Connections and Coats of Arms

One of the strengths of the Open Court Reading program is its stress on reading strategies. We have been working on practicing these strategies as we have been reading the stories in the "Risks and Consequences" theme. In "Mrs. Frisby" we practiced making predictions. In "Toto" we worked on visualization. In our third story, "Sarah Plain and Tall" we worked on making connections. This is one of the most fun strategies for the students, partly because it is an easy one. As they read the text, all they have to do is to monitor their own thinking. When they read a word or see a picture in a story, what experience in their own lives do they remember?

In room 19 we use sticky notes to help with our reading strategies. We make notes on the post-it notes and stick them right next to the word or picture which prompted the prediction, connection, or other thought. This mimics the margin notes which good readers often make in their own books, less any wear and tear to the book. As we read through the story this morning, students made predictions and connections. After every two or three pages we shared these with the class. When we finished, the students took them out of the book and created a kind of response log by writing the textual reference on one side and placing the sticky note on the opposite side. You can see an example of this below.

In math, we started algebra! Students in middle and high school are often so intimidated by algebra that we now try to introduce them to the key concepts and skills when they are younger and have less math anxiety. Today we discussed variables. We talked about how they solve algebra problems all the time without thinking about it, and just showed how we can represent these every day problems using variables in an expression.

Also, in Health today we had a fun little assignment and you can see some of these above. We were reading about self-esteem and discussing good character and character traits. The book suggested creating a "coat of arms" with at least six symbols showing individual interests and strengths. The students had a great time doing this and you can see some examples of their work above.

Homework: Students had a lot of time to get started on these assignments during the day. Although this list seems long, they should not be doing that much at home tonight. (1) Look at the spelling words. All have the long e sound. Sort the words using a tree map to show which letter combinations create the long e sound in each word. (2) Do the chapter review worksheet for history. The chapter was divided into five lessons. On the visual organizer - the boxes with the circle in the middle - students are supposed to write the main ideas for each lesson. (3) Do the Open Court Reading packet. This consists of the Word Knowledge, Vocabulary from Context, and "The History You Are Making." (4) Do "Variables," Math, pages 62-63, numbers 7-20 and 24-26 only. (5) Do page PS18 in the Problem-Solving Workbook.