Monday, September 10th, 2018

Today was the last day of the :Launching Literacy unit.  The lesson in reading was to discuss how reading aloud can be done with passion and meaning to make it enjoyable for the listener.  Why?  Because students will be going to a station during rotations called Read to Peers which involves reading aloud.  

Here are the tips for preparing to read aloud:

Reading Aloud - Readers Rehearse By:

• Reading it silently once or twice
• Focusing on a small part
• Using your finger to point to parts
• Trying lines different ways
• Figuring out important lines
• Thinking about character’s traits and emotions
• Finding parts you love
• Working hard at it

I conscientiously try to do this each day so hopefully I have served as a good model for it.

In writing, the students did a free-writing activity in which they wrote about whatever they liked.

For WIN time, students were given a pre-assessment activity in which they read a passage and answered questions in a short response.  This is different from  the standard multiple choice and will help me determine instruction during WIN time.  
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Ms. Sanders has created and printed out a reference on how to access Raz-Kids at home.  It was printed out and distributed to each student.

In science we concluded our introductory unit on the scientific method and inquiry with part 2 of what we started last week.  Students used clay to design boats.  Due to the heavy density of the clay, the first challenge was to make it so that it actually floated.  The second challenge was to see how many washers it could hold before sinking.  Since I used 1.25 inch thick washers, they didn't hold as many as they would if the washers were smaller and thinner.  

The final challenge was to improve the design to hold more.