I was attending a workshop yesterday so I was not in class. The students had a supply teacher. I am glad to report there were no major incidents.
Today we started our day off in the gym. When we returned to class we completed the morning message and we graphed the temperature for the last three days. We then looked at our Journal responses about the biggest problem in the class and solutions to that problem using the ELMO. Our focus was looking at supporting details. So as a class we read and critiqued our responses based on whether or not they had good supporting details. We ignored spelling, punctuation and penmanship concerns. The top three problems discussed were too much noise and talking ( I agree), to much walking around ( I agree) and people not putting things back where they belong. I am hoping we can fix these problems.
After recess, we worked on Literacy Groups. We are each reading a story at our level and we are reviewing the elements of the story, writing a critical response ( I do/don't like the text....), retelling and we are also looking for the main idea and making connections.
After recess we solved the following problem in small groups. " Mystic Pizza cuts pizzas into four equal pieces. If Area 203 wants to have a pizza party how many pizzas will they need to order? Is there any left over pizza? If one pizza costs $12, is $40 enough money to pay for the party?" This activity was about working together, listening to others strategies and then solving the problem. Most groups solved the problem, and use different strategies to do so. The groups that didn't argue about and practiced using purposeful talk solved the problems quickly and accurately.... ( isn't that interesting?)
It took a while to settle after we reviewed every groups answer so instead of beginning a new Math activity we began to read the book "Shipwrecked" by Gordan Korman. It is quite interesting so far as we find out that the main character, Luke, has been put on a ship for deliquent kids because he committed a crime.
After recess, once again it took twenty minutes for the class to settle and get focused. Once the lesson started, there were several interuptions and time was running out to complete the activity properly so I had to send students to their desks. I asked them to write about how they are suppose to come in and settle and what they are to be like on the carpet. If they did not complete the work, they were to complete it at home, and get it signed by their parents. I suggested that this be at least 15- 20 lines!!
HOMEWORK: Spelling Lesson 26 due.
Proper listening response. Signed and returned.
