One-Hundred Third Day

Our reading batteries are complete. We have one more day to complete the writing test. Unfortunately, students who missed any portion of the writing process due to absences are unable to make up that time. The good news is many of the students have not needed the entire amount of time allotted for taking the test, but some have. We will take our science test on the states of matter this Friday.

Fifty-Eighth Day

One student has completed a PowerPoint presentation and another has begun. It is slow going with computer work because only one computer works adequately to make presentations.

We will take a short test on Topic 9 tomorrow. If the copiers are up and running in the office and if the material warrants, we may attempt to take a full test; we'll wait to see.

We worked briefly with compound words and took some time to illustrate a fold-out book which some students completed and took home.

We had an art lesson today on the element of shape. We distinguished between geometric and organic shapes and created a self-portrait.

Yesterday, we discussed the Sun and it's influence on weather. We discussed the transformation of matter and the sun's role in the water cycle. We discussed the removal and addition of heat to transform matter into its various states. This will be a tested concept.

Sixteenth Day

Today was a good and busy day in Room 11. We had a discussion of needs v. wants. The children were able to identify 4 basic needs: air, water, food, and shelter. We read a non-fiction selection called What People and Animals Need. We then took a dictation test on our '-an' and '-at' words and some sight words. Everyone is on target. We read a decodable non-fiction photo essay called Who Am I? We then read the main selection of the week, a fantasy, called Pam and Sam. We made a character analysis table in order to help retell the story in our own words. We were hesitant that this would work at first, but once we got going, we didn't want to stop. We are also learning to listen to each other's responses and to respond to those as well.

In math we used addition sentences and pictures to show the commutative property (we did not call it this). We are going to take our next math test on Monday, contrary to what was posted yesterday. The reason for this is that the last lesson of the Topic is quite involved and takes a while to get through. The children really should have time to go over the lesson at home before taking a test. However, this means a rare occasion for homework over the weekend. Homework in not usually collected on Monday, but an exception will need to be made. Those not having their homework on Monday will not be penalized, but those that do will be given credit.

We had our first formal science lesson today about matter. We discussed the 3 forms of matter (tested standard). We brainstormed a list of common examples of each form (tested skill).

I hope everyone has a good day off. Please remember that reading logs are due on Friday.