Emotive Texts Presentations and some peer assessments.

This morning I arrived at school and the smart board wasn't behaving itself so I did a switcheroo with the lessons. The technician had the problem rectified by the beginning of recess. Tomorrow will have to be a big maths day. So we had a literacy focus. Each group of four presented their emotive language texts about the dog attack. Some students were much more prepared than others and had done their homework which was to revisit the passage they wrote on Tuesday and refine it ready for today's session. I gave them all an extra fifteen minutes to tweak the group's presentation. We discussed the importance of peer assessments as in this task they were writing for an audience. Each group was assessed by both me and their peers. These assessments are available in your son or daughter's portfolios along with other work samples. The students were positive and enjoyed this session. A few of the students had even used rhetorical question well. This will be a small focus for tomorrow.

After recess the students went off to music and I decided to put my head in a took a few photos after slogging away writng up their individual assessments.  They were practising Rocking Dogs and learning about rolling on, which apparently they were finding very challenging.

It was then back to the classroom and onto Spelling Bingo and then Monster Grid 6. Seventeen students are now getting the 100 facts done under ten minutes and are at least on the graph. The quickest time is 3:31 by a grade 6 boy. Mind you he has a very competitive and determined grade 5 girl breathing right over his shoulder. The record for doing a Monster  Grid in my classroom experience is a cool 2:21 and I would be struggling to beat that. I handed out a few practice grids to those students who thought they would use them to do some further practice. 

We were about to start learning about the hundreds game after lunch when suddenly I lost half my class to injections so we did silent reading instead whilst I read the remaining  students feedback about their emotive language texts just in case they struggled with my writing. They each have at least one goal to pursue.

The day finished with the 2:10 assembly where one female student who is a fantastic writer,  read out a descriptive chapter she had written for a novel, and a handful of students shared their microorganism jigsaws.  The Photo Story about Clean Up Australia Day will be shared in a book buddy session, as apparently there wasn't time today.

Students are expected to finish their jigsaw tonight and to do some research about their microorganism. Many students are getting the Photo Stories loaded on a  USB  so they can share things they do at school  with their parents. 

We did a quick 5 minute reflection on the days and discussed the importance of putting up hands in the classroom and listening with respect. Only a few students are still struggling with this.

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.