I am going to start using the category feature of the blog so that you can easily use the blog posts as a resource. You will find the categories on the right side of the blog. I will tag a category for each subject I go in detail about in my blog post.
Reading
South Central Region - Read pages 278 - 279 regarding the settling of the South Central Region by European Settlers
Monitor Comprehension - Google Classroom assignment that students will be adding to tomorrow
Reading Log- two entries are expected in today's reading log
English Language Arts
State Report- we discussed expectations for the first round of research
Spelling
unit 26 practice worksheet- due today
Math
compare fractions- page 369
ordering fractions- show what you know page 373
Social Studies
Midwest Region- created states and capitals flashcards
Specialists
P.E./Health
Mrs. Deborah
Music- NOTE: students need to have completed their orange belt by Friday, March 18th. Next quarter, the students will need to complete their green and purple belts.
The students have been tasked with becoming an expert on a state of their choice. All students have chosen a state in which they will be researching and then creating a professional report for our final writing projects. All students were to read through the expectations with their parents and get the project description signed last night. The first section we will be looking at will be the state symbols for the introduction and the history section. The students have already written a history report. Therefore, they will have two weeks to research and write this section. The history report will be due April 1st. I will spend Friday of this week looking at what they will need to research and giving all students time to complete that research. If there are components of the report to be finished at home, I will make note of that in my daily blog post.
Monitor Comprehension
Students have been focusing on monitoring their comprehension as a way to make sure they are understanding what they are reading. We first started with visualizing what we are reading in order to create an experience of what they author is telling us. Today, the students looked at strategies we can use if we are not understanding the experience the author wants us to have. The three strategies are: 1.) Change your read rate or reread. 2.) Read on for more information. and 3.) Ask someone for help. The students created a "How To" poster that explains the strategies and will be adding examples of how they used these strategies during read time tomorrow.
Midwest States and Capitals
We will be "traveling" through the Midwest region in our next social studies chapter. The students created states and capitals flashcards for this region in order to start studying for the test that will be 3/30/2016.
Comparing Fractions
I am so very impressed with the deep understanding students are building with fractions. We have discussed over the past 2 days strategies we can use in order to compare fractions. The students have discussed using the following strategies: common denominators, common numerators, benchmark fractions, equivalent fractions, and making a model. The assignment notebook code for tonight is for the students to determine which fraction is larger if the size of the whole for each fraction piece is the same: 3/10 compared to 1/5. I hope you all have a great night and I look forward to another fabulous day of learning!