Square Numbers, Emotive Language, and...Photo Story Instruction

This morning students did the normal spelling bingo game and then it was  time to do a quick survey with students writing about what they know about digital cameras, computers, programs and what skills they feel they have...as well as listing what they would like to learn about. 

It was then on to Monster Grid number 4.  The good news is that now 13 students are doing the hundred facts in under 10 minutes, which means at least they are now on the graph. Spare monster grids are available from the classroom for extra practice. 

We then moved on to a structured lesson on square numbers, starting with the basics and moving into some more demanding questions for a small group. To begin with we read out the different definitions of square numbers from four different maths dictionaries and watched two short film clips about them,  one in which there was glaring error. We discussed the fact that you have to be astute  and not blindingly accepting when using online materials as sometimes  they do contain errors. We then did a very hands on activity using grids and counters to model square numbers. Students have to complete their explanation of how square numbers work tonight for homework. Being able to reflect on a lesson and mathematically explain their thinking are higher order processes and a really great way to measure a student's understanding of a concept. Other areas of maths which this lesson focused on were arrays and area. Four students also have a Copy of Storm Boy to read over the next few weeks.

Making square numbers

Square numbers to a hundred

After their first daily physical education lesson, about 11-25 by the time all students were back in the room, we talked about the importance of personal organisation and discussed different way that tote trays could be organised as about a third of the class is experiencing problems with looking after and storing their gear. A little more time was given to complete the square numbers activity and then it was on to emotive language.

Students need to have a handle on this if they are to write convincing persuasive texts, which is our next port of call in literacy. (We have also been focusing on idioms). Each table had to write about an incident about a boy or a girl being bitten by a dog in a park, or wherever the group decided. Four viewpoints have to be represented with the writer trying to persuade the audience that their version is the most convincing. The viewpoints come from:

the dog
the child,
the parent of the child
the dog owner

Most students really tried hard with this and I have asked students to revisit and further refine their written pieces this Wednesday night for homework.  Some students have started publishing their pieces and are gaining experience in  inserting a relevant image. Students can either write the top copy up by hand or publish it.  They will be receiving a peer assessment on this task as well as from me.

After lunch students had extra time to revisit their emotive language piece, quiet reading and then a 40 minute lesson on making folders, finding a program, transfering images from a variety of sources, cropping photos and making a Photo Story. We are using the photos from our t-ball game. This lesson will be continued tomorrow.

Danger Words...and new desks to come :)

These are the words students have been having the most problems with over the last four weeks in a wide selection of written pieces. This chart is now up in the classroom and students will  need to thoroughly check their written assignments to make sure none of these words are incorrect.

The latest t-ball photos taken on Friday are also up on the store room door.

Today: assembly, Japanese, P.E. and Library. In the afternoon we concentrated on spelling words with the au pattern. We also looked at same of the words in our language that have the combination mn:
solemn
column
hymn
mnemonics



I asked students if they could find out any other words that might have this unusual combination.  I can think of a few. In some the n is silent and in others it is not.

Homework tonight is to finish the spelling level they are on. A couple of students managed to finish this in class time today, well done!

A small group of four students who didn't need to do the lesson on the au words started cutting out and sewing their softies. They worked very well with limited supervision.

Students have set up the A-Z sheet ready for the microcosmos competition which is mentioned in the blog preceding this one.

Below is a picture of the days of the week activity the students did in Japanese. 

Students finished their Japanese lesson with the game at the following link:
http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese/Daysmonths.htm

The best news of the day is some new desks for the classroom and some vital mathematics gear  are on order. Yipeeeee!

Yeast Experiment (take 2) and T-Ball in the drizzle

This morning students survived the test on contractions with the average score being 8.8 out of 10. This was followed by Silent Reading time in which I marked them and gave individual feedback to students. We then did our second take on the yeast experiment. This time it worked. We will do the next practical session on the coming Thursday as I am loaning our precious bottles to a fellow staff member to use during the first half of next week. Like me, he inherited casi nada.

After lunch we did a small comprehension activities where students located the keywords in a text about yeast. and learnt to locate the key sentence (idea) in a paragraph.  We also explored some boxes and had four riddle-offs (Guess the answer to a riddle.) I also carried out the South Australian Spelling Test to pinpoint exact spelling ages as the SWST test only measures to 12.0+, this one will measure to 15.5+.  It will also give me a second set of data  just in case any student just had a bad test first time around with the standardised test administered in their first week back in February.

In the afternoon I explained the rules of t-ball and we headed out onto the oval for a game. The equipment was a little bit of a challenge but we still had fun and the students were amazing with their sportsmanship. We came back in at 2:40 as it was raining quite heavily at this stage. We ended the day with a quiz and did the seating draw for next week. I still owe each team an innings.

The stand before the top fell off

Next week there will be The Grand Microcosmos Competition where students will have to do quite a bit of concerted reading to match information panels to beautiful and fascinating images of life under the electron microscope. They will have to read the written texts and the visual texts very closely looking for the clues which will allow a correct match up. Feel free to drop in before school if you would like to give your son/daughter a hand.  Each student will be given a sheet with the letters A-Z and will write what they think is the corresponding piece of text, all of which carry a number from 1 -26. All correct entries will go into a draw for a prize which  actually haven't thought about yet. We will be looking the differences between a run-of-the mill microscope and an electron microscope.

Top views, side views front views, whole school assembly

The day started with Spelling Bingo and a discussion of idioms and similes. We then did a formal handwriting session, discussing basic letter formation and exit strokes. Each student has a handwriting guide which they can work through at their individual pace. 

Today, in mathematics, the main focus was on looking at top, views, side views of constructed cubic centimetre shapes. We also reviewed the main planar shapes and finished off our cube evaluations.  Students completed the Monster Grids and we now have ten students coming in under ten minutes.

A small group of randomly drawn students redid the yeast test to make sure the latest yeast batch is okay. Tomorrow morning all groups will run the tests again and finish off observations. I worked with the grade 5 boys today focusing on writing instructional texts. They seemed to have a good knowledge of the requirements of this genre.  We had a whole school assembly at 2-10 where students got to know their Daily Physical Education leaders and a few certificates for being positive were handed out. If any student wants a copy of the Swimming Carnival Photo Story just send along a storage unit of some description and I will make a copy.

Out-of-date Yeast!

Today we had fun and games doing the Yeast Feast experiment. The students set up their own data collection pages and generally did a great job with their observations. But, why wasn't at least one of the balloons being filled with carbon dioxide? Had we been mistaken with the water temperature? Well, I looked on the bottom of the yeast container and found our problem, out-of-date yeast. So it will be back to the supermarket!

Students had their art lesson with the specialist art teacher for forty-five minutes.

Spelling Bingo on the contractions went ahead as usual, first up. They also had a partner. test on their ISL words. Again, any testing and signing off after five ticks by parents would be greatly appreciated.

Music options was all the go  from twelve o'clock onwards with some students being out for the nearly entire afternoon.

We went through all the different kinds of graphic organisers students could use to organise their thoughts for writing tasks in their Writers' Notebooks. Ask to have a look at this book at some stage.

We also did a lesson on contractions...and play three games of Contraction Bingo.

Students have been asked to work on their handwriting tonight and also their microorganism jigsaw puzzles.

The swimming carnival photos are on display in our classroom and there was no available spaces in the library. Feel free to come and have a look. I have made a Photo Story of the day which will be shown in tomorrow's assembly.

Maths Relay Part 2 and the Swimming Carnival

This morning before the swimming carnival, the students participated in another maths relay, this time using intermediate and advanced maths problems. They stayed in the same teams they had on Friday. Students quickly realised understanding the question was as important as any maths skills they needed to apply. This time there was 40 points difference in the range, with the top score being 87. Measurement questions and fractions caused the most crumpled eyebrows.  

Sample questions

Team work helps

This week, the spelling bingo words will be words are contractions such as doesn't, didn't, o'clock etc. They will be tested on these words on Friday morning. 

We left school at 11-30 to make our way to the Hobart Aquatic Centre. The swimming carnival went off well with us just making it back to school by three o'clock. I snapped off quite a few photos whilst on crowd control (which always seems to be my job.) I had the photos developed at Big W and backed them. Hopefully they will go up in display in the library or in some central place in the school tomorrow. I've just noticed I haven't captured all swimmers and I apologize for that.

Swimming Carnival

Also, I desperately need funnels for Science tomorrow.
Thank you Andrea for the games for the classroom, greatly appreciated.

Maths Relay

Okay, another day done and dusted.  The usual Spelling Bingo followed by the spelling testing of the two groups. The words causing the most issues were receipt and reindeer. Students should have added any corrections to their ISL cards. Silent reading is usually done Monday mornings for 20 minutes whilst I mark the tests and give students their individual feedback.

The Maths Relay really went extremely well with students competing to answer fifteen maths problems at the basic and intermediate level. I must say I have never seen them all working so hard! The teams of four  were of mixed ability and the range between the top team and the "bottom" team was a mere 7 points, so the teams are very competitive. They all finished within seven minutes of each other as well. The average score was 71.3, and the mode was 71. The winning team scored 76 points. On Tuesday we will run another relay using intermediate and advanced questions. 

After recess, we revisited the self evaluations  paragraphs on the cubes as some were a little light on in content. Three students shared some really good examples and we discussed the use of  full sentences answers, how to write a logical paragraph pinpointing problem areas, and areas of success. I then modelled making a cube from cardboard from scratch, and students had their second attempt, all being issued with an A4 piece of cardboard. I only saw one lip drop this time. Most were  much better but we agreed we need to get some PVC glue which is easier to work with than glue sticks, as this batch are of  dubious strength.  I will get my hands on some over the next few days. 

After lunch we cleaned up Australia for twenty five minutes with our book buddies and then returned to class to complete any unfinished work for the week. I will use the photos I took of this momentous occasion to demonstrate how to make a PhotoStory next week.  Five students have extension on The Pinballs because of absenteeism for one reason or another. One student shared her PowerPoint on The Pinballs and she did a fabulous job. One student has finished his jigsaw of a hydra and it is amazing. He should feel very proud of himself. I worked with three students who learnt how to make a folded box which will contain their completed jigsaws. 

Thankyou Rachel for sending along some measuring cups.

REMEMBER Tuesday is the swimming carnival and students need to pack the appropriate clothes for the day. I suggest a couple of plastic bags also for all those soggy towels.

And now...sigh, I better go do a week's housework.
Enjoy the long weekend.