Half way through Sept already?

Hello,

Week three has started.  The first book orders are coming home.  The easiest way to order is by going to scholastic.com/readingclub and entering our class activation code: J36TM.  The code is on one of the book orders and I gave all students a sticker of the code to put in their assignment notebooks for future reference.  You can also order the old fashion way with a check or cash in an envelope with the order form.  Any orders help the class earn free books.  Thank you for supporting your child's reading interests and our class library.  Students wrote down their top choices for me so I could get a sense of what they would like to see more of in the classroom.

We drew number lines outside on the sidewalk in math today.  I had them draw line segments with definite endings, then announced what numbers were on those endings.  For example, I would yell out, "Start with a ten and end with a fifteen."  Then they would have to place the other numbers in their proper place.  Keeping the numbers equidistant apart was the hardest part.  We talked about midpoints and differences.  I was most impressed with how many of them would mess up, but immediately try something new.  We are trying hard to instill perseverance in our learners.  It is essential to learn from our mistakes to be successful, and that is easy for them to see in many areas of math.

In physical education class they got to run around a bit more, but also found time to review proper use of playground equipment.

We once again worked on short and long vowel sounds.  Still more difficult than I would have anticipated, but much better than earlier.  It's coming back.

I started the process of growing crystals in science.  We discussed solids dissolving in liquids, what happens when water boils, and how and why our sugar powder should grow back into larger crystals. It will be much neater if they work.  Some years, these kits don't do as they're told.

I put up the Harry Potter Club sign up sheet.  Only five names thus far.  Oh, if they only knew the clamoring to get in that usually happens after our first couple of sessions!  And all males so far. Usually the numbers sway the other way.  Well, if we have low numbers, I'll be able to take more from other classes.  Not my first choice, but... oh well. I'll sell it a bit in the morning, but I really hope we can get more from our class.  

Thanks for reading.

Mr. Shea