Listening Carefully

Sorry for no post yesterday, but we have been having Internet connection problems in room 19. I THINK it is solved now, after two visits from the district's network people, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

One of the most important things children need to do in school is to learn to listen carefully. We did a couple really important (and fun) things which helped them to develop this skill. Thanks to the inventiveness of Stewart's mom and dad, we were given a DVD of highlights of yesterday's inauguration. This allowed us to skip all the dull stuff and pointless TV commentary and focus on what happened that was really important. So we watched President Obama's speech today. The students took copious notes as he spoke, and then we discussed what we had seen and created a cluster or web on the board. Tonight the students will take these notes and write a really good, LONG paragraph about the speech.

We then went over to the auditorium to participate in the California Dance Institute program. The students really had a good time again, and they also had a really good workout. Most importantly, however, they were challenged to listen to the directions and to the music and concentrate on what they were doing . Those are the kinds of skills which help students succeed in any academic or personal areas. Few of the students will pursue dance in the future, but all of them will be better students for having taken part in this kind of intense artistic instruction.

After recess we went to the Tech Center. Students worked with Ms. Richards on activities designed to improve their skills in Math. This is the kind of test prep that is not soul-killing drill. We corrected homework after recess and practiced some of the songs from Gold Dust or Bust. We went out to PE with room 17, and when we returned we took the chapter 14 math test.

Homework: (1) Write the paragraph summarizing President Obama's inaugural speech. (2) Do the crossword puzzle about medical terms. (3) Do "Dividing," Math, pages 278-279.