In Reading we have spent lots of time talking about how to choose "just right" books and why it is so very important. This week, we are working on reading "faster, stronger, longer". Today and tomorrow we are focusing on reading stronger and what that means to each student. Here is what we created to explain what it means to read stronger:
After determining overall what students should do to read stronger, I asked each of them to choose one area that they felt was weakest for them to focus on during independent reading time. Tomorrow they will write about what they worked on and how they feel they can continue to improve in that area to be a stronger reader.
In math we are working mostly on multiplication and division word problems using multiplicative comparisons. Some examples of problems we have used are:
A red scarf cost $3. A blue scarf cost 6 times more than a red scarf. How much does a blue scarf cost?
A book cost $18. That is 3 times more than a DVD. How much does the DVD cost?
We also using some time first thing in the morning to build and strengthen our number sense using a "number of the day" activity where students have to use the number in multiple ways.
This week we are a trying a "stations" or "centers" routine for math. Students work in groups of 4 and rotate through different stations. One of the stations is teacher lead, one uses their computers, one reviews 3rd grade skills to be maintained, one works on problem solving, and the last station is a game. I have used this type of approach successfully in years past and hope that it proves to be a productive and effective method this year. Here is one of our games, "Pamlico Pirates Reappear":
In writing students have chosen either their best or worst day ever to be the first idea that they take through the writing process to compose a narrative story. We began by planning and now students are drafting and conferring with me about their drafts. For this first piece of writing our only revision will be to add enough to make a 3 paragraph story and then edit. Later we will focus specifically on skills such as descriptive language, "hooking" your reader, including action, using transition words, etc.
Our class rules and specials schedule:
Reminders:
- Spirit wear orders due this Friday
- Wed August 19th is an early release day
- Mon-Thurs homework is to read for at least 20 minutes and write for at least 10 minutes
No comments:
Post a Comment