Up-cycling

Our day began as all do... we continued working with word study as our focus for morning choice followed by i-time. Most are playing games but at least they are creating words and collaborating with friends with Boggle and Scrabble! After gym, in our morning meeting, we continued our work with empathy and the book we read yesterday, Ada's Violin, by watching videos of the real Ada. This sparked our interest and we are going to up-cycle something. So, if your kiddo starts going through your recycling, this is why! In Reader's Workshop, we worked with idioms. Maybe you can find a way to throw one or two in to conversation with your kiddo and see if they pick it up! Here are some we worked with today: let sleeping dogs lie, clam up, when pigs fly, smell a rat... After matching idioms with their meanings, they were able to continue free-writing and adding poems to our poeTREE. It was lunch and outdoor recess and quiet time where we completed and went over our M4T. After our Number Talk (see if your child can tell you 16 x 8), we related decimals to our base-10 number system and blocks where they made pictures and then determined the value of their picture and we ended Math Workshop with an exit slip. Math took quite a while today so we didn't have much time for Social Studies but we did begin to discuss the Explorers and the 3 G's that brought them to the Americas.

Mrs. Hider

I was out this morning for a follow-up from my surgery so it was Mrs. Hider's first day without me. Mrs. Bowers (the sub-not art teacher) was there and did most of it but Mrs. Hider led meeting for the first time! She's still observing for one more week and then she'll be taking over more and more. They read Ada's Violin for read aloud and got a new StoryWorks magazine in Reader's Workshop where they worked with the poem, The Snowflake. After indoor recess due to the temperature, we had quiet time and a Number Talk. In Math Workshop, we continued our work with fractions and decimals by creating a human number line. Each kiddo had either a fraction or a decimal and they put themselves in order. Then, we worked on an Exemplar and played Decimal Top-it. Since they decided they wanted to prove their thinking yesterday in Science, we set up our experiments and tested them. Ask them what they discovered and why!

Empathy

We began our day with a focus on word study for morning choice again this week. What word study activity did your kiddo do? Then, after Art, in our meeting, we shared one word about our weekend. Do you think your child said: fun, terrible, sleepover, sports or boring? After our one word, we discussed our basic needs and then watched 2 videos about children in poverty. We are going to focus on EMPATHY this week so we discussed what empathy means and then I shared a story about a student from last year. It's one thing to see the children in Africa and have empathy but it's another thing to realize that there are kiddos in our school that don't have their basic needs met. Also, they received a chart for Random Acts of Kindness. After about 10 minutes, some said they were finished. So, we had another discussion that acts of kindness are only random when they happen out of the blue. They need to do things because they empathize with someone-not just to check something off their list. In The Beaded Moccasins, Mary made it to Sequin's trading post on Lake Erie and dodged a bullet when she said she couldn't read the treaty because it was in French! Phew! After reading independently, we worked with identifying figurative language in song lyrics. I challenged them to try and find more when listening to music because we didn't do very well with this today. We also did some free-writing and writing poetry for our POETree. :) It was a very cold outdoor recess with big snow flakes and in quiet time, they should have completed their Math 4 Today. However, some are choosing to work on it at home this week so you might want to ask them if they've finished. In Math Workshop, we started our decimal learning by placing fractions and decimals on a number line. This proved to be pretty challenging for some. Unfortunately, we just want to be told what to do instead of trying to solve and figure it out on their own. They aren't enjoying having to think... I stopped them about half way through and gave a little more explanation about decimals and their places and values. This helped a lot of them to finish putting the numbers on the number line. Today was only day 1 and they don't realize that they don't need to know it all right away! (Needless to say, it was a bit stressful...) We ended our day with Science. I gave them 2 probes (thought provoking questions) that dealt with heat vs. temperature. We really want to know the answers, too, so we created experiments to do tomorrow to figure them out! One was the mitten problem and the other was the temperature of objects--what does your child think?

Great day!

Today was just a great day overall! It's not as if anything specific happened but we got quite a bit accomplished, kiddos were happy and after all the kids left, Mrs. Hider and I looked at each other and said, "That was really fun! We had a really good day, today!"

We began with morning choice and i-time, followed by gym. In meeting, we shared the first thing we do when we get home from school and then played category challenge with animals. In The Beaded Moccasins, Mary is headed to the trading post to help them with reading treaties, however, they don't know that she can't read... after reading independently, we spent 45 minutes on our checkpoint writing assessment. They have WAY too much anxiety! We need to do more of these types of assignments/tests because they were giving up before we even began! It was a beautiful day for outdoor recess and after taking our Math 4 Today assessment (which came home with them today and they weren't wonderful), we took the decimal pre-assessment and got started with understanding decimals by playing a game with tenths and hundredths. They really enjoyed it so we just played and played until the end of the day.

Did we do any learning today??

Yes! Although, it didn't feel that way...it was a crazy Thursday after all! :) Our day began with working on word study and then in meeting, shared our favorite part of Valentine's Day followed by some, "Would you rather?" questions. Why Valentine's Day talk already? Well, this afternoon, we had a vertical team activity where we worked with the preschoolers to make valentines for the two nursing homes here in Hilliard. Our big kids LOVED the preschoolers and thought they were just the cutest things ever!! We also worked on our Math 4 Today and planned out our opinion writing for the assessment we'll be writing tomorrow.

Some other out-of-the-ordinaries were our pizza party lunch for those that completed the Winter Break Challenge and our ice cream/popsicle potato head celebration!

Hungry today!

I feel like we got a lot done today! We began with morning choice activities with a word study focus. Once we grasped this concept, we were good to go. After Music, in meeting, we shared our favorite sports team. (For some reason, everybody needed a snack today so I went through an entire bag of goldfish-the big ones that I get at Sam's Club, too! Maybe they're growing... Anyway, I was getting snacks so we didn't have time to play the game.) In The Beaded Moccasins, Mary decided she needed strength, like they boys in the tribe. So, she jumped into the icy water too...luckily, she was saved by White Eyes! Hepte told her that she already had more strength than those boys. We read independently and then discussed the poem we completed yesterday. In Writer's Workshop, we completed our shared opinion writing. I feel so much better about them doing their writing assessment now. I think for the next writing, our informational report, we might complete a shared writing because they really did well with this modeling. After yet another indoor recess, in Math Workshop, we finally finished reviewing and practicing and securing (mostly secure) our understanding of fractions. We are ready to move on to decimals! (Some still need some extra practice with fractions, though so don't stop working on them!) Our day concluded working on Science and the Ohio Energy Project. We talked about what energy is and how we use it and can be more efficient.

Fun in the dark!

OMG-we had a fun morning! The power went out around 8:30 this morning but we weren't going to let that stop us! It was actually kind of fun to hang out at school in the dark-it was like we were there after hours. (Which I am a lot and this was nothing like that, but for them, it was cool!) For the first hour or so, there were emergency lights in the bathrooms, however, we used a flashlight when those went off~that was fun. In Art, Mrs. Bowers had to bring it "old school" by drawing on the chalkboard instead of using the power point presentation she had made. We also used materials from our Ohio Energy Project--our hand crank flash lights and Mrs. Hider and I wore glow bracelets. It was almost like a party! :)

In meeting, we shared the which ethnicity of food is our favorite. (I get a lot of my meeting share ideas from my evenings at home. Last night we had Mexican food and I put a Chinese type recipe in the crock pot for dinner tonight.) Italian was a big favorite amongst the kids. Japanese was pretty popular too. Sushi, YUM! In The Beaded Moccasins, the Delaware boys of the village learned strength in a unique way~ask your kiddo about them jumping in the ice every morning of the 4 moons. We read independently and then finished working on our poetry understanding we began the previous day. We spent a lot of time on a shared writing today. We have been working with opinion writing and although they understand and can write a claim and come up with reasons to support this claim, we need work with elaborating on these reasons. We didn't finish so we'll pick up where we left off, tomorrow but did well today. I'm feeling much better about our checkpoint writing assessment this week. Unfortunately, it was once again indoor recess. :( In Math Workshop, we kept working on securing our fraction understanding and when secure, practicing and extending our fraction knowledge. We ended our day finishing our Infographics of Native American groups.

Still inside...

Ugh...due to the rain and wet of the outside, we are still inside for recess. :(

We began our morning tying to finish up the Knuffle Bunny's we made on Friday. Some still weren't finished so they were able to bring supplies home to finish up there. After gym, in meeting, we shared about our weekend and played Coseeki. In The Beaded Moccasins, the weather started to change and it's now getting colder so she is in a cave during NE Ohio winter...brrrr! The students are starting to notice some changes to Mary since the kidnapping where she's becoming a bit less spoiled and appreciating what she has. After reading independently, we worked on another poem-this one had a lot of symbolism and thinking figuratively, which stressed some kiddos out a bit. This goes back to our discussion about reading more than just the words on the page. YOU are one of the main characters of the book and need to work to become that character. In Writer's Workshop, we will be taking the checkpoint writing assessment this week (an assessment of their writing that is "standardized" among all of the 4th graders in the district) and so today we looked at our last writing piece with the rubric to see what we should focus on improving. I noticed that we need to work on elaborating our ideas so tomorrow, we're going to do a shared writing to help us better prepare. In Math Workshop, we continued to secure our fraction understanding so that we can move on to decimals... some also worked on extension activities like reducing fractions and adding/subtracting mixed numbers (which led us to the discussion that problem solving is when you don't know what you are doing--which means that when they understand it, it's not a problem!) Our day ended with working on our infographics of Native Americans.

Not much time!

Today was a crazy Thursday and even crazier than usual because we didn't have much time together! Mrs. Root is having a little difficulty with her younger grades understanding the activities and lessons for Mindset and she asked our class to help out! So, they were in Mindset from 1:35-2:50 today in addition to their vertical team time, 10:25-11:10. Wow~a lot of mindset!

After morning choice and i-time, we read the Knuffle Bunny books in preparation for our show tomorrow. We had great discussion along with the entertainment the books provided! I know I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's musical! Other than mindset, we read independently, finished up and went over the poem we began understanding yesterday, wrote a bit and continued securing our understanding in fractions.

Monday? or Wednesday, already?!

I'm still not sure what day it is, however, we're going with it. We had a couple out of the ordinaries today. First, we had a safety drill this afternoon and then, we went to the MakerSpace for some creative play!

We are trying for less screen time because when given the choice, they'll choose the ipad. So, for Morning Choice, we tried some things other than what is "easy" and had a great time. Hopefully, this will continue through the week and so on. After Art, in meeting, we shared and shared about our looooonnnnggg weekend. In The Beaded Moccasins, they finally arrived at the Cuyahoga River where they plan to live. I love this chapter because I've been to Mary Campbell's Cave in Cuyahoga Falls and took pictures that I like to share with them. It brings the historical part of the historical fiction book more to reality. We read independently and then partnered up to work on understanding a poem. In Writer's Workshop, we either worked on our opinion writing or wrote poetry. In Math Workshop, we are practicing and reviewing and securing our understanding of all things fractions. My hope is that we'll be able to move on to decimals on Monday, with everyone. Our day ended with a few "Would you rather?" scenarios after MakerSpace.

Early Dismissal

Today was crazy! We had a little bit of math, a little bit of reading and writing and some understanding of why we have school off on Monday. We made it through safe and sound! :)

We did it!

Together, we made it completely through the day with minimal redirection so we have officially earned our full potato head celebration! :) We'll be deciding how to celebrate tomorrow and then the celebration will be next week sometime.

Today was Mrs. Hider's first day! She is completing her student teaching for Grand Canyon University and will be with us for the next 4 months. After some introductions, we had a school community meeting reminding us about building skill and choosing to keep ourselves above the line. Some of our kiddos were recognized for their efforts in December and received certificates and got to stand up in the meeting. After mindset, in The Beaded Moccasins, they arrived at their village and Mary met her "mother," Hepte and discovered that the "old one," that had captured her is their leader and she is to be his granddaughter. Their rest didn't last long and now they are headed for the Ohio Territory to set up permanent residence. We read independently and then practiced our fluency using poetry for two voices before going over the poem we worked with yesterday. In Writer's Workshop, we continued writing our opinion pieces inspired by MLK day. I was hoping we could get outside today but it was raining terribly. In Math Workshop, we worked on what multiplication with fractions and whole numbers means and looks like. Our day ended with discovering/exploring toys and how they work with energy transformations in the Ohio Energy Project.

1/10/17

Sorry~forgot to post last night. I'm still really tired and achy by the end of the day so I went home and went to bed.

I was out for professional development yesterday morning but Mrs. Bowers was our substitute and they worked with poetry and opinion writing. In Math Workshop, we are continuing our understanding of multiplying whole numbers with fractions. They are making a great transition from adding and composing fractions (1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 3/4) into multiplication (3 x 1/4 = 3/4). In Social Studies, we worked on our Infographics for the Native American group we picked to represent.

Ugh!

Man, today was rough! I don't know if we need to get outside for recess or what but I think I stopped every five minutes to get them from talking! Even when I was up in the front of the room teaching! Our goal today was to be more purposeful with everything we were doing. For example, after our meeting, we said the Pledge and then were to go get our ipads and come back for read aloud. A small handful did this, however, the majority of the class, did not do this with purpose-they talked with their friends and went to their bags, etc. We'll try again tomorrow.

We began our day completing a Learning Styles survey for our morning question, "Tell me Tuesday." What are your child's preferences? In meeting, we shared for 30 minutes! what we did yesterday. In The Beaded Moccasins, Mary and Mrs. Stewart continued west over the Appalachian Mountains with their captors. She was told that she was going to replace their leader's granddaughter who had passed away. We read independently and in Reader's Workshop, discussed poetry. We even had a few minutes to write some poetry before continuing our work with our opinion writing. In Math Workshop, we worked with multiplying fractions with whole numbers. We showed what this looks like using equations, area models and number lines. We ended our day completing our chart describing the who, what, when and where of Native Americans in Ohio.

Back to the grind...

We are getting back into the grind of school. I'm having to pull some of them along with us, but we're all moving on! :) It was a crazy Thursday schedule but that gave us some time to complete our spelling screeners before Mindset. We are going to try something different, as a grade level, for spelling so the screeners help us to split the kiddos into groups based on their spelling needs. We are still concentrating on the patterns of words so they won't necessarily have "lists" and "tests." In our morning meeting, we went over the class surveys and they agree there should be less talking in the class so today, we had semi-assigned seats to begin the day. This helped a bit but we still need to use more self-discipline and control for when to talk and how loud our voices should be. In The Beaded Moccasins, it was Mary's birthday! We are still getting to know Mary and the setting so we've stopped a lot to better understand the time period. Yesterday, we worked with carding wool and spinning thread and today we learned about churning butter. We are also focusing on the similes the author uses to help us understand. After some time reading independently, we listened to the poem in StoryWorks, "Ode To My Shoes," and answered some critical thinking questions about the poem. In Writer's Workshop, we looked at our opinion writing we did before break and compared it to the 4th grade checklist to make sure we are making the transition to 4th grade opinion writing. After lunch and indoor recess and quiet time, we completed a one-pager about fractions. Pretty much, they were given a blank piece of paper and they needed to fill it up, artistically, with everything they know about fractions. Since we are all at different points in our learning, I wasn't sure where they all ended up before break. This will help me to better grasp where they are and where to go from here. Although it was a little overwhelming at first, they did ok. I think we'll need time tomorrow to finish but your kiddo might be working on this tonight. We ended our day reading about the Native Americans of the 1700's.

Happy New Year!

I made it through my first day back! I'm pretty swollen, sore and tight but I did it! We had a good day~very chatty, but the first day back is always chatty. We started the day with "Snaps" of our winter break and shared them during our meeting. We shared a lot during our meeting, actually! I really enjoyed chatting and catching up. Next, we completed a 2017 Year In Review. In order to set goals and improve, we need to first know where we are. This review helped get our minds right on the basics of our 2017. We started a new book for Read Aloud, The Beaded Moccasins by Lynda Durrant. This is a historical fiction book about Mary Campbell who was taken captive by Native Americans in the 1700's. We are still being introduced to the characters, setting and time period so we haven't even gotten to her capture yet. In Reader's Workshop, we met up with our literature groups to make sure we were all caught up with our reading-which most of us were not... After lunch and indoor recess, obviously, in Math Workshop, we used what we knew of fractions to understand the markings on a ruler and then measured ourselves to the nearest quarter inch. We then made a line plot of how tall we all area and drew conclusions about our data. Next, we read a quote:

and discussed that we should measure our growth (academic, sports, etc.) on our past, not each other-just like we measure our height. We even hung up a paper and marked our heights that we can look at as a visual for remembering this. It's hard to not compare ourselves to each other, especially once you get old enough to understand, but we are going to try! We concluded our day reviewing our understanding of the mound builders.