A “Purr-fect” Day

Before the bell rang, we had an unexpected visitor outside room 19 today.

The cat’s visit might have been an omen of what I can only call a “purr-fect” day.

We started out working on writing responses to literature. This is a blanket term that is used today to discuss anything which asks the reader to think about a piece of writing, evaluate the actions of characters in the story, think of possible motivations for the writer, or imagine being in the same situation described in the work. It is such a broad idea that it makes it actually pretty hard to teach it, even though it is a crucial fourth grade standard. We used last week’s Treasures story, “The Earth Dragon Awakens” to help us master this form. The students had to write an introduction, a body paragraph that summarized the story, and a second body paragraph which explained what they would do in a similar crisis.

After that, the students went to Music. Mr. Lawton introduced songwriting to them today – specifically, the ballad form – and in the process regaled us with his skills on the banjo.

We practice about the first quarter of the play in the auditorium. Mr. Pratt is doing a superb job with our student actors, and the students are doing a great job learning their lines. This is the opening train scene, “Rock Island” where the sales representatives are all discussing how their business is changing, but you still have to “know the territory.”

After lunch, we did Science. We students are learning to identify minerals using color, streak, luster, cleavage, and other properties. Today, we looked at calcite, quartz, fluorite, and gypsum.

Homework:  (1) Write spelling words 6-10 five times each in cursive. Write one original sentence for each word. (2) Do “Homophones” page 251 and “Quotation Marks,” page 252 in the Practice Book. (3) Do “Problem Solving” pages 310-311 and “Test Prep” page 312-313. Also do “Follow the Mystery Number on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Do “Fractions 2” review sheet.