Students work with estimation and problem-solving skills

We had an amazing day today.  Things just seemed to go well in every subject!

I forgot to welcome out new student, Lexi, to our classroom family.

We started with our math activity we started with yesterday for morning work.  It took a little time so we finished it this morning.

We took our pretest this morning for reading.  We also worked with homonyms and found words within sentences.  I also handed out an assignment that is due December 5.  It goes along with the book we read last night.  They have already completed one of three tasks to make a tic-tac-toe on this paper.  They get to choose the other two tasks needed.

We also have another night reading assignment.  This one is The Trail of Tears.

In math we added and subtracted money using the information in short word problems.

In science we used our estimation and problem-solving skills.  We had to estimate how many cranberries were in a one pound bag.  Then we problem-solved on an easier way to count, rather than just one-by-one.  They did well.  Then I told them I had another one pound bag at home, but it had fewer berries than this one, yet it weighed the same.  I asked them how this could be.  They figured it out in no time!

Don't forget that Thunder reading challenge sheets are due December 3.

A great day: a special book, palindromes, money

We had a great day today.  It took a little while to get back into the "groove" of things, but we managed!

We started with writers' workshop.  They had to write in their notebooks, and not ask about spelling or anything.  This is hard for students who want to be correct.  But as I told them, authors don't worry about that sort of thing when they do their initial writing.  They were asked to write about their break.  At this age, it is easier for them to write about something that they have experienced.  Making up stories is very difficult so we stay with what we know.

In Reading we read one of my favorite Christmas books of all time, The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston.  Gloria was a friend, and a couple of years ago she sent me a CD of her reading her own story, which is based on stories from her family.  We listened to her today.  Unfortunately, she battled several illnesses, and died a couple of years ago.  Her children wrote me, telling me how happy my students had made her.  Each child wrote a letter, asking about this particular book, or telling her their favorite part.  When she received them, she couldn't see so her children read them to her.  They said she smiled and cried at the same time.  She died the next day.  Knowing the history of a story is special.

We worked with palindromes and other word puzzles today.  Palindromes are words that are spelled the same backward and forward. (tot, sis, mum)  They had fun with these.  This group loves learning something new.  They are little sponges soaking up as much as they can.  I love that!  

Check out the video above for some palindrome fun with your kids.

In math we introduced money.  Many still have trouble naming coins.  So today we watched a song about them.  Then we drew a large version of each one in detail.

Our program is this Thursday.  

Students enjoy scavenger hunt, Native American dancers

We had another energy-filled day.  

We did a Thanksgiving (facts) scavenger hunt today.  They love those.  Some got in a hurry and were given one chance to go back and read the cards again. They were very short nonfiction paragraphs about Thanksgiving.

We also chose either Mr. Whiskers or Mr. Horace to write how Grandmother felt about him before the recipe was stolen.  Then we had to write words she would use to describe the same man after it was stolen.

In math we did more multiplication practice.  

No one should have any homework today, as we worked on most together and had plenty of time.

We also enjoyed some young Native American dancers this morning.