Today I was having one of those quiet moments in the classroom when I was thinking about numbers.... I was wondering what I could do differently to get my students to learn their multiplication facts. I mean, I have told them and told them that for the entirety of their math careers... their facts would be the foundation for it all... This lack of basic number sense is really the glaring problem I see with the students...
Parents - if you are looking for a quick and easy gift, pick up flashcards or games that the students have to practice all their math facts.. addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division... spend time each night... practice... number sense is the key to "getting" most math!
I kinda like Thursdays.... It is my one day where I really have no interruptions with the kiddos. I pick them up at 8:15 and have them until they go to Gym 5th period. It gives a large block of time to do much learning. It's a good thing!
1st period we checked homework, did a read aloud, did some AR Testing, and then broke into Book Clubs. My group is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We read chapters 10-13 today! We had some deep meaningful discussions about tone and author's craft. The author has done a great job at really making the reader dislike the other golden ticket winners, and sympathizing and rooting for Charlie and his family. I can't wait to get further into the book and hear some of the ideas that the students come up with for theme.
2nd period we looked at several short legends, we looked at two animated stories (King Authur and the Challenges of Hercules) to review the "elements" of the genre. We then read another short legend "How People Were Created" and talked about the elements we should see:
1) takes place long ago in some historical time period
2) has some elements of truth, but can be "larger than life" or "exaggerated"
3) often times they explain something that happens in nature
4) dialogue is used to tell the story and help convey tone, mood, and theme
5) the plot consists of some conflict or problem that has to be solved
6) the plot follows a logical sequence of events
7) the conflict or problem is solved in the end (resolution)
8) the author has a message that he or she wants you understand (theme)
I gave the students time to work on their legend in class. I gave them an extended period to go over their planning graphic organizers and to start drafting. The only homework I had intended to give them was to finalize their legend, but they had some troubles in math that caused some of them to have extra homework.
3rd period - I collected the chapter 4 mid-chapter check and I went over the problems that covered what we did in sections 1-6 of the chapter. Wow! The kids all agreed they got it and we moved on. We took time to go over 4.7 again and then they worked on practice 4.7 in their workbooks. Umm, I can't tell you how long it takes them to do repeated subtraction as a way to divide.
WARNING, WARNING, DANGER! This goes back to what I said earlier... the students don't have a firm grasp of number sense. They had trouble subtracting 4 repeatedly to get the correct answer. Maybe it is lack of focus with the approaching holidays. Maybe they think it is soo easy they are not being accurate. I don't know, but they kept making silly mistakes and I kept saying.. NOPE - not right!
4th - Kids who did not finish the 5 practice problems from 4.7 carried their math books to the library. The 7-8 students who got it and did it with accuracy, they were right on the computers doing Waggle ELA or AR Articles. I gave them a choice today. One at a time, the other students would approach me and get a "great job" or "nope, your repeated subtraction is off"... I don't know who was more frustrated.. them or me, but luckily, and SLOWLY, one by one all the kids finally made it on the computers.
5th Period - Gym! The kids were a bit wound up heading to gym. It took a solid 5 minutes to get them calmed down once we arrived at gym. Nothing MAJOR, but the lines were crooked, the kids were talking...
6th - Lunch! I had to bring 3 students up for detention for their behavior or not doing homework. I guess this is the new normal because I am tired of students not realizing that homework is to practice skills and concepts learned in class. If you don't practice, learning will take longer.
7th - We returned to class and I passed back all but 7 "Chapter 4 Mid-Chapter Check". If the students didn't get it, they got it back to try again. Hopefully they paid attention during the review so they can show me they really get it before we move further into the chapter. We started Chapter 3, Lesson 3 in Social Studies. We didn't get to finish it, but that is why we have tomorrow!
Speaking of tomorrow - tomorrow is WINTER WISHES day! Parents, you are invited to attend if you would like. Our scheduled time is at 11AM. Students will not be opening gifts at school, they will be brought home! I can't wait to see all of the students who wrote letters and returned their photo permission slips up on stage tomorrow. :-)
Homework:
Parents - if you are looking for a quick and easy gift, pick up flashcards or games that the students have to practice all their math facts.. addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division... spend time each night... practice... number sense is the key to "getting" most math!
I kinda like Thursdays.... It is my one day where I really have no interruptions with the kiddos. I pick them up at 8:15 and have them until they go to Gym 5th period. It gives a large block of time to do much learning. It's a good thing!
1st period we checked homework, did a read aloud, did some AR Testing, and then broke into Book Clubs. My group is reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We read chapters 10-13 today! We had some deep meaningful discussions about tone and author's craft. The author has done a great job at really making the reader dislike the other golden ticket winners, and sympathizing and rooting for Charlie and his family. I can't wait to get further into the book and hear some of the ideas that the students come up with for theme.
2nd period we looked at several short legends, we looked at two animated stories (King Authur and the Challenges of Hercules) to review the "elements" of the genre. We then read another short legend "How People Were Created" and talked about the elements we should see:
1) takes place long ago in some historical time period
2) has some elements of truth, but can be "larger than life" or "exaggerated"
3) often times they explain something that happens in nature
4) dialogue is used to tell the story and help convey tone, mood, and theme
5) the plot consists of some conflict or problem that has to be solved
6) the plot follows a logical sequence of events
7) the conflict or problem is solved in the end (resolution)
8) the author has a message that he or she wants you understand (theme)
I gave the students time to work on their legend in class. I gave them an extended period to go over their planning graphic organizers and to start drafting. The only homework I had intended to give them was to finalize their legend, but they had some troubles in math that caused some of them to have extra homework.
3rd period - I collected the chapter 4 mid-chapter check and I went over the problems that covered what we did in sections 1-6 of the chapter. Wow! The kids all agreed they got it and we moved on. We took time to go over 4.7 again and then they worked on practice 4.7 in their workbooks. Umm, I can't tell you how long it takes them to do repeated subtraction as a way to divide.
WARNING, WARNING, DANGER! This goes back to what I said earlier... the students don't have a firm grasp of number sense. They had trouble subtracting 4 repeatedly to get the correct answer. Maybe it is lack of focus with the approaching holidays. Maybe they think it is soo easy they are not being accurate. I don't know, but they kept making silly mistakes and I kept saying.. NOPE - not right!
4th - Kids who did not finish the 5 practice problems from 4.7 carried their math books to the library. The 7-8 students who got it and did it with accuracy, they were right on the computers doing Waggle ELA or AR Articles. I gave them a choice today. One at a time, the other students would approach me and get a "great job" or "nope, your repeated subtraction is off"... I don't know who was more frustrated.. them or me, but luckily, and SLOWLY, one by one all the kids finally made it on the computers.
5th Period - Gym! The kids were a bit wound up heading to gym. It took a solid 5 minutes to get them calmed down once we arrived at gym. Nothing MAJOR, but the lines were crooked, the kids were talking...
6th - Lunch! I had to bring 3 students up for detention for their behavior or not doing homework. I guess this is the new normal because I am tired of students not realizing that homework is to practice skills and concepts learned in class. If you don't practice, learning will take longer.
7th - We returned to class and I passed back all but 7 "Chapter 4 Mid-Chapter Check". If the students didn't get it, they got it back to try again. Hopefully they paid attention during the review so they can show me they really get it before we move further into the chapter. We started Chapter 3, Lesson 3 in Social Studies. We didn't get to finish it, but that is why we have tomorrow!
Homework:
- Writing: Finish draft of Legend (see rules above)
- Math: If you were given your mid-chapter check back, rework the missed problems
Photo Permission Slips due TOMORROW!
Readathon Permission Slips due
Pizza Movie Critique Permission slips due
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