1.4.12

Happy half day of the work week everyone!  I hope this Wednesday finds you warmer and wonderful!  We have been working up a storm here in room 105!  Today, we got into content in our flex groupings for reading and math and are having a great time!

READING:
We began my favorite unit of study for teaching AND for the students to learn because they end up enjoying it so much: POETRY!  We are learning how to read poems and understand them.  Poetry is used to evoke feelings and images for readers, so we are learning about figurative languages used that help us do this.  Today, we focused upon similes and metaphors which compare objects to something else.  Using these forms of figurative language in our poems can help readers to envision exactly what the author intends for us to see through detailed descriptions, and thus understanding the feeling and emotion of the poem at hand.  A simile compares two things using the words, 'like' or 'as' (Example: Her blonde hair is as bright as the sun. -or- His legs are long like a giraffe's).  Metaphors compare objects that may not seem similar (Example: The snow is a blanket over my front yard. -or- The sea is a hungry lion, thrashing himself on the shore). 

To practice with this, we played a game entitled, "the Alien Explorers' Chinese Whisper Game".  I first asked the students to brainstorm a list of nouns.  Then, I gave them a sheet and assigned them an alien (a furp, a bling, a dap, or a grom) and they were to plug in their brainstormed nouns next to the adjectives listed on the organizer to create similes (for example, some said: as tall as, smells like, looks like, or as smart as, etc.).  THEN, students in the group had to draw an example of what they were envisioning with their alien.  FINALLY, we traded descriptions with another group and they drew the picture they saw from the similes and compared it to the group's original picture.  It was awesome that all pictures basically matched up!  It was way fun!  Here are some pictures of the students in action with this activity:

After our activity with the aliens, we next practiced distinguishing between similes and metaphors using a PowerPoint game/ activity.  We also read a simile Reader's Theater play, and a metaphor Reader's Theater play, and then completed some independent practice before transitioning to math.
HOMEWORK: NONE tonight because we finished it in class!  WaaaaHOOOOO!!!

MATH:
Today was also our first day to flex group for math as well.  Many students did not have to transition and simply stayed here with me.  We are working on reviewing Long Division but it was quickly brought to my attention that students from two other classes were not taught long division before break.  Ahhhh!  We'll have to backtrack and learn more long division before moving on to fractions (which I had planned to do by next week).
HOMEWORK: none.

WRITING:
Today was also the first day for us to have writing in the afternoons...separate from reading!  Students began learning how brainstorm with writing and finding subtopics that coincide with a main idea.
HOMEWORK: none.

SCIENCE:
This was also our first day with Science in the afternoon!  Ms. Frederick came to teach us about matter and properties of matter (solids, liquids, and gases).
HOMEWORK: none.

Be prepared to increase our load of homework by next week!  We are in the second semester and things are really going to pick up!

Happy Birthday, Amaan...we LOVE you!!
And I LOVE YOU and ALLLL my sweeties!!

xoxo,
Mrs. Thomas