Tuesday, January 15th

We started our day by writing about our hobbies.  Then, we practiced writing plural nouns with -ies endings.  We learned our vocabulary words and read the story Pumpkin Fiesta.  We completed our DLP and did a grammar activity on possessive nouns.  Then, we went to art class.  This afternoon we silent read.  Then we went to gym and music.  In math, we took two tests, one on problem solving and the other on 3-digit addition.  The students did so well and we are so proud of their progress!  They are really rising to the Common Core Standards!  At the end of the day, we worked on a practice math worksheet.  Those who used their time wisely finished, those who didn't need to finish for homework.

Monday, January 14th

This morning we wrote about what we would do if something precious to us disappeared.  Then, we turned and told our neighbor what we wrote.  The neighbor then had to report back to the class about what they had heard.  It was an interesting lesson that tested our listening and summarizing skills.  We will practice this more often.  Then, we learned about plural nouns with -s, -es, and -ies endings.  We did a word sort and practiced our spelling words as well.  We completed our DLP and learned about possessive nouns, too.  Then, for the first time, we learned a cursive letter!  I explained to the students that we are only allowed to practice letters that have been taught in class.  Please do not encourage your child to write cursive at home because bad habits form before they have even been introduced to them!  There is nothing harder to do than break a bad habit.  As we learn the letters, we will learn to write our names, but we have to be patient.  We will learn all lower and uppercase letters by the end of May.  In Social Studies, we took notes on the local government.  We also watched a Brainpop video on local and state government.  We will learn about the state government later this week.  This afternoon we used the strategy guess and check to solve problems in math.  Students have review pages for homework as we will have a test tomorrow on adding three digit numbers.  On Wednesday, we will begin subtracting three digit numbers.  At the end of the day, we went to the computer lab.

Friday, January 11th

This morning we chose our own topics for journal writing.  Then, we added a new poem to our poetry binders.  We reviewed words with -ear and completed our DLP.  We took our Spelling test.  After centers/guided reading, we took our Reading test.  At the end of the day, we had Celebration Day.  The only homework over the weekend is to practice reading the poems in the poetry binder.  Enjoy the nice weather!

Thursday, January 10th

In our journals, we told what we would do if we could change one thing in Addison.  Then, we reviewed our phonics pattern and vocabulary words.  We re-read Watermelon Day in small groups.  We also completed our DLP and did a grammar activity.  We read with our 4th grade Book Buddies.  Then, we had centers/guided reading.  We re-read our lesson on the local government in Social Studies and made vocabulary cards.  After lunch, we silent read.  In Science, we re-read our lesson on animal classifications. We completed a Reading Pictures worksheet and reviewed the vocabulary from the lesson.  In math, we practiced rewriting three digit numbers and added them together.  There is one page of math homework. There will be a Reading and Spelling test tomorrow. 

Remember tomorrow is an Early Release Day. We are done at noon.

Wednesday, January 9th

Throughout the day today, some students were given a Fountas and Pinnell Reading test to help us pinpoint students' reading levels.  Those who were not tested today will be tested sometime between now and mid-February. 

The students wrote about what they would like to do if they had their own Watermelon Day.  Then, they reviewed the phonics skill and re-read the story.  They completed their DLP and a grammar activity, too.  We visited the library.  We had centers/guided reading.  In Social Studies, we read about the local government and completed an activity in class.  This afternoon we silent read.  Then, we learned about animal classifications in Science.  Some students need to finish the lesson outline for homework.  In math, we learned how to regroup in both the tens and hundreds columns.  We have one page of math homework. 

Spelling Packets are due tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 8th

This morning we wrote about our likes and dislikes of watermelon.  It was interesting!  Then, we worked on activities with a watermelon theme.  Our story this week is called Watermelon Day.  We read the story and enjoyed thinking about eating watermelon on a hot, summer day.  We also reviewed our spelling words/phonics pattern and completed our DLP.  We then went to art class. This afternoon, we silent read.  Then, we went to music and art class.  In math we learned how to regroup in the hundreds column.  The students do have math homework.

Spelling Packet is due on Thursday.

Monday, January 7th, 2013

Welcome back!  I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday break!  We took it a little slow this morning.  We wrote about what we did over break and everyone got to share today.  Then, we learned about words with silent letters with kn, gn, wr.  The Spelling words and packet are coming home today.  There are several difficult words to be studied.  We completed a word sort, our DLP and talked about how to abbreviate both the days of the week and months of the year when writing the date.  In Social Studies, we started a new unit on our government.  We practiced the reading skill main idea and details.  We also watched short video clips about our local government.  This afternoon we started to add three-digit numbers with regrouping.  Please practice at home!  There is one page of homework to be completed.  At the end of the day, we went to the computer lab and took a timed test.