Testing, Testing

Today was mostly devoted to beginning the Open Court Unit Two test. Parts of this test frustrate me. For example, one of the items in the Checking Skills section is identifying prepositional phrases. That's a good skill, of course, except that the book itself does not actually cover prepositional phrases until Unit 6. So we started the day discussing that skill in an effort to not lose some easy points. We then went over yesterday's homework - also preparation for the vocabulary and spelling sections of the test. We took, corrected, and discussed the comprehension section of the test.

We then started on the writing section. This one is a bit difficult. It calls for the students to create a business plan, something not many of us have even done in real life. The writing prompt asked the students to develop a business which would make enough money so they could go on a field trip. In the past, I have become painfully aware of how little they grasp how much things cost. It shocks some students to learn that they cannot pay for a trip to Paris with all their friends on the proceeds of a lemonade stand! Really, I am not making that one up! So I provided a bit more framework for the students, and we discussed how much money they might reasonably make and need. We settled on earning about 250 - 300 dollars to pay for a school bus for a day.

Writing the rough draft took longer than I initially expected. Students worked in the time between recess and lunch, and most needed about a half hour after lunch, too. But I was pleased that so many wrote very elaborate compositions full of interesting details.

We finished the day by discussing and correcting yesterday's homework in math and social studies.

Homework: (1) Write a holiday acrostic poem. Each letter of the celebration begins a different phrase which describes some aspect of the holiday. (2) Do vocabulary review sheet. Use the crossword puzzle as needed to help with the meaning of the words. (3) Do Chapter 13 review in Math, pages 256-257.