Monday, November 03, 2008

Delightfully Dull

This was a delightfully routine day, even dull. That was particularly nice after all of the barely-contained Halloween energy on Friday. During Independent Work Time, we worked on syllabication and plural forms with -y. We went outside to practice our stage combat, getting ready for theater class on Wednesday. This was related to the Theseus and the Minotaur story. We started an advertisement for an imaginary product. We will finish that tomorrow.

After recess, we did the chapter 2 History test. I will work hard to get this on the gradebook as soon as possible. We needed more time to work on this after lunch, too. We then checked our homework and read a bit of Island of the Blue Dolphins. We went to PE. After that, we came back to the room where we corrected the Math test from Friday, and reviewed the idea of multiplying both sides of the equation by the same number. We working hard to get beyond just the facts of the times tables to seeing the broader patterns here. That's what algebra, in the end, is all about.

Homework: (1) Do spelling sort. All the words this week have the schwa sound. (2) Write the definitions for the "Eddie, Inc." vocabulary words in the green vocabulary booklet. (3) Complete the study questions over "Eddie, Inc." This is a handout. (4) Write a paragraph explaining which candidate for President you would vote for if you were allowed to vote. Provide as many specific details as possible. No insults to the other candidate. (5) Do "Match Words and Expressions," Math, page 163. (6) Do "Multiply Equals by Equals," Math, page 166-167, numbers 4-31.

1 comment:

Mrs. Erickson said...

Hello. I am a fellow fourth grade teacher and I've been quietly following your blog. I found you last year when I was googling ideas for reading. (We use the open court series also.) I had a few questions for you, if you don't mind? I'm really curious to know how long it takes your students to do homework each night? That's been a big gripe with our parents this year and I'm wondering if their concerns are valid. Secondly, it seems from reading your blog, that you teach resources to your class, too. How do you find time to keep this page updated?