Thursday, January 13

 Hi parents,

We had another great day today!

In the morning, we had our first formal lesson about commas in writing. Commas are really tricky to teach about because there are so many different ways to use them, and often it's kind of unclear whether they are needed or not. We talked about using commas when listing ideas, and after words like 'first', 'next', 'finally', etc.

The students applied their new knowledge of commas to a procedural writing task, in which they explained a process of their choice. This was one of those writing tasks where everyone did a good job, but it seemed to really click for a few students who were able to do some of their best writing of the year! And the school year!

We did a multiplication / art activity called 'Mutiply a Snowman'. Students were given a sheet of 'snowman traits' that corresponded with certain numbers. Then, they rolled two dice, and multiplied them. They added traits to their snowman based on the product of their roll. It was a bit complicated at first, but ended up being a fun way to practice multiplication, and the students were a lot more comfortable with it than I expected.

In the afternoon, we did Daily LA and gym, and ended our day by watching a very interesting Wild Kratts episode about leaf cutter ants, as part of our Small Crawling and Flying Animals science unit.

Tomorrow is our spelling quiz! I'm interested to see how the new format works out. 

Have a nice night,

Zac