Game of the Week: 1

http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-bloxorz/index.html

Thanks for the suggestion, Fahad!

Thursday's Daily Report

Today we:

Had tech, pe and music!

Reviewed how to change mixed numbers into fractions.

Sat on the steps outside of school and finished our book.

Planned our businesses for our colonial town.

HW that is due tomorrow:

1. Reading Log
2. Spelling words in a big picture
3. Math worksheet
4. Boston vs. Seattle half worksheet (as below)

And, our winner this week (with new teams) was PURPLE! Great job earning 17 points, and yes, here's the purple picture of the class, as promised.

Wednsday's Daily Report

Today we:

Wrote out three questions each for Mr. Obama.

Went to Library.

Took our Spelling Tests.

Practiced Math. In centers, students

played fractions spin (to multiply fractions)

and used playdoh to practice equivalent fractions.

We also played hot corners on the playground using fractions.

After lunch we brainstormed all the characters in our read aloud.

Then, we stopped the read aloud because some students were making it difficult to enjoy the story. Hopefully, we'll finish tomorrow.

Last, we started our new unit, The Responsibility of Freedom by discussing Colonial Boston

and beginning to make our Frieze.

Below is an image of our garden that was made with Ms. Allegra.

Pictures of Colonial Life

http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc46146.php

http://www.lordfletchers.com/thewharf.asp

http://www.custom-home-quote.com/colonial-homes-pictures.html

http://www.fourseasonswindows.com/html/accents.html

http://www.longislandphotoblog.com/category/stony-brook/

http://www.walkingboston.com/history/

HW due on Thursday

1. Use all spelling words in a short story.
2. Reading Log.
3. Boston vs. Seattle
4. Math worksheet

Reminders:
* Return your parent info slips. First team to get them all in gets 3 points!

Tuesday's Daily Report

(click pictures to make them bigger)

Today we:

Wrote about the advantages of living in a city.

Practiced our spelling words with playdoh.

Learned how to multiply fractions with whole numbers.

1. I wrote 1/3 x 3 = on the board in green.
2. Students discussed in table groups how to solve the problem.
3. 5 students shared their guesses (as written, #'s 1-5 in green).
4. In purple, we wrote out what the descriptions meant when using numbers and symbols.
5. Students discussed in table groups which approaches worked or didn't work.
6. In blue, we went through each approach discussing why they did or didn't work.

Then, students had did a math vitamin with our guests from UW.

We read two very interesting chapters from our read aloud book. Students discussed connections they have with other books including Wizard of Oz and The Dolly. Tomorrow, we'll finish the book!

Ms. Allegra came at the end of the day and we made a salad with radish, strawberry, peas, spinach, and "class-made" dressing.

What a great day!

HW due on Wednesday

1. Spelling words in crazy letters.
2. No reading log: Esteem Essay (unless you were not in our group, then reading log)
3. The other side of your math worksheet

Reminders:

• Bring in supplies for tomorrow's Frieze.
• Info slips from a parent/guardian are due.
• Bring in a journal!
  

Monday's Daily Report

Students:

• Wrote about their communities.
• Worked with fractions in math.
• Found out what happened to Sarah Ruth.
• Took their pre-assessment for our new Social Studies Unit.

Sorry, I forgot my camera today!

What we hope (for our book)

After reading chapter 21, we hope that:

Neal lets Bryce go

Edward finds a family

Edward will be okay

Bryce finds a home

Sarah Ruth comes back to life

Malone/Edward doesn't die

Bryce is okay

Bryce can pay for food

Edward is buried with Sarah Ruth

Bryce and Edward are successful

Edward will stay with Bryce

 

 

HW due on Tuesday

1. Spelling boxes-all words
2. Reading log (meaningful quote + 2-3 sentences)
3. Math Worksheet
4. Guest Teacher Essay (7 students)

* Bring in a journal or $1 ASAP.
* Return your parent info slips. First team to get them all in gets 3 points!
* Bring any supplies you have for our frieze tomorrow (glue, scissors, magazines, small boxes).

Math Centers

Fraction Spin: One green spin page per pair and one Fraction Spin worksheet per person.

Journals: Pages 265 and 266. You make work quietly with your group. Don't give each other answers!

Playdoh: Use your playdoh to show equivalent fractions. fill out the 1/2 worksheet independently.

Done early?

1. Do unfinished math work.
2. Do pages 263 and 267.
3. Put the purple fractions in order.
4. Put the fraction math cards in order.
   

New Unit!

Greetings students and families,

Starting April 27, 2009 (today!), the students of A204 will be embarking on a journey back in time as we begin the unit, “The Responsibility of Freedom.” We will be learning about Colonial Boston by creating our own colonial community in our classroom where students will create characters and follow a storyline about the foundation of the United States of America.

This unit is going to last throughout May, and it will truly be fun. We will get to do art projects, creative writing, have a food tasting, special guests and much more as students learn about colonial life and what the responsibility of freedom means.

There will be many opportunities for you to get involved in your student’s learning during this unit. Students will have many take-home assignments where they will have questions to discuss with an adult. There will also be interesting website links on our class blog that correspond with many of the take-home assignments that will be fun to look at if you have Internet access. This is the first take home assignment!

I look forward to hearing from you!
Miss Holck
missholck@gmail.com

Spelling Words

romseynet

British: the people native to or inhabiting Great Britain

nytimes
citizen: an inhabitant of a city or town, one entitled to its privileges or franchises

visitdc
government: direction of the affairs of a state, community

bizonics
Business: the purchase and sale of goods in an attempt to make a profit

weburbanist

architecture: the character or style of building

starpulse
apprentice: a person who works for another in order to learn a trade

wikipedia
Democracy: a government in which the people rule themselves by electing others to represent them and make laws for them.

americanrevolution

Colonists: people who live in a colony. Colonists usually remain citizens of the parent country.

plazam
Colony: a group of people living in a new territory but keeping ties with the parent country.

euroseen

cyberethiopia

European: of or pertaining to Europe or its inhabitants

1. British
2. citizen
3. government
4. business
5. architecture
6. apprentice
7. democracy
8. colonists
9. colony
10. European

Definitions from dictionary.com and storypath.

Wednsday's Daily Report

Today we:

• Took the first part of the Reading WASL. Last day of WASL is tomorrow! Make-ups will be next week.
• Watched a film about Volcanoes and ate animal crackers during our snack.
• Took our spelling tests.
• Went to the library.
• Did a lesson about inferences while reading more about Edward.
  
• Mrs. Nielson came to visit.
  
• Celebrated Earth Day by doing some sketches! See the lesson here. The guidelines were to fill the page, use shading, and draw what you see.
  

Here's Winta drawing.

This is what she drew.

Every team had their own still life to look at. The plants came from around my apartment complex. We even listened to Mozart while we drew.

Here's Stanley's.

I put them up in the hall because they were really great. Thanks Ryshel and Ryshun for making our poster.

HW for tomorrow:

• Reading log (easy or not)
• Write the words you need to practice in a sentence each.
  

Tuesday's Daily Report

• We finished the science WASL.
• Started a chart about who had fun at recess.
• Read our book outside, unfortunately, ants joined in as well.
• We went over our reading WASL practice test.
• Ms. Allegra helped us garden!
  

There are peas, bok choy, spinach, and lettuce. When will yours germinate?

We found a large carrot, too.

Art: Sketching

Sketching is drawing vaguely or roughly. Sketching can be used in art or to just get an idea of how something will look. Sketching is used in business, too. Someone might draw a sketch of how a product, building, or other concept might look. Sketching is also a good warm-up for drawing or painting.





Links to drawings:

• keyboard
• blossoms
• fruit
• shoes

7 Helpful Tips:

1. Brainstorm what you will draw.
   
2. Start drawing. This may take a while, take your time. You want this to look good and neat, especially if you're presenting your work.
3. Start with light small strokes with your pencil.
   
4. Focus on getting the perfect shape. Always erase and make sure you are content with the first shape. The shape is the foundation of your sketch!
   
5. Keep at it! Keep adding details. Start adding inner shapes. Make sure they are to scale.
   
6. Always draw lightly. Small strokes with your pencil will ensure that you make your line go the way or the shape you want it.
7. Show your work and be proud.
   

Morning Math

Who has the largest piece of chocolate? Bill has 1/3 of a bar, Sally has 4/6 of a bar, Peter has 9/12 of a bar, Jen has 13/18 of a bar. Show how you know the answer.

HW

1. Crazy spelling words

2. Reading log

Monday's Daily Report

To begin learning how to multiply fractions, students were asked to find out how much of each ingredient would me needed to make three batches of playdoh. Then we determined that each student would get 1/9 a batch of playdoh if there were three batches. So, then students found out how much of each ingredient would be needed to make their portion (1/9) of a batch of playdoh using the recipe above.

What better way to visualize what you hear than to make a sculpted masterpiece? Below are the students' creations from today's reading in The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. The marker color represents the team that made the art.

Stanley took "3-D" to the next level using height.

See the vocabulary word?

The playdoh was put in bags so we can continue to use it.

HW for tonight was:

• WASL reading practice
• Spelling Boxes