Last week got away from me...sorry!!

So...I think that since I posted the "How Do I Become President" contest, I felt like I had already posted for the week!! Whoops, my bad.

We had a wonderful week and here are the details!!

Let me start with the celebration that I'm sure you've all heard about...Electronics Day! We set a goal for our class...36 Soaring With Pride stickers...this is not an easy achievement...but your kids are fantastic! So...we went through a very long process of brainstorming ways to celebrate, and then another rather long process of voting...and voila...Electronics Day...we will spend about 45 minutes on Tuesday (which in your kids' opinions, will NOT be long enough!!) They deserve this fun break and I'm looking forward to rewarding them!

Writer's Workshop
We have two full blown workshops under our belts...twice a week we spend about an hour in the workshop setting...some kids drafting, some editing, some revising, others in a peer or teacher conference...and I'm thrilled to say we have two pieces that will begin publishing next week! The kids get very excited when they see Writer's Workshop on the schedule and wish I could make it last all day. We are going to see some magnificent pieces from your kids in the near future!

Language Arts
We have been continuing our "During Reading" strategies this week...we spent time with "synthesis" and "inferring"...two of the tougher strategies. We used some wonderful literature to model these skills...and then applied them to the novels we are reading. We will finish up the these strategies this week and move into one of my favorite LA units: short stories!

Math
We had a lot of fun with AREA this week...we started off the week discussing whether all squares are rectangles AND/OR all rectangles are squares...do you know?!?! We used lots of geometry vocabulary while drawing and cutting grid paper to make rectangles. Then the kids wrote equations to matched the rectangles...eventually determining that L x W = area of a rectangle...they are true mathematicians!! I also pulled a few small groups to continue to reinforce subtraction of large numbers with zeroes. We head into multiplication and division for the next couple of weeks starting off with properties of multiplication and rules of divisibility!!

Social Studies
We are wrapping up our unit on government this coming week as we venture into a simulation of a local government. Your kids will be "running City Hall" this week (oh dear!!) They will be reading letters from citizens, delivering that mail after determining which office should handle what problems, making decisions as leaders of those offices, and writing letters back to the concerned citizens...should be a lot of fun and a great learning experience!!

I will not be in on Monday. My oldest son has a doctor's appointment and then is having a tooth extracted in the afternoon...but I will see your lovelies Tuesday for the rest of an almost full week! Reminder...Friday is an early dismissal day!

Hope your weekend was wonderful and I'm sorry this post is so late! Stay dry!!