Students gaining more sophisticated view of literary genre

Happy Tuesday, everyone!  It was great seeing everyone back at school!  Although, I think the children needed, and enjoyed, their extra day off.

We started with another multiplication puzzle.

We read a nonfiction book about penguins.  It was a hit.  What I enjoyed thoroughly, was the fact that my Crystals were able to point out and identify different nonfiction text features.  Their reading assignment for the night is at least pages 4-17.  

We played our genre game again.  Genre is something we cover all through the year, as it needs reinforcement. Another good thing about the game we play, is that it gives the children a chance to read aloud, but the passages aren't long so that they get frustrated.  It also reinforces listening skills.  I heard much improvement over last week's games.

Each child was given his or her spelling lists for the week.  I changed some of their lists to make them a better "fit" for them.  Some were struggling with the list they had been using.  I have four different sets of spelling lists.  I hope this helps those who were struggling.

In science we started an observation.  I bought an alligator that will grow when wet.  We measured it and wrote about what we could observe today with him dry.  Then we put him in a large tub, and covered him in water.  We will measure tomorrow, then do the math to see if he grew overnight.  We also talked about the broken ruler trick.  As your child about this. 

We are still raising money for the book vending machine.  The class with the most at the end will get to be the first children to choose a free book.  

We received another Flat Stanley from our friend in Fort Worth.  This Flat Stanley got to visit the TCU campus and football stadium!