of Success!

In the book, they used a lot of alliteration so we also took some time to describe ourselves using alliteration. Fun! We began Math Workshop by practicing our geometry terms with Mrs. Lambright says and then used geoboards (either the real deal or the app) to practice making them and finished the day showing our understanding on paper. There wasn't a substitute for Art today so instead, we played Nasra and Ava's math Kahoot! and Matt's fraction/decimal Quizizz and had some free art/free time before heading to lunch and recess. After coming in from a very windy recess, we completed a padlet to decide on our next book for Read Aloud and read independently. While the students worked on that, I dished out ice cream for our most recent potato head celebration! They topped it with chocolate and/or strawberry and/or sprinkles! We skipped Reader's Workshop today and finished building our narrative ideas in Writer's Workshop using LEGOs. Finally, we FINALLY completed our Save the Penguins! Science project. Busy day, right?
(Check out Facebook for pictures of our celebration and alliteration!)

Safety Drill

Well, we only had 4 kiddos out sick today so I think we may be getting better...

After completing our morning work and i-time, in meeting, I shared some positive messages that I use to help feed my (and other's) positive dogs. I shared the idea that Justin Timberlake shared during his acceptance speech at the iHeart Radio Awards this past weekend that 'to be different means you will make a difference.' **Our wonder, from 365 Days of Wonder, today said something similar, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Then, we read a little more from Inch and Miles about building our Pyramid of Success and added two new bricks, alertness and self-control to our pyramid. In Math Workshop, we began by sharing our geometry scavenger hunts using AirPlay and the ipads and they did an amazing job with finding pictures around the building that represent different geometry terms. Then, we played a cool card game that uses mental math and strategy~Oh No! 99! In the midst of Math Workshop, we took time out for a safety drill. This time we discussed barricading and/or fighting as part of Run, Fight, Hide, and discussed what we have here in our room to help keep us safe. We kept our conversation serious but not scary and decided we practice fire drills-even though we've never had a fire and tornado drills-even though we've never had a tornado. We had Gym today (it looked like a lot of fun too!), lunch and indoor recess. After recess, we wrote in our planners and then finished brown girl dreaming. It was a wonderful book and we liked it but we were ready to move on. We read 2 serious books in a row. We did learn a lot about civil rights and that time period though! Next, we read silently and then finished up with showing our understanding of character and theme in The Unstoppable Ruby Bridges. We took a brain break with GoNoodle and then discussed the parts of a narrative and what makes a successful narrative. Finally, we brought the LEGOs out and created our narratives!

a little healthier...

We started the day a little healthier with only one kiddo out, however, at the end of the day, one had gone home with a fever, another went home with either a reaction to medicine or a secondary infection, one was laying miserably in the corner and another felt awful and was in the clinic. OMG! We need to get our class healthy...I'm not sure what's going on because it seems like it's just our class...I hope I'm not a carrier monkey and just spreading illness... :\

In our morning meeting, we summed up our weekend in one word: terrible, boring, finally, Mohican...were just some of the words shared. In Math Workshop, we took our Geometry pre-test and then went on a Geometry hunt around the building taking pictures of the geometry we found. Today was Music, lunch and indoor recess. After recess, we read brown girl dreaming and although Jacqueline is strengthening her writing, she's writing the life she wants-not has. Then, we took a few moments to get caught up on a few things: we voted for the Sweet 16 books for March Book Madness, logged last week's reading minutes read at home and set our March Book-it goal to increase our reading stamina and increase our minutes for this week, voted on our next celebration since we completed our potato head on Friday and then were able to read independently. After visiting the library and reading, we shared our vocabulary words that we learned last week and put them into a chart so instead of working hard to learn 27 new vocabulary words, we worked smart and each learned 1 and shared so now we will know 27! Then, we (tried to) read The Unstoppable Ruby Bridges drama, however, our lack of stamina and focus won and there was too much movement, losing places, "giving up", etc. so we discussed that sometimes, stamina matters and we don't get endless amounts of time to complete things. Hopefully, the point was understood. (Feel free to help reiterate this at home!) We then, took a brain break (GoNoodle) and completed the setting work on our drama. After another quick brain break, we moved on to finish up any NorthWest Territory work. Unfortunately, again, the lack of stamina and focus came back so some might need to work on this at home.

Small class

With 9 kiddos out sick today, it was a small class! However, we weren't able to do more because we'd just need to do it again for the 1/3 that are out! So, we began our day with only 6 kiddos out so after completing our M4T assessment, in our meeting, we reviewed our Plus/Delta/Prescription Chart and went over our quote from yesterday about AVERAGE. We had a pretty good discussion and then moved on to Math Workshop where we finished up review, practice and application of previously learned skills. We had art, lunch and indoor recess because of the wind chill and only read a little bit from brown girl dreaming. Jacqueline's words are coming more and more and her sister didn't even believe they were her words because they were "too good." We also read a little from Inch and Miles about success and are learning the steps of the pyramid of success. Today, we learned about cooperation, friendship, loyalty, hard work and enthusiasm. We read independently for a good chunk of time and some students went to the library and in Reader's Workshop, we read the drama, The Unstoppable Ruby Bridges together with parts. I have to say, Mrs. Bridges was great! :) (ask your kiddo!) To finish up our day, we wrote poetry to be added to our poeTREE and worked on our information about Ohio becoming a state.

Stock in Lysol

We started our day with 4 kiddos absent and by 9:15, 2 more went home with fevers. We've had strep and croup and I've had flu at home so if your kiddos are complaining of something, it is probably true! I'm getting Lysol and Clorox wipes and going to sanitize the room tomorrow morning so we can hopefully kill all the germies currently living in our room. (I'm currently at home writing this while taking care of my sickies and will be sanitizing my house too!)

For Thoughtful Thursday, our morning question was, Think about it Thursday: hmmm... what do you think about this quote... “Average. It was the worst, most disgusting word in the English language. Nothing meaningful or worthwhile ever came from that word.” -Portia de Rossi So, in our morning meeting, we made a plus/delta/prescription chart of the things that are going well +, the things that can be improved upon and a prescription for improving our deltas. We had a great discussion and even put some things in place already. (I'll send a pic home tomorrow but I forgot to take one this morning before I left.) After a quick GoNoodle brain break, we got to work on reviewing and applying math with a lot of the same activities from yesterday. We had gym, lunch and outdoor recess and then the sub is going to continue with Thoughtful Thursday and read a few books: (Inch and Miles: the journey to success, Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine, So Few of Me and/or You Will Be My Friend!) for read aloud. After reading independently, they'll read the drama from StoryWorks, The Unstoppable Ruby Bridges and focus on understanding the vocabulary, which they should do well with since we have been immersed in the civil rights movement with brown girl dreaming. In Writer's Workshop, they'll be writing different types of poetry to add to our poeTREE and in Social Studies, continue working toward Ohio becoming a state.

Sorry...

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't kept up with blogging this week. My husband and both girls tested positive for flu... yay.

Anyway, yesterday, we had a sub for the afternoon so we worked on reading and writing with her. In the morning, for Math Workshop, we practiced applying fractions and decimals using some real world problems with Exemplars. In our meeting, for Tell Me Tuesday, we shared things that people don't know about us. Did you know that we have lots of pet allergies in our class? Also, one dad is an artist, 2 dads are police officers and a lot of parents work for Nationwide! The sub left a good report so we got our potato head piece this morning. Only one more needed!

Today, we switched things up by holding our meeting at the END of the day. They did NOT like this. However, I don't like our kiddos at Focus on Wednesdays to miss our meetings so we tried it. I'm not sure if it will continue but we tried it. In Math Workshop, we practiced with some relevant math but reviewing big numbers using You Tube views, decimal comparison using Cedar Point roller coaster drop heights and some cool manipulative apps and calculator games. We had a school community meeting today~ask your kiddo about the message. We had music, lunch and indoor recess and then in brown girl dreaming, Jacqueline realized that she loves words and words are her brilliance! Yesterday and today, we looked at the books she's written and now that we know more about her life, can understand her motivation and inspiration for writing them. It allows us to look differently at her books and we realize that we love them even more now! We read independently (and continued to read some more of her books-I even put a link on our Canvas page to her website which shares more information too.) and in Reader's Workshop, they read poetry and tried to find the important words, figurative language and author's meaning. We are trying to go deeper into our literacy understanding. After sharing what we found, we had a chance to write our own poetry for our class poeTREE. LOL! :)