Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Visualizing
A great day, even though the teacher felt seriously sleep-deprived. What a joy to have such intelligent and cooperative children this year!
A couple highlights of the day. First, in Open Court Reading, we focused today on visualizing as a strategy. Like predicting, this is a skill that good readers unconsciously use. Good readers constantly make movies of the words they read. Poor readers just focus word-by-word on what they are reading. But visualizing is a skill which can be taught and practiced, and that is exactly what we did today. We read "Toto," the story of a timid young boy and a foolish young elephant. This is probably the best-written story in the entire anthology. It has a lot of wonderfully descriptive language. Students wrote down words and phrases that seemed to paint pictures in their heads for them. They did this on post-it notes. Tomorrow they will use those notes to actually draw and color a picture of the story.
We also learned about body percussion today. This is a way to use the body as a percussion instrument. The basic moves are "clap," "snap," "pat," and "stomp." We reviewed the Marco Polo chant and added body percussion moves to it. We practiced it a couple times. The students then broke into groups to practice with their own rhymes or chants. We will spend a couple more days practicing these, and then we will film them and post these performances to the blog.
Homework: They had a good bit of time to get started, so this should not take that long. (1) Do the spelling jumble. (2) Do the OCR packet pages for the first part of the "Toto" story. These are "Word Knowledge," "Search and Circle," and "Vocabulary from Context." (3) Do "Estimate," Math, page 35, #2-21. (4) Do "Strategies," Math, page 38, #3-39. Find exact answers here, but do it mentally.
A couple highlights of the day. First, in Open Court Reading, we focused today on visualizing as a strategy. Like predicting, this is a skill that good readers unconsciously use. Good readers constantly make movies of the words they read. Poor readers just focus word-by-word on what they are reading. But visualizing is a skill which can be taught and practiced, and that is exactly what we did today. We read "Toto," the story of a timid young boy and a foolish young elephant. This is probably the best-written story in the entire anthology. It has a lot of wonderfully descriptive language. Students wrote down words and phrases that seemed to paint pictures in their heads for them. They did this on post-it notes. Tomorrow they will use those notes to actually draw and color a picture of the story.
We also learned about body percussion today. This is a way to use the body as a percussion instrument. The basic moves are "clap," "snap," "pat," and "stomp." We reviewed the Marco Polo chant and added body percussion moves to it. We practiced it a couple times. The students then broke into groups to practice with their own rhymes or chants. We will spend a couple more days practicing these, and then we will film them and post these performances to the blog.
Homework: They had a good bit of time to get started, so this should not take that long. (1) Do the spelling jumble. (2) Do the OCR packet pages for the first part of the "Toto" story. These are "Word Knowledge," "Search and Circle," and "Vocabulary from Context." (3) Do "Estimate," Math, page 35, #2-21. (4) Do "Strategies," Math, page 38, #3-39. Find exact answers here, but do it mentally.
Monday, September 15, 2008
We've got Rhythm
Another good day, as usual. We began with more practice identifying and correctly using proper nouns. We did some independent reading, and the students began keeping their independent reading logs today. This will be a big part of their reading program as the year goes along. We reviewed our thinking maps, and we discussed the Flow Map. This is probably the easiest map, other than drawing the boxes and lines. It helps students sequence events. They did a Flow Map and then wrote a long paragraph about "My Perfect Day." This is usually a fun one for me to read. Students have to be realistic about what they can do in 24 hours, but I give them an unlimited amount of money. I look forward to correcting these! While the rest of the class worked on this, several students went to the auditorium to listen to a presentation from Mr. Mason about orchestra. I hope that most of these children and their families elect to be part of this program. It is such an excellent opportunity.
After recess we reviewed and corrected homework. There were more mistakes than there should have been on the addition and subtraction. For some reason, fourth grade students do not like to regroup numbers. They know they need to do this, particularly for subtraction, but they are sure that they can do this in their heads, and they do not need to cross out numbers and write in other numbers. It looks too messy, even for students whose work is usually messy. So parents, when you are reviewing your child's math work, when you spot errors, check to see if they showed all their work. This will be particularly important with tonight's math! We also continued reading about California's water resources and started a chapter about weather and climate.
After lunch, we did music. We have been looking at beat and meter, but today we started our look at rhythm. We began with some vocal warmups and rhythm clapping. We then took apart one simple jump rope chant to see how certain beats are stressed and how some beats have two syllables while others only have one:
Marco Polo went to France,
Taught the ladies how to dance,
How to bend, how to bow,
Marco Polo teach us how.
Students then had an opportunity to work in their own groups and choose a nursery or jump rope rhyme. They identified the stressed syllables and the beats in each each line. Tomorrow we will be continuing with this adding a simplified version of rhythmic notation and introducing body percussion. Hopefully groups will be ready to perform by Wednesday and we will be putting videos of these on the blog.
We went off to PE with room 17. We mixed classes and did some kickball today. We'll work on a short tournament here. At this point, I had to leave the class to work on clearing up the book room with other members of the textbook committee. This gave the students the last 45 minutes of class to work on homework. Mrs. Garcia, the extraordinarily capable aide from room 17, came by to help the students and supervise. If there seems like a bit of homework tonight, remember that they were given all this time to work on it.
Homework: (1) Sort the spelling words using a tree map. (2) Do "Subtract Across Zeros," Math, pages 42-43. (3) Finish reading "Weather and Climate" in the California book. Do pages 9-14 from the study guide packet.
After recess we reviewed and corrected homework. There were more mistakes than there should have been on the addition and subtraction. For some reason, fourth grade students do not like to regroup numbers. They know they need to do this, particularly for subtraction, but they are sure that they can do this in their heads, and they do not need to cross out numbers and write in other numbers. It looks too messy, even for students whose work is usually messy. So parents, when you are reviewing your child's math work, when you spot errors, check to see if they showed all their work. This will be particularly important with tonight's math! We also continued reading about California's water resources and started a chapter about weather and climate.
After lunch, we did music. We have been looking at beat and meter, but today we started our look at rhythm. We began with some vocal warmups and rhythm clapping. We then took apart one simple jump rope chant to see how certain beats are stressed and how some beats have two syllables while others only have one:
Marco Polo went to France,
Taught the ladies how to dance,
How to bend, how to bow,
Marco Polo teach us how.
Students then had an opportunity to work in their own groups and choose a nursery or jump rope rhyme. They identified the stressed syllables and the beats in each each line. Tomorrow we will be continuing with this adding a simplified version of rhythmic notation and introducing body percussion. Hopefully groups will be ready to perform by Wednesday and we will be putting videos of these on the blog.
We went off to PE with room 17. We mixed classes and did some kickball today. We'll work on a short tournament here. At this point, I had to leave the class to work on clearing up the book room with other members of the textbook committee. This gave the students the last 45 minutes of class to work on homework. Mrs. Garcia, the extraordinarily capable aide from room 17, came by to help the students and supervise. If there seems like a bit of homework tonight, remember that they were given all this time to work on it.
Homework: (1) Sort the spelling words using a tree map. (2) Do "Subtract Across Zeros," Math, pages 42-43. (3) Finish reading "Weather and Climate" in the California book. Do pages 9-14 from the study guide packet.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Reading and Rhythm
Today we had our first trip to the library. In many ways, this is probably the most important activity of the week. Research shows that read, independent reading is the best single predictor of success in school. Students who read for pleasure, even if they are not the most diligent about doing classwork or homework, invariably develop the knowledge and skills needed for high school and university work. That's one of the reasons why we will stress daily reading in room 19 as a part of our Independent Work Time. More on that next week. Anyhow, Mrs. Koneff gave us a great review of library policies and procedures and we had ample time to look about and select books.
The other major activity today was music. We are beginning our study of music with a unit on rhythm. Right now we are developing the idea of beat and meter. We did a short project to help with this. Students were assigned to groups. Each group was asked to choose a meter (groups of 3 or 4 beats) and to choose a gesture and a sound for the first beat. One student would keep the steady beat on a hand drum. They were supposed to do this 3 times loudly, 3 times softly, and again 3 times loudly. Some groups, as you can see in the video link above, did this almost perfectly and others could have used a bit more practice. But everybody started to get the idea of meter even if the composition was not perfectly realized.
Homework: Two math assignments, both of which should be pretty easy. Students had a chance to start on these after the math test. (1) Do "Add and Subtract 4 Digit Numbers," page 41, #2-26 and (2) "Estimate or Find Exact Answers," page 29, #1-9.
The other major activity today was music. We are beginning our study of music with a unit on rhythm. Right now we are developing the idea of beat and meter. We did a short project to help with this. Students were assigned to groups. Each group was asked to choose a meter (groups of 3 or 4 beats) and to choose a gesture and a sound for the first beat. One student would keep the steady beat on a hand drum. They were supposed to do this 3 times loudly, 3 times softly, and again 3 times loudly. Some groups, as you can see in the video link above, did this almost perfectly and others could have used a bit more practice. But everybody started to get the idea of meter even if the composition was not perfectly realized.
Homework: Two math assignments, both of which should be pretty easy. Students had a chance to start on these after the math test. (1) Do "Add and Subtract 4 Digit Numbers," page 41, #2-26 and (2) "Estimate or Find Exact Answers," page 29, #1-9.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Gestures
We had one of those days when everything took just a little longer than I expected, and there were a couple of unexpected interruptions. But it was still a good day.
After Independent Work Time, we had a good discussion of the meaning of September 11th and the terrorist attacks. Students were fairly knowlegeable, but we did work to correct a couple misconceptions and fill in some factual background. We then went on to go over some of the reading skills for the first Open Court story such as comparing and contrasting and identifying story elements. We had a little fun here by pantomiming the vocabulary words.
We spent a good deal of time going over the math. Rounding is a tough skill, and while some of the students are clearly doing well with it others are struggling. We postponed the math test and gave another day of review to make sure they do well on the chapter 2 test.
The fun part of the day was art, even if it was annoyingly interrupted by a fire drill. We studied gesture drawing, and talked about how artists can us quick line stetches to suggest motion. We did a few practices, and then they worked in small groups posing and sketching each other. It was pleasantly loud and disorganized, and they clearly had fun with this. After they finished with a few sketches, they colored these in and used a watercolor was to provide a background. We'll have pictures of these on the blog soon.
Homework: (1) Do "More practice," p H33. This is in the very back of the math book. (2) Do the rest of the Frisby packet. There is a crossword puzzle to help review vocabulary, worksheet about cause and effect, and some study questions. (3) There is an OPTIONAL spelling wordsearch. The words are the ones we have been studying all week. This is just a fun review for the test tomorrow.
After Independent Work Time, we had a good discussion of the meaning of September 11th and the terrorist attacks. Students were fairly knowlegeable, but we did work to correct a couple misconceptions and fill in some factual background. We then went on to go over some of the reading skills for the first Open Court story such as comparing and contrasting and identifying story elements. We had a little fun here by pantomiming the vocabulary words.
We spent a good deal of time going over the math. Rounding is a tough skill, and while some of the students are clearly doing well with it others are struggling. We postponed the math test and gave another day of review to make sure they do well on the chapter 2 test.
The fun part of the day was art, even if it was annoyingly interrupted by a fire drill. We studied gesture drawing, and talked about how artists can us quick line stetches to suggest motion. We did a few practices, and then they worked in small groups posing and sketching each other. It was pleasantly loud and disorganized, and they clearly had fun with this. After they finished with a few sketches, they colored these in and used a watercolor was to provide a background. We'll have pictures of these on the blog soon.
Homework: (1) Do "More practice," p H33. This is in the very back of the math book. (2) Do the rest of the Frisby packet. There is a crossword puzzle to help review vocabulary, worksheet about cause and effect, and some study questions. (3) There is an OPTIONAL spelling wordsearch. The words are the ones we have been studying all week. This is just a fun review for the test tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Drama!
Today we had our first theater arts class with Mr. Pratt. I should have brought my video camera so you could see some of the great things they did! Next week.... Our first lesson dealt with pantomime skills. Mr. Pratt taught the students how to work with imaginary object in four steps -- see, touch, use, and release. He had them practice with passing imaginary bowls and then juggling balls. He stressed the importance of looking at the imaginary objects and making a clear release after using them. He had the students act out some simple stories in pantomime. Some students who did particularly good work were selected to model for the rest of the class, and the other students learned to give specific praise using theater vocabulary. This is what is called "aesthetic valuing" in the state arts standards.
Now theater is valuable in two ways to students. First, the arts are important in their own right, and well-educated people should be knowledgeable about different art forms. That is why there are state arts standards. But secondly, theater is an incredible valuable skill for mastering other content areas. Acting out an Open Court Reading story is a fantastically good way to improve reading comprehension. After all, if you can act out the story, you have clearly read and understood it! So we will be using all the skills we will be learning with Mr. Pratt long after his twelve week residency with our class is finished.
Homework: (1) Do the "Latitude and Longitude" worksheet. Note that the map is on the back of the paper. Also do the "California's Natural Regions" study sheet. This is designed to help the students review the second lesson of chapter one. Please look back to find the answers there. (2) Do "Make a Table," Math, page 25. Also do the two review pages, page 30 and page 31. We will be having another test either Thursday or Friday.
Now theater is valuable in two ways to students. First, the arts are important in their own right, and well-educated people should be knowledgeable about different art forms. That is why there are state arts standards. But secondly, theater is an incredible valuable skill for mastering other content areas. Acting out an Open Court Reading story is a fantastically good way to improve reading comprehension. After all, if you can act out the story, you have clearly read and understood it! So we will be using all the skills we will be learning with Mr. Pratt long after his twelve week residency with our class is finished.
Homework: (1) Do the "Latitude and Longitude" worksheet. Note that the map is on the back of the paper. Also do the "California's Natural Regions" study sheet. This is designed to help the students review the second lesson of chapter one. Please look back to find the answers there. (2) Do "Make a Table," Math, page 25. Also do the two review pages, page 30 and page 31. We will be having another test either Thursday or Friday.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Meeting
Just a quick thank you to everybody who participated in today's meeting. We had a great turn out of room 19 parents, and I also heard from a couple parents who wanted to be there but whose schedules made it impossible. I do appreciate your commitment to helping your children grow academically and personally.
I particularly appreciated hearing feedback about the math homework. As I said at the meeting, we're trying to get through the place value stuff - which is mostly review - in and get into the new stuff. I sometimes miscalculate how long an assignment will take, and I guess a couple of these days have been pretty long. At least tonight will be better, I hope.
But do let me know whenever there is a problem so that we can work it out.
Homework: No homework per se today since students had quite a bit of time to get started on class assignments in reading, Science, History, and Math. Many will have a bit of one or two to finish, but it should not be bad. I hope....
Monday, September 08, 2008
Making Predictions
We started working on our reading strategies today. One of the strengths of the Open Court reading program is its stress on reading strategies as well as reading skills. Research shows that good readers consistently use a set of strategies in approaching texts, and that these strategies can be explicitly modeled and practiced.
Our first strategy is Predicting. Good readers are constantly making predictions as they read. They predict what the next word in a sentence will be. They use their knowledge of the structure of fiction and the genres of fiction to predict what will happen in a story. In nonfiction, they predict the information that an author will present or the point of view that a writer will argue. Most of this predicting is unconscious. The reader is not even aware that he or she is doing this.
I gave the students a selection from Produtit! by Chris Van Allsburg. This story has some unusual plot twists so it was a natural for making predictions. We read through it orally and paused along the way to write predictions next to the text. The story deals with a boy who gets tickets to see a magician who hypnotizes people. He returns home to try things out with his little sister..... It's a fun read.
Homework: (1) Pick one concept and one question from pages 1-2 of the OCR reading packet. We did these pages last week. Write each one on a word card. These will form the basis of the Concept/Question board. Write it big so it can be read from across the room. Illustrate, if possible. (2) Sort the spelling words according to vowel patterns, e.g., short a, short e, etc. Make a tree map, if you know how, or just a chart. Most word will be in two or more places. (3) Do "Comparing Numbers," Math, page 19 and "Ordering Numbers," Math, pages 21-23. Use the notebook provided so we have a record of homework completed and corrected.
Our first strategy is Predicting. Good readers are constantly making predictions as they read. They predict what the next word in a sentence will be. They use their knowledge of the structure of fiction and the genres of fiction to predict what will happen in a story. In nonfiction, they predict the information that an author will present or the point of view that a writer will argue. Most of this predicting is unconscious. The reader is not even aware that he or she is doing this.
I gave the students a selection from Produtit! by Chris Van Allsburg. This story has some unusual plot twists so it was a natural for making predictions. We read through it orally and paused along the way to write predictions next to the text. The story deals with a boy who gets tickets to see a magician who hypnotizes people. He returns home to try things out with his little sister..... It's a fun read.
Homework: (1) Pick one concept and one question from pages 1-2 of the OCR reading packet. We did these pages last week. Write each one on a word card. These will form the basis of the Concept/Question board. Write it big so it can be read from across the room. Illustrate, if possible. (2) Sort the spelling words according to vowel patterns, e.g., short a, short e, etc. Make a tree map, if you know how, or just a chart. Most word will be in two or more places. (3) Do "Comparing Numbers," Math, page 19 and "Ordering Numbers," Math, pages 21-23. Use the notebook provided so we have a record of homework completed and corrected.
Friday, September 05, 2008
And the Beat Goes On
We started studying music today. All teachers have particular areas of interest and expertise, and music is one of mine. Over the last few years, I have been fortunate enough to participate in quite a number of music education programs. I was particularly lucky to have had the opportunity to study the Orff-Schulwerk method of teaching music, and I have received my Level I and Level II certification in this methodology. Orff is a wonderful program where students have so much fun they often are unaware of how much they are learning! The American Orff-Schulwerk Association's website has a good, succinct description of the Orff program and process. I also include some elements of the Dalcroze and Kodaly approaches, though I have never had the opportunity to study those techniques formally.
Today's lesson was simple. Students learned to find and express the beat in different ways. First, they found the beat in their own bodies by jogging in place and checking their pulse. One student volunteered to clap his pulse and the rest of the class joined the beat. We then practiced making "space bubbles" and learned how to move our arms as if they were pendulums. We listened to two short piano selections and moved our "pendulums" to the beat. We then moved into a large circle, and students practiced listening for stressed beats and making a big movement on each of the stressed beat. I improvised a little piece on the keyboard to accompany this exercise. We did this a second time passing around a large hand drum, hitting the drum on the downbeat. We concluded by journaling about this lesson.
Homework: There really is no homework per se today, but a few students have a few unfinished assignments from our classwork. These might include pages 13-15 in the Math book, a history study sheet, and some worksheets on vocabulary from the first Open Court Reading story.
Today's lesson was simple. Students learned to find and express the beat in different ways. First, they found the beat in their own bodies by jogging in place and checking their pulse. One student volunteered to clap his pulse and the rest of the class joined the beat. We then practiced making "space bubbles" and learned how to move our arms as if they were pendulums. We listened to two short piano selections and moved our "pendulums" to the beat. We then moved into a large circle, and students practiced listening for stressed beats and making a big movement on each of the stressed beat. I improvised a little piece on the keyboard to accompany this exercise. We did this a second time passing around a large hand drum, hitting the drum on the downbeat. We concluded by journaling about this lesson.
Homework: There really is no homework per se today, but a few students have a few unfinished assignments from our classwork. These might include pages 13-15 in the Math book, a history study sheet, and some worksheets on vocabulary from the first Open Court Reading story.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Getting Down to Business
The first day of school is good, but the second day is better, at least for teachers. By the second day we start to get into a routine and the day moves more quickly. There is now homework to check, chapters to read, paragraphs to revise, and all the other normal stuff of every day classroom life.
We started the day, as we always will, with Independent Work Time. Here we reviewed a little cursive, and did a worksheet on the difference between complete sentences and fragments. Most of the students could easily identify incomplete sentences, even if they were not always sure what key element was missing. Some students finished early and did independent reading.
We then started our study of Thinking Maps. This system of graphic organizers is a core element of the district's ESL program, but it is valuable to all students. Plus, they're sort of fun! We looked at the Circle Map today. Each students did a circle map about himself or herself, and then wrote a paragraph. We will do something similar for all 8 maps, and when we are finished these will be bound together into a book.
We corrected the Reading Pretest. I understand why children hate pretests - they seem unfair even when they know they will not affect the report card grade - but they are helpful to teachers when we have to determine what to stress and what we can almost ignore. Overall, they did quite well compared to previous classes, but I know some children were crushed not to get perfect scores.
After recess, we went over last night's homework. We also read "Where in the World is California?" and discussed some basic geography terms and ideas like continents and hemispheres.
After lunch, we did art. We looked at the five basic types of lines - horizontal, vertical, zigzag, curved, and diagonal. Students then picked a cause and did a poster about this. Some of these were quite good!
Finally, we looked some more at place value. In third grade students studied place value to the thousands place. Today we extended that into the millions. The math homework relates to this skill.
Thank you for the many kind comments I have received about the blog the last couple days. I particularly appreciate it when you post comments so that we can all share parent and student insights. It keeps me posting regularly!
Homework: (1) Do "Introducing the Theme," pages 1 and 2 of the Risks and Consequences packet. (2) Write a story - roughly one page, not skipping lines - about a time you took a risk. This can be a true story or it can be made up. (3) Do "Place Value Through Hundred Thousands," Math, pages 6-7 and "Place Value Through Millions," also in Math, pages 8-11.
Extra Credit: Bring in a photograph of yourself somewhere in California, preferably from a part of the state outside of Los Angeles.
We started the day, as we always will, with Independent Work Time. Here we reviewed a little cursive, and did a worksheet on the difference between complete sentences and fragments. Most of the students could easily identify incomplete sentences, even if they were not always sure what key element was missing. Some students finished early and did independent reading.
We then started our study of Thinking Maps. This system of graphic organizers is a core element of the district's ESL program, but it is valuable to all students. Plus, they're sort of fun! We looked at the Circle Map today. Each students did a circle map about himself or herself, and then wrote a paragraph. We will do something similar for all 8 maps, and when we are finished these will be bound together into a book.
We corrected the Reading Pretest. I understand why children hate pretests - they seem unfair even when they know they will not affect the report card grade - but they are helpful to teachers when we have to determine what to stress and what we can almost ignore. Overall, they did quite well compared to previous classes, but I know some children were crushed not to get perfect scores.
After recess, we went over last night's homework. We also read "Where in the World is California?" and discussed some basic geography terms and ideas like continents and hemispheres.
After lunch, we did art. We looked at the five basic types of lines - horizontal, vertical, zigzag, curved, and diagonal. Students then picked a cause and did a poster about this. Some of these were quite good!
Finally, we looked some more at place value. In third grade students studied place value to the thousands place. Today we extended that into the millions. The math homework relates to this skill.
Thank you for the many kind comments I have received about the blog the last couple days. I particularly appreciate it when you post comments so that we can all share parent and student insights. It keeps me posting regularly!
Homework: (1) Do "Introducing the Theme," pages 1 and 2 of the Risks and Consequences packet. (2) Write a story - roughly one page, not skipping lines - about a time you took a risk. This can be a true story or it can be made up. (3) Do "Place Value Through Hundred Thousands," Math, pages 6-7 and "Place Value Through Millions," also in Math, pages 8-11.
Extra Credit: Bring in a photograph of yourself somewhere in California, preferably from a part of the state outside of Los Angeles.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
What a Great Day!
We had an excellent first day of school. It looks like it may be my best year...EVER!
We began with having the students fill out an interest inventory and a reading pretest. The inventory helps me get to know them better, which also helps me to know what books they might enjoy reading and what subjects they might like to write about. The pretest gives me a rough idea of what skills needs a little brush-up.
We did our opening activities after that. These include the Pledge of Allegiance, Today in History, and counting school days in bases 5, 10, and 12. We will add current events to this soon. I then went over the basic class rules, and introduced some key procedures and policies. There are not many big rules in school, but there are a lot of special procedures to learn for the many different activities. I expect we will be working on this for most of the month; I do not expect perfection here right away!
Then we moved on to Language Arts. Today we mixed speaking and writing. Students interviewed each other and then wrote a paragraph beginning "I'd like to introduce..." about their partner. They learned some interesting facts about each other! This took us up to recess.
After recess, we learned to make simple portraits. The students again worked with the same partner as before. They drew the portrait first in pencil, and then went over it in oil pastels. You can see a few of the outstanding results above. This took a bit longer than expected, so we continued work on it after lunch.
Around one o'clock, we went to Physical Education. For the past several years, room 19 has done PE with the third graders in room 17. Mrs. Caruso, the teacher in room 17, and I went over squad order and warmup exercises with the students.
Returning from PE, we did a math pretest. This one is significantly harder than the reading pretest, and I expect the students to get a number wrong here. I am mostly interested in the things they get correct because these indicate fourth grade skills which were already mastered in third grade. The test allows me to know what parts of the curriculum I do NOT need to intensely teach. That's a big help because there are soooo many topics to cover.
Homework: (1) Complete the final draft of the "I'd Like to Introduce" paragraph. Corrected rough drafts have been returned to the students. Do the final draft in cursive if possible on good paper. Staple the final draft, the rough draft, and the interview paper together. (2) In the Math book, read page 2 about "Benchmark Numbers" and do page 3. Also, read page 4 about "Place Value" and do page 5. We did not discuss these much in class because they are review from third grade. (3) Do "What I Already Know" about California.
We began with having the students fill out an interest inventory and a reading pretest. The inventory helps me get to know them better, which also helps me to know what books they might enjoy reading and what subjects they might like to write about. The pretest gives me a rough idea of what skills needs a little brush-up.
We did our opening activities after that. These include the Pledge of Allegiance, Today in History, and counting school days in bases 5, 10, and 12. We will add current events to this soon. I then went over the basic class rules, and introduced some key procedures and policies. There are not many big rules in school, but there are a lot of special procedures to learn for the many different activities. I expect we will be working on this for most of the month; I do not expect perfection here right away!
Then we moved on to Language Arts. Today we mixed speaking and writing. Students interviewed each other and then wrote a paragraph beginning "I'd like to introduce..." about their partner. They learned some interesting facts about each other! This took us up to recess.
After recess, we learned to make simple portraits. The students again worked with the same partner as before. They drew the portrait first in pencil, and then went over it in oil pastels. You can see a few of the outstanding results above. This took a bit longer than expected, so we continued work on it after lunch.
Around one o'clock, we went to Physical Education. For the past several years, room 19 has done PE with the third graders in room 17. Mrs. Caruso, the teacher in room 17, and I went over squad order and warmup exercises with the students.
Returning from PE, we did a math pretest. This one is significantly harder than the reading pretest, and I expect the students to get a number wrong here. I am mostly interested in the things they get correct because these indicate fourth grade skills which were already mastered in third grade. The test allows me to know what parts of the curriculum I do NOT need to intensely teach. That's a big help because there are soooo many topics to cover.
Homework: (1) Complete the final draft of the "I'd Like to Introduce" paragraph. Corrected rough drafts have been returned to the students. Do the final draft in cursive if possible on good paper. Staple the final draft, the rough draft, and the interview paper together. (2) In the Math book, read page 2 about "Benchmark Numbers" and do page 3. Also, read page 4 about "Place Value" and do page 5. We did not discuss these much in class because they are review from third grade. (3) Do "What I Already Know" about California.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Welcome
I would like to welcome everyone to room 19 and to fourth grade. I am excited to have such a great group of students and parents this year. The third grade teachers have raved about what a great group this is, and I am really thrilled to be your teacher.
Our first day of school is tomorrow. This blog is a way for me to let you know what is happening in our classroom each day and what students are learning. It is designed to be interactive: you can also post comments and questions on the blog and we can create a virtual open house. This kind of communication makes the difference between students just passing and really excelling.
I will be writing each day about what we did that day, and I will always include what the homework is. The blog page is usually posted first around lunch time, and then revised if necessary towards the end of the day.
I particularly want to make sure that all parents know about our special Back-to-School meeting on September 9 at 5:00 pm. Please try to make it. Infants can remain with you, and we will make arrangements for supervision for older students.
I look forward to meeting everyone tomorrow!
Monday, May 05, 2008
Mellow Monday
A pleasant, but uneventful day. We did all the usual things - reading, math, history, and physical education. Mr. Lawton worked with the students on a couple lessons including music. Everything well very smoothly.
I was not able to attend the Havana Nights celebration this weekend - I went to a graduation at Azusa Pacific University that evening - but I understand it was well attended and that a few room 19 parents were there.
Homework: (1) Do worksheet on prepositional phrases. Students may write on this paper today. (2) Do the Expanded Form and Adding and Subtracting Fractions. (3) Do "Water for Thirsty Land" study sheet. (4) Do "Circles," Math page 535, all problems. (5) Make an accompaniment for the Cloud Song for Mr. Lawton.
I was not able to attend the Havana Nights celebration this weekend - I went to a graduation at Azusa Pacific University that evening - but I understand it was well attended and that a few room 19 parents were there.
Homework: (1) Do worksheet on prepositional phrases. Students may write on this paper today. (2) Do the Expanded Form and Adding and Subtracting Fractions. (3) Do "Water for Thirsty Land" study sheet. (4) Do "Circles," Math page 535, all problems. (5) Make an accompaniment for the Cloud Song for Mr. Lawton.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
After Gladiators
Well, after all the wild cheering and jumping up and down at yesterday's field trip to American Gladiators, it was nice to come back to a calm, quiet classroom. At least it was for the teachers....
It was a very ordinary day. We did language artsand math in the morning. We worked on the writing section of the Open Court test. This one, a diary entry about surviving lost in the woods, is a little more interesting than the average OCR test prompt. In math, Mr. Lawton is working to help the students understand the idea of degrees in a circle and angles. It's easy stuff once you finally get it, but it is not particularly intuitive. Fourth graders typically struggle with this for a while.
We talked and read about the early water projects in California such as the Imperial Valley and Los Angeles Aquaducts. We also played some softball, getting into our own Spring training.
Home Studies: (1) Do the Wordsearch/Spelling Jumble and the Crossword Puzzle. Both of these are direct preparation for the test. In fact, they're the words from the test! (2) Do the Perimeter/Area and Algebra review sheets.
It was a very ordinary day. We did language artsand math in the morning. We worked on the writing section of the Open Court test. This one, a diary entry about surviving lost in the woods, is a little more interesting than the average OCR test prompt. In math, Mr. Lawton is working to help the students understand the idea of degrees in a circle and angles. It's easy stuff once you finally get it, but it is not particularly intuitive. Fourth graders typically struggle with this for a while.
We talked and read about the early water projects in California such as the Imperial Valley and Los Angeles Aquaducts. We also played some softball, getting into our own Spring training.
Home Studies: (1) Do the Wordsearch/Spelling Jumble and the Crossword Puzzle. Both of these are direct preparation for the test. In fact, they're the words from the test! (2) Do the Perimeter/Area and Algebra review sheets.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Not so Hot ... Thankfully!
The heat wave broke today, and everybody in room 19, both students and teachers, found things much, much more pleasant today. Indeed, everything was quite pleasant today. The students did reading as usual and we corrected our homework. Mr. Lawton led the students in a review of some of the basic ideas of plane geometry and polygons. After recess, Mr. Lawton also had the students do some experiments with magnets. You can see some of the interesting things they were doing below. Students continued working on the play which we will be presenting next month. This play, based on Native California sources, will involve students in all aspects of the creative process. It will be great!
Speaking of great things, we will be having our field trip tomorrow to see the filming of American Gladiators. As parents already know, the students will be returning to school late, probably close to 3:30. Please be sure your child has a sack lunch.
Home Studies: (1) Do the Open Court packet. This covers the last part of the "Anne Frank" story and the beginning of the "Music and Slavery" selection. (2) Do the math packet. This covers polygons, area and perimeter, equivalent fractions, and division.
Speaking of great things, we will be having our field trip tomorrow to see the filming of American Gladiators. As parents already know, the students will be returning to school late, probably close to 3:30. Please be sure your child has a sack lunch.
Home Studies: (1) Do the Open Court packet. This covers the last part of the "Anne Frank" story and the beginning of the "Music and Slavery" selection. (2) Do the math packet. This covers polygons, area and perimeter, equivalent fractions, and division.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Rectangular Prism
One of the rites of passage of any new teacher is having your professor come during student teaching to observe you and provide a critique of the lesson. Today it was Mr. Lawton's turn as his professor from CSULA watched his lesson on determining the surface area of a rectangular prism. Mr. Lawton came in with dozens of small cereal boxes. The students cut these up and determined the size of the area by putting them on a sheet of graph paper. They did a great job with this activity and it served as a great introduction to learning the formula. The students now get the idea that there are six faces on a rectangular prism and that the total area is equal to the area of each face. It was a lot of fun, and the students were marvelously cooperative. Some pictures of this activity are found above.
We also spent some time in Tech Center beginning to learn the garage band program. The students had composed some short rhythmic and melodic motifs during music time, and we had recorded them playing these on boomwhackers. The short passages are known as "ostinati" and they serve as the underpinning for a melody. In the upcoming weeks students will be refining their melodies to make them work well with the ostinati.
The rest of the day was pretty regular. We checked homework, did reading, went out to PE, and, of course, had lunch and recess.
Home Studies: Last night was pretty heavy so we'll take a day off. Enjoy!
We also spent some time in Tech Center beginning to learn the garage band program. The students had composed some short rhythmic and melodic motifs during music time, and we had recorded them playing these on boomwhackers. The short passages are known as "ostinati" and they serve as the underpinning for a melody. In the upcoming weeks students will be refining their melodies to make them work well with the ostinati.
The rest of the day was pretty regular. We checked homework, did reading, went out to PE, and, of course, had lunch and recess.
Home Studies: Last night was pretty heavy so we'll take a day off. Enjoy!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Stopping Global Warming
The highlight today was an assembly, sponsored by our Friends of Third group, which gave the students an overview of the problem of global warming and offered them some simple solutions for using less energy and creating less carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It was an informative if sober way for us to end our day.
The rest of the day was pretty straightforward. We corrected and discussed an number of assignments from last Thursday and Friday. We did reading. We did our usual rotations and exercises at PE. Mondays are usually pretty straightforward days and this was fit that pattern.
Homework: (1) Do Test Best, pages 39-45. (2) Do the two pages in the History study guide. (3) Do the "Adding and Subtracting Fractions" and "Division of Money" sheet. (4) Do that Math CST release questions Mr. Lawton handed out.
The rest of the day was pretty straightforward. We corrected and discussed an number of assignments from last Thursday and Friday. We did reading. We did our usual rotations and exercises at PE. Mondays are usually pretty straightforward days and this was fit that pattern.
Homework: (1) Do Test Best, pages 39-45. (2) Do the two pages in the History study guide. (3) Do the "Adding and Subtracting Fractions" and "Division of Money" sheet. (4) Do that Math CST release questions Mr. Lawton handed out.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Smooth!
Today went quite smoothly. We did reading and then corrected the language arts homework. Mr. Lawton worked with the students on area and perimeter. This is a hard concept at points for kids to grasp. They get the formulas easily enough, but understanding what they mean and when to use them is harder. Mr. Lawton is working hard to move the children beyond mechanically applying the formulas to real comprehension. It isn't always easy....
We read a little of Great Horn Spoon. We practiced singing "California Here I Come." We talked about time zones and started on the history packet.
After lunch Mr. Lawton started teaching the students "Cloud Song." This is a Native California song which they will be singing and performing on recorder and Orff instruments. There is also a short play which goes along with the song. The students will be getting this ready for a performance in the late Spring at a "Music on the Green" evening sponsored by Friends of Third. It should be great.
Finally, the students worked in Read-Around Groups to edit each other's adventure stories. They then started on their final drafts. The last forty five minutes of the day was blissfully calm as the students diligently worked on their final drafts.
Homework: (1) Finish final draft of adventure story. (2) Finish history packet. (3) Practice Test, Test Best, pp 31-38. (4) Commas, Your, you're. (5) Fractions and Multiplication. (6) Released Test Items.
We read a little of Great Horn Spoon. We practiced singing "California Here I Come." We talked about time zones and started on the history packet.
After lunch Mr. Lawton started teaching the students "Cloud Song." This is a Native California song which they will be singing and performing on recorder and Orff instruments. There is also a short play which goes along with the song. The students will be getting this ready for a performance in the late Spring at a "Music on the Green" evening sponsored by Friends of Third. It should be great.
Finally, the students worked in Read-Around Groups to edit each other's adventure stories. They then started on their final drafts. The last forty five minutes of the day was blissfully calm as the students diligently worked on their final drafts.
Homework: (1) Finish final draft of adventure story. (2) Finish history packet. (3) Practice Test, Test Best, pp 31-38. (4) Commas, Your, you're. (5) Fractions and Multiplication. (6) Released Test Items.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Quiet Day, Quick Post
It was a quiet day today, particularly after all the hustle of last week's Open House and Earthquake Drill and the other stuff. We did reading, we worked on some review sheets in language arts, and we took a Science test. Mr. Lawton continues to work with the students to develop their musical understanding, and to help them master some of the fine points of geometry. It was all fine.
Home Studies: Very light today. A few students are finishing a composition that was due last week, and a couple are also finishing up this morning's language arts work. Other than that, nothing special today. They'll be a bit more tomorrow.
Home Studies: Very light today. A few students are finishing a composition that was due last week, and a couple are also finishing up this morning's language arts work. Other than that, nothing special today. They'll be a bit more tomorrow.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Peaceful and Productive
Ah, once Open House is over teachers feel like they can breathe again. Now we can quietly get ready for testing and the end of the year stuff. Today was just that sort of day. We read "McBroom and the Big Wind," a tall tale during Open Court Reading. This is a silly story about how wildly the wind can blow in Texas during the winter. Students always enjoy details in this story like jackrabbits flying through the sky like geese.
We did an art project after this which explored "flowing rhythm". In art, rhythm refers to repetitions of lines or patterns which create a sense of unity in the work. Students were asked to think of something in nature, like wind or waves, which demonstrates this kind of flowing rhythm. They used cut paper to give the impression of the kind of rhythm they sense in these things. You can see some examples of this below. Many of these were quite good!
After recess, we corrected home. Mr Lawton introduced the concepts of relative scale and solfege after lunch. We played a quick kickball game with room 17, and then the students returned to the classroom where Mr. Lawton led them through an activity to explore symmetry in the shapes of letter.
Home Studies: (1) Write the rough draft of a tall tale. Be sure to take a realistic situation and then make it ridiculous by using exaggeration. This should be a minimum of two full pages in length. (2) Do the "Simplest Form" and "Multiplication" worksheet. (3) Transposition worksheet for Mr. Lawton.
We did an art project after this which explored "flowing rhythm". In art, rhythm refers to repetitions of lines or patterns which create a sense of unity in the work. Students were asked to think of something in nature, like wind or waves, which demonstrates this kind of flowing rhythm. They used cut paper to give the impression of the kind of rhythm they sense in these things. You can see some examples of this below. Many of these were quite good!
After recess, we corrected home. Mr Lawton introduced the concepts of relative scale and solfege after lunch. We played a quick kickball game with room 17, and then the students returned to the classroom where Mr. Lawton led them through an activity to explore symmetry in the shapes of letter.
Home Studies: (1) Write the rough draft of a tall tale. Be sure to take a realistic situation and then make it ridiculous by using exaggeration. This should be a minimum of two full pages in length. (2) Do the "Simplest Form" and "Multiplication" worksheet. (3) Transposition worksheet for Mr. Lawton.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
After Open House Glow
What a wonderful evening! Our students gave a marvelous musical performance last night under the capable direction of Mr. Lawton. I have to admit that right up to the last minute I was not sure it was all going to come off, but it was great! We had a great response from parents, and the parents of students in the third grade who were coming here to check things out for next year were mighty impressed, too.
Today we had an opportunity to look at some of the other classrooms in the school. We certainly have capable students and teachers here at Third Street, and it was hard to find a classroom that wasn't a knockout. Still, you know which one had to be my favorite.... We also spent the morning planning and writing the first draft of a survival/adventure story. We discussed how authors often begin stories "in medias res" - Latin for "in the middle of things" - and include the exposition material in flashback. That was the technique used by the author of "Nachito's Teachings," the last story we read in the Open Court anthology. Students then did a flow map of their story and started on the rough drafts.
After recess we went to Tech Center where the students worked on some pages which may or may not be included in the yearbook. After lunch, we Mr. Lawton led the students through our pieces from the performance last night which I filmed them. I will be editing this and uploading it in a couple days to YouTube and linking it to the blog. We went out to PE, and then Mr Lawton discussed symmetry and other geometry concepts with the class.
Home Studies: (1) Do the flow map and the first rough draft for the adventure story. The rough draft should be at least three pages long, skipping lines, writing only only the front side of the paper. Again, students started this during class. (2) Do Chapter Review, Science, pages B86-87. (3) Do the Division practice sheet. (4) Do "Symmetrical Figures," Math, pages 488-489, problems 1-16 only.
Today we had an opportunity to look at some of the other classrooms in the school. We certainly have capable students and teachers here at Third Street, and it was hard to find a classroom that wasn't a knockout. Still, you know which one had to be my favorite.... We also spent the morning planning and writing the first draft of a survival/adventure story. We discussed how authors often begin stories "in medias res" - Latin for "in the middle of things" - and include the exposition material in flashback. That was the technique used by the author of "Nachito's Teachings," the last story we read in the Open Court anthology. Students then did a flow map of their story and started on the rough drafts.
After recess we went to Tech Center where the students worked on some pages which may or may not be included in the yearbook. After lunch, we Mr. Lawton led the students through our pieces from the performance last night which I filmed them. I will be editing this and uploading it in a couple days to YouTube and linking it to the blog. We went out to PE, and then Mr Lawton discussed symmetry and other geometry concepts with the class.
Home Studies: (1) Do the flow map and the first rough draft for the adventure story. The rough draft should be at least three pages long, skipping lines, writing only only the front side of the paper. Again, students started this during class. (2) Do Chapter Review, Science, pages B86-87. (3) Do the Division practice sheet. (4) Do "Symmetrical Figures," Math, pages 488-489, problems 1-16 only.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Welcome Mr. Lawton!
Well, it's been a couple weeks since I have posted, but it has been so hectic that I have hardly had time to write.
We have been busy since we have been back. I had the pleasant surprise to learn that Mr, Richard Lawton, who had taught Music to our students earlier in the year, would be working with us doing his student teaching. Mr. Lawton, also known to many of you as a parent here at Third Street, has worked for the district as a substitute teacher, but is now getting his full teaching credential. His ultimate goal is to be a music teacher. We are delighted to have him here, and he will be doing providing our students with a great deal of supplemental instruction in Music.
We are continuing with all the usual stuff -- Open Court reading, Math, Science, and the like. We are getting ready for Open House also, organizing materials and starting to put together books and other Open House materials. And, of course, we are always thinking a bit about testing coming up, too.
Home Studies: (1) Do Science questions, page B67. (2) Do "Graph an Equation," Math, pages 463 - 465. (3) Do the Math worksheet. Make a number line as needed to determine the value of x.
We have been busy since we have been back. I had the pleasant surprise to learn that Mr, Richard Lawton, who had taught Music to our students earlier in the year, would be working with us doing his student teaching. Mr. Lawton, also known to many of you as a parent here at Third Street, has worked for the district as a substitute teacher, but is now getting his full teaching credential. His ultimate goal is to be a music teacher. We are delighted to have him here, and he will be doing providing our students with a great deal of supplemental instruction in Music.
We are continuing with all the usual stuff -- Open Court reading, Math, Science, and the like. We are getting ready for Open House also, organizing materials and starting to put together books and other Open House materials. And, of course, we are always thinking a bit about testing coming up, too.
Home Studies: (1) Do Science questions, page B67. (2) Do "Graph an Equation," Math, pages 463 - 465. (3) Do the Math worksheet. Make a number line as needed to determine the value of x.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Corks under Water
Teaching elementary school was once famously compared to trying to keep 30 corks under water at the same time. Not every day is like that, of course, but some days can be. Today the students knew that they were going to be spending the last hour of the day playing on the yard while teachers had release time, and that simple change of schedule seemed to create enough excitement that it was hard for them to think of anything else!
Despite this, we got some good work done. We will be starting on the "Surviving" unit in Open Court next week, and we "frontloaded" this by writing and illustrating stories of personal survival. These were quite varied. Some survived fires; others natural disasters; and one or two wrote about surviving their fourth grade teachers. You have to take these in good humor.... We also went to the library and corrected our homework. We discussed the different types of rocks, reading a chapter from the Science book, and we also talked about the Celsius system and negative numbers generally. At 1:30, the corks popped out the door and the teacher breathed a sigh of relief.
Home Studies: (1) Make a tree map of the three different types of rocks. List at least five facts for each type including how each one is formed. (2) Do "Celsius," Math, pages 440-441. (3) Do "Negative Numbers," Math, pages 442-445.
Despite this, we got some good work done. We will be starting on the "Surviving" unit in Open Court next week, and we "frontloaded" this by writing and illustrating stories of personal survival. These were quite varied. Some survived fires; others natural disasters; and one or two wrote about surviving their fourth grade teachers. You have to take these in good humor.... We also went to the library and corrected our homework. We discussed the different types of rocks, reading a chapter from the Science book, and we also talked about the Celsius system and negative numbers generally. At 1:30, the corks popped out the door and the teacher breathed a sigh of relief.
Home Studies: (1) Make a tree map of the three different types of rocks. List at least five facts for each type including how each one is formed. (2) Do "Celsius," Math, pages 440-441. (3) Do "Negative Numbers," Math, pages 442-445.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Quiet and Industrious
It was a quiet and productive day in room 19. We started the day by finishing up some of the watercolors that the students had started yesterday. That may seem like an odd way to start the morning, but it was a practical solution to dealing with wet art papers. After the students did their art, they did the "Checking Skills" section of the Open Court test and finished the rough draft of the composition. This is the most important of the writing assessments for the students because their score will appear on the report cards as the "Language Arts Performance Assessment" and they will receive an "invitation" to attend summer school if their score is below a 3. This gave them some motivation to work hard!
After recess we did a gallery walk where we looked at some of the watercolors. Many of these were quite good! I will post some of them on the blog tomorrow. The students have also become quite good at giving compliments to each other, very specific praise using art terminology. We then reviewed a the gold rush era and the students took the Chapter 6 test in history. As usual, this was an open-book, open-note exam so it helped to develop reading skills as much as assess factual knowledge. While a few students were finished quite early, most took some or all of the time between lunch and PE to work on this as well. Results will be on the gradebook soon.
At PE, about half the class played soccer while the other half did handball. Both groups seemed to have a good time. We came back to the classroom where students chose writing response partners. They read the rough drafts of the OCR essay which they had started earlier, and then moved on to do the final drafts.
Home Studies: (1) Do "Diagram," Math, page 433, numbers 1-7 only. (2) Do the "Chapter Review/Test," Math, page 434 and the "Cumulative Review," Math, page 435.
After recess we did a gallery walk where we looked at some of the watercolors. Many of these were quite good! I will post some of them on the blog tomorrow. The students have also become quite good at giving compliments to each other, very specific praise using art terminology. We then reviewed a the gold rush era and the students took the Chapter 6 test in history. As usual, this was an open-book, open-note exam so it helped to develop reading skills as much as assess factual knowledge. While a few students were finished quite early, most took some or all of the time between lunch and PE to work on this as well. Results will be on the gradebook soon.
At PE, about half the class played soccer while the other half did handball. Both groups seemed to have a good time. We came back to the classroom where students chose writing response partners. They read the rough drafts of the OCR essay which they had started earlier, and then moved on to do the final drafts.
Home Studies: (1) Do "Diagram," Math, page 433, numbers 1-7 only. (2) Do the "Chapter Review/Test," Math, page 434 and the "Cumulative Review," Math, page 435.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Dr Seuss's Birthday
Last Friday, our class and room 5 celebrated Dr. Seuss's birthday. First and fourth grade students read the books together and did a word search. Thank you to Mrs. Mark for coordinating this annual fete.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Testing and Getting Ready for Testing
I have not been well lately, so forgive the lack of an entry on Friday and the short one today.
We had a pleasant day. Students began work on their Open Court tests, a mini-ordeal which will take up a good portion of the week. In particular, they started work on the writing portion of this test. This is known in LAUSD-speak as the "Performance Assessment" and it has its own line on the report card. Worse still, at least from the students point of view, is that any score under a 3 on this somewhat complex writing prompt will make the district's computer spit out an invitation to attend summer school, a letter which the students would rather not take home. So they worked pretty hard on it....
Speaking of tests, tomorrow is the state Writing Test for fourth graders. Please send them to bed early and to school on time! Because of this, homework will be very light.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the division worksheet. The students already had about 30 minutes to start on this, so most should be close to finished or done. (2) Do "Capacity," Math, pages 428-429. Be sure to read page 428 carefully even though the problems do not begin until the following page.
We had a pleasant day. Students began work on their Open Court tests, a mini-ordeal which will take up a good portion of the week. In particular, they started work on the writing portion of this test. This is known in LAUSD-speak as the "Performance Assessment" and it has its own line on the report card. Worse still, at least from the students point of view, is that any score under a 3 on this somewhat complex writing prompt will make the district's computer spit out an invitation to attend summer school, a letter which the students would rather not take home. So they worked pretty hard on it....
Speaking of tests, tomorrow is the state Writing Test for fourth graders. Please send them to bed early and to school on time! Because of this, homework will be very light.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the division worksheet. The students already had about 30 minutes to start on this, so most should be close to finished or done. (2) Do "Capacity," Math, pages 428-429. Be sure to read page 428 carefully even though the problems do not begin until the following page.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Thursday
The highlight today, as you can see above, was the culmination of our three-day residency with Mr. David Lewis of "We Tell Stories." The students had a blast reenacting this story with Mr. Lewis today.
The rest of the day was a bit of a let down. We corrected some, but not all, of yesterday's homework. We took a Science test. We corrected a math test. We began an art project which we'll finish tomorrow.
Home Studies: Enjoy a rare night off!
The rest of the day was a bit of a let down. We corrected some, but not all, of yesterday's homework. We took a Science test. We corrected a math test. We began an art project which we'll finish tomorrow.
Home Studies: Enjoy a rare night off!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Improvisation and Pantomime
Today we began again with Mr. David Lewis, the artist-teacher from "We Tell Stories." Today Mr. Lewis worked to develop some basic theater skills with the students. Since he is planning to have them act out the "Salt" story they read a couple months ago, he had them become characters from the story and he interviewed them. You can see him doing this in the photograph above. He had them use their imagination to add details to the story (for example, when he was interviewing students who were the cooks to the king) or by changing details of the story (for example, changing the sons to daughters). He also had them manipulate some imaginary items like balls again in preparation for what they will do tomorrow.
The rest of the day was pretty ordinary -- and a let down after all that fun! We checked and corrected homework. We went to the Tech Center where we started to add our stories to our think.com pages. We went to PE, took a math test, and did some independent work (while the teacher finished grading the history tests). Very, pleasant quiet day, overall.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the study sheets on "Good Times" and "Thirty-first State." Be sure to answer in complete sentences. (2) Read "Linear Measurement," Math, page 422 and then do problems 11-29 on pages 424-425. (3) Do the math worksheet. Be sure to do the check step, probably on a separate sheet of paper.
The rest of the day was pretty ordinary -- and a let down after all that fun! We checked and corrected homework. We went to the Tech Center where we started to add our stories to our think.com pages. We went to PE, took a math test, and did some independent work (while the teacher finished grading the history tests). Very, pleasant quiet day, overall.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the study sheets on "Good Times" and "Thirty-first State." Be sure to answer in complete sentences. (2) Read "Linear Measurement," Math, page 422 and then do problems 11-29 on pages 424-425. (3) Do the math worksheet. Be sure to do the check step, probably on a separate sheet of paper.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
We Tell Stories
Today, tomorrow, and Thursday we have Mr. David Lewis as a visiting artist-teacher. Mr. Lewis works for a wonderful theater troupe called "We Tell Stories" and we have had them working with second and third grade classes at Third Street for about three years now. Thanks to an unexpected opening, we were able to schedule them to work with our class this year.
We'll have more about Mr. Lewis in tomorrow's blog.
Home Studies: (1) Do the Chapter Review, Science, pages B31 and B32. Page B31 should be copied because this makes it more useful when students take the test on Thursday. These are open-b0ok, open-note tests. (2) Do the "Review/Test" and "Cumulative Review" in Math, pages 418 and 419. (3) Do the Multiplication Worksheet.
We'll have more about Mr. Lewis in tomorrow's blog.
Home Studies: (1) Do the Chapter Review, Science, pages B31 and B32. Page B31 should be copied because this makes it more useful when students take the test on Thursday. These are open-b0ok, open-note tests. (2) Do the "Review/Test" and "Cumulative Review" in Math, pages 418 and 419. (3) Do the Multiplication Worksheet.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Dry Day
Well, it was not raining today so the children had recess and lunch. They were happy; their teacher was happy. Who could ask for more?
We did cartoons this morning, as you can see above. This was designed to give them an opportunity to work on storytelling and visual arts skills in a medium they really enjoy. There was a nice quiet atmosphere as they students worked on these little gems. All of them had to tell a story that was somehow related to medicine, our Open Court Reading theme.
After recess we corrected homework. We also took our class photo for the yearbook at this time. After lunch we read and discussed a chapter in the Science book on the "Mass Movement" of landforms. We went out to PE (since it may have been our only chance for the week) and when we came back we correct our math test. I also discussed the idea of functions with the class and showed them how they regularly solve problems like 3x = y in real life. This helped them understand the math homework for tonight.
Home Studies: (1) Do the three pages of the Open Court Reading packet. There really is not that much to do here. It sounds much, much harder than students will find it. (2) Do the Science questions on page B 11. Be sure to copy the questions. (3) Do the Multiplying Money and Adding Fractions worksheets. (4) Do "Change Linear Units," Math, pages 410-411.
We did cartoons this morning, as you can see above. This was designed to give them an opportunity to work on storytelling and visual arts skills in a medium they really enjoy. There was a nice quiet atmosphere as they students worked on these little gems. All of them had to tell a story that was somehow related to medicine, our Open Court Reading theme.
After recess we corrected homework. We also took our class photo for the yearbook at this time. After lunch we read and discussed a chapter in the Science book on the "Mass Movement" of landforms. We went out to PE (since it may have been our only chance for the week) and when we came back we correct our math test. I also discussed the idea of functions with the class and showed them how they regularly solve problems like 3x = y in real life. This helped them understand the math homework for tonight.
Home Studies: (1) Do the three pages of the Open Court Reading packet. There really is not that much to do here. It sounds much, much harder than students will find it. (2) Do the Science questions on page B 11. Be sure to copy the questions. (3) Do the Multiplying Money and Adding Fractions worksheets. (4) Do "Change Linear Units," Math, pages 410-411.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Rainy Days and Wednesdays
Despite the rain, we had a pleasant and productive day. After our Independent Reading period, we corrected and discussed our homework. We finished reading the "Gold Rush" chapter in the history group, discussing the pros and cons of each of the three major routes to California. After our inside recess, during which most students quite sensibly got a head start on their homework, we went to the Tech Center. Here the students typed up a story they wrote yesterday on their think.com page and began to create an appropriate picture in Kid Pix to illustrate it. They will be finishing this in the classroom or at home.
During lunch we watched The Wild to console ourselves for dealing with the rainy weather. Once the movie was over, students worked on a math test, an open book history test, and some even had some time to get a good bit of the homework started.
Home Studies: (1) Complete the Gold Rush packet. (2) Do the division worksheet including the check step. (3) Do "Fractional Parts," Math, pages 406-409.
During lunch we watched The Wild to console ourselves for dealing with the rainy weather. Once the movie was over, students worked on a math test, an open book history test, and some even had some time to get a good bit of the homework started.
Home Studies: (1) Complete the Gold Rush packet. (2) Do the division worksheet including the check step. (3) Do "Fractional Parts," Math, pages 406-409.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Valentine's Day
"These are the times that try men's souls." Thomas Paine was not talking about Valentine's Day, but we teachers can be forgiven if we think he might have been. Only Halloween and the day before Winter Break seem to have the children so frenzied.
Remembering this, I decided that we would do calm things as much as possible today. So we spent the morning working on Independent Reading and then doing a packet of comprehension materials related to the "Shadow of a Bull" story. After recess we corrected homework and the students who brought enough candy for the class passed it out so they could consume it for an unhealthy lunch. After lunch we correct our math test, and I have already sent out the results of that in an email to parents. We met again in read-around groups, this time for editing. Students then had another quiet work time to start on final drafts and other works.
Students ended the day on the yard as part of the Dance-a-thon sponsored by Friends of Third. You can see some pictures of that above.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the final draft of the Johnson/Picotte essay in cursive. (2) Do the Subtraction and Equivalent Fractions worksheet. Show regrouping! (3) Do "Choose the Appropriate Graph," Math, pages 106-109.
Remembering this, I decided that we would do calm things as much as possible today. So we spent the morning working on Independent Reading and then doing a packet of comprehension materials related to the "Shadow of a Bull" story. After recess we corrected homework and the students who brought enough candy for the class passed it out so they could consume it for an unhealthy lunch. After lunch we correct our math test, and I have already sent out the results of that in an email to parents. We met again in read-around groups, this time for editing. Students then had another quiet work time to start on final drafts and other works.
Students ended the day on the yard as part of the Dance-a-thon sponsored by Friends of Third. You can see some pictures of that above.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the final draft of the Johnson/Picotte essay in cursive. (2) Do the Subtraction and Equivalent Fractions worksheet. Show regrouping! (3) Do "Choose the Appropriate Graph," Math, pages 106-109.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
More Out than In
We were out of the room it seemed like more than we were in it today. We had a wonderful assembly from the We Tell Stories people, an organization which will be working with our class later this month. They brought to life - and in one case improved - three of the stories in the Open Court reading series. We also went to Tech Center today where the students continued work on Renzulli or Think.com. After lunch, we met in read around groups to review and revise our compositions comparing the two doctors. We went to PE, and then we took a math test. We'll correct and record it tomorrow.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the second draft of the essay comparing Dr. Johnson and Dr. Picotte. (2) Read "Double Bar Graphs," Math, page 100 and then do the problems on page 101. Do "Reading Line Graphs," Math, page 102. (3) Do the division worksheet. Do not forget the check step!
Home Studies: (1) Finish the second draft of the essay comparing Dr. Johnson and Dr. Picotte. (2) Read "Double Bar Graphs," Math, page 100 and then do the problems on page 101. Do "Reading Line Graphs," Math, page 102. (3) Do the division worksheet. Do not forget the check step!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Similar and Different
Students started getting ready today for the writing section of the California Standards Test. This is given to fourth graders early in March. One frequent topic is to have students compare and contrast two characters. So we are doing a practice run using two of our Open Court stories.
We discussed the direction in class this morning and had time to get started, BUT, in case they cannot remember, here are the directions.
Home Studies: (1) Complete the rough draft of the compare and contrast essay for the two Open Court stories. (2) Do the chapter review, pages 96-97. (3) Do the multiplication practice.
We discussed the direction in class this morning and had time to get started, BUT, in case they cannot remember, here are the directions.
- The first paragraph is the introduction. Tell a little bit about both stories. End the paragraph with the topic sentence. The SUGGESTED topic sentence is "Dr. Johnson and Dr. Picotte are similar in many ways, yet different, too.
- The second paragraph covers the similarities. The first sentence here should be your topic sentence.
- The second paragraph covers the differences. The first sentence here should be your topic sentence.
- The fourth paragraph is the conclusion. This is the hardest part to write because it is so open-ended. Students could reflect on whether the similarities or the differences are more important or just comment on the characters in some way.
Home Studies: (1) Complete the rough draft of the compare and contrast essay for the two Open Court stories. (2) Do the chapter review, pages 96-97. (3) Do the multiplication practice.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
A Short One
I am having all kinds of problems with Blogger - particularly with pictures - so I'll keep this one short just in case in loses everything again.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the flow map for "Picotte." (2) Do the "Capitalizing Titles" and "Graphic Sources" worksheets. (3) Do "Stem and Leaf Plots," Math, pages 90-91 and "Compare Graphs," Math, pages 92-93. (4) Do the Fractions and Multiplication review worksheet.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the flow map for "Picotte." (2) Do the "Capitalizing Titles" and "Graphic Sources" worksheets. (3) Do "Stem and Leaf Plots," Math, pages 90-91 and "Compare Graphs," Math, pages 92-93. (4) Do the Fractions and Multiplication review worksheet.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Worms, Worms, Worms!
What did you do in school today? We did worms! Today rooms 18 and 19 started our vermicomposting project. We will be collecting food scraps at lunch and feeding them to worms. The worms can digest their body weight in food each day, and their, well, "droppings" are incredibly rich compost. This will help reduce the amount of material which goes to landfills as well as enriching the soil around our school. We are very excited about this pilot project. A big thank you to Ms Heckman, shown above, a parent active in Friends of Third. Also, thanks to our administrative team represented above my our ever enthusiastic Mr. Wilson.
In other news, we started the Renzulli program today. This program is specially designed to meet the needs of gifted learners, but offers a variety of fun activities for all children. Since it is a web-based program (http://www.renzullilearning.com/) students can work on it at home as well as at school. Students enrolled themselves today and created user names and passwords. Most also completed their profiles which will guide them towards activities which are geared towards their interests and learning styles. Thanks to Mr. Abrams for helping us get set up and to Ms. Limb for letting us know about this program.
Home Studies: (1) Do Reading Strategies for the "Susan La Flesch Picotte" story in Open Court. (2) Do the Study Guide for the "Picotte" story. (3) Do the double bubble map on the back of the third page of the study guide. (4) Do the two math pages on Equivalent Fractions and Algebra. Use a "guess and check" strategy to determine the value of x. (5) Do "Line Plots," Math, pages 88-89. Be sure to read the explanation on page 88 carefully even though this is basically a review of third grade material.
In other news, we started the Renzulli program today. This program is specially designed to meet the needs of gifted learners, but offers a variety of fun activities for all children. Since it is a web-based program (http://www.renzullilearning.com/) students can work on it at home as well as at school. Students enrolled themselves today and created user names and passwords. Most also completed their profiles which will guide them towards activities which are geared towards their interests and learning styles. Thanks to Mr. Abrams for helping us get set up and to Ms. Limb for letting us know about this program.
Home Studies: (1) Do Reading Strategies for the "Susan La Flesch Picotte" story in Open Court. (2) Do the Study Guide for the "Picotte" story. (3) Do the double bubble map on the back of the third page of the study guide. (4) Do the two math pages on Equivalent Fractions and Algebra. Use a "guess and check" strategy to determine the value of x. (5) Do "Line Plots," Math, pages 88-89. Be sure to read the explanation on page 88 carefully even though this is basically a review of third grade material.
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Quick Post
I have to run off to a meeting so here's the homework:
Home Studies: (1) Finish the Science chapter review on page A 159. For numbers 18-22 write out the question with the correct answer only; for numbers 23-28 write a sentence or a short paragraph as needed to answer the questions. (2) Do "Median and Mode," Math page 87. Either research or guess at the data needed for number 5. (3) Do the "Chapter Test/Review," Math, page 256. Be sure to show all work, including the check for numbers 7-22. (4) Do the "Cumulative Review," Math, page 257.
Home Studies: (1) Finish the Science chapter review on page A 159. For numbers 18-22 write out the question with the correct answer only; for numbers 23-28 write a sentence or a short paragraph as needed to answer the questions. (2) Do "Median and Mode," Math page 87. Either research or guess at the data needed for number 5. (3) Do the "Chapter Test/Review," Math, page 256. Be sure to show all work, including the check for numbers 7-22. (4) Do the "Cumulative Review," Math, page 257.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Perfect!
Wow! Days just do not get any nicer than today was. Everything went really smoothly. We began with reading, and then did a crossword puzzle on using medical terms and a punctuation review. We went over some of the work they had done with the substitute. Following recess I gave the students some time to get started on the study guides for the chapters they read with the substitute. After lunch, we read about "Restoring Habitats" and talked about some things we are doing or going to do to help the environment. We had a nice rotation of activities at PE, and I then went over how to do estimating with division. This last skill is a little tricky, so the students may need some help with it tonight.
Home Studies: (1) Do "Word Study" and "Vocabulary from Context" for Picotte story. (2) Finish History study guides for lessons 1 and 2 of chapter 5. We began these in class. (3) Do chapter review in Science, page A 158 only. (4) Do "Collect and Organize Data," Math, pages 83-85. (5) Finish "Estimate Quotients," Math, page 255. Again, we began this in class.
Home Studies: (1) Do "Word Study" and "Vocabulary from Context" for Picotte story. (2) Finish History study guides for lessons 1 and 2 of chapter 5. We began these in class. (3) Do chapter review in Science, page A 158 only. (4) Do "Collect and Organize Data," Math, pages 83-85. (5) Finish "Estimate Quotients," Math, page 255. Again, we began this in class.
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