Good afternoon!
This morning we started our morning off with our weekly multiplication review quiz. Students answered questions on their 9x and their 11x tables today. We only have the 12x tables left! But don’t worry, we aren’t going to be done reviewing after that. We’ll be keeping our Olympic spirit going by starting Multiplication Olympics the following week. Who will win the gold medal?
Today we completed our Term 2 writing prompt. We give 3 standard writing prompts each year to all the Division 2 students. All classes are given the same picture prompt, and asked to plan and write a story in the same amount of allotted time. This is not a test. It is merely to give the teachers some more information about our classes strengths, weaknesses, and to help us with our planning and instruction for the remainder of the year. In order to help us with our prompt, we did review the parts of a story that we learned earlier in the year. We watched the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6I24S72Jps
This led to a discussion on the 5 parts of a short story:
- Setting (where, when)
- Conflict (what – problem)
- Theme (why – moral)
- Plot (what, how – story mountain)
- Characters (who)
Students can use their understanding of these elements to help them to plan their story from the picture prompt. We also reviewed the graphic organizer that we used earlier in the year for story writing – story mountain.
This provides a visual for students to use when planning and structuring their short stories. Students were given time to discuss the picture prompt within their seating groups, to plan their story, and then they had an hour to write their story. Everyone was so respectful of one another, and of the expectations throughout this activity, it was wonderful! Thanks everyone for you positive attitudes!
Have you started your Science Fair project yet? I want to remind all students and parents that Science Fair is on March 6th! That is the week we return from convention. Science Fair is mandatory for all Grs. 4-6 students, and we use it to help us access each students current level of understanding with their Science Skills and Processes from the Report Card outcomes. Many students have approached me with questions about the logbook. The logbooks do need to be completed to the best of the students ability, but they are certainly allowed to approach me with questions next week. You could also consult this sample logbook, which has an example project entered into it:
Having trouble with you display? What not consult the following image!
Please don’t hesitate to bring your questions or concerns to school on March 3rd, but please, I can’t stress enough, if you haven’t started your project yet you need to do so immediately!
Agenda:
Read 20 minutes
Science: Science Fair – March 6th
Have a good break!