We began the day promptly at 8:10 by reviewing this week's Daily Exercises. Everyone turned in their work allowing us to add another five paper clips to our Paper Clip Chain. By 8:45 we were ready to head outside for P.E. with Mrs. Pane.
I arrived at 9:35 to pick up the class and today was the first day that Mrs. Pane was able to give me an "Awesome!" on the blue slip. "Your class had an awesome day. They listened and were very focused. Everything went very well," she told me. I was very pleased with the class and made sure that everyone added a $2 McMurray Buck bonus to their accounts when we returned to the room.
As we filed into the room and returned to our seats, I paid everyone for their jobs this week and announced next week's assignments. Tommy and Claire will serve as our Class President and Vice-President next week. I also announced our Roving Reporters for the Daily Blog.
Before recess we completed our first Weekly Geography Quiz on globe lines, which covered things like the prime meridian, equator, latitude and longitude, and axis. I also distributed the vocabulary quiz for our science chapter on the hydrosphere. It included words such as water table, aquifer, reservoir, and condensation.
We then went to recess, and when we returned to class we completed today's lesson on multiplication. Students were expected to take notes in their math notebooks, participate by volunteering to come to the front of the class to answer questions and explain their thinking. David, Rada, Ondray, and Kannen were a few of the students who shared work on the white board in front of the class.
I told the class that our multiplication chapter is just 4-5 lessons, so we'll be wrapping it up by next week; Wednesday at the latest.
By 11:30 it was time to resume work on our Earthquake Terror projects. We reviewed what we discussed after lunch yesterday about the pros and cons of our group work, and then set off to complete our data gathering and the other various jobs involved in these three activities: (a) make major earthquake map; (b) develop a word game using the compound words found in the story; and (c) sequence eight events of the story by drawing and coloring them and writing a caption for each. We have six groups of five students each busily working in different parts of the classroom and outside.
There was a noticeable difference in the quality of work happening today. A few students and groups needed a reminder or two to stay on task. But, for the most part, this first adventure in small, cooperative group work has gone quite well.
At 12:30, we wrapped up our group work and headed for lunch. During lunch today I held a meeting for Noon League Football captains. We split up the sixteen captains into pairs by random drawing, and then began drafting 4th and 5th graders onto the eight football teams. We only made it through two rounds though, and the draft will continue during lunch recess on Monday. That was a lot of fun! We have teams called the Undead Pandas, Crazy Fire Koalas, and more traditional team names including last year's finalists - Trojans and Demons.
After lunch, we made our way to the cafeteria for choir while the strings players practiced in the Arts Center. Mrs. Steidell has been working very hard to lead us in some old, favorite tunes, while introducing us to some newer ones.
When choir ended, we returned to class to work on the Proctor Mural project that Mrs. Rose is coordinating with a local Girl Scout trying to earn her Gold Award. She's a former Proctor student, and anyhow, she wanted the kids to submit ideas for various activities related to the them: The Proctor Community. Our subject was Arts, which includes: band, FAME, choir, Proctor Art Show, etc. Everyone participated and turned in an idea.
I then returned the Science Vocabulary Quiz. Some students have a red homework stamp because they missed 4 or more problems and I'd recommend they study hard before our chapter test in 2 weeks to make up what they've missed and master these words in their vocabulary. Several students got 100% or missed 1 or 2 problems.
By 2:45 we were ready to announce the Quiet Seat - Brandon M. - and then head home for the weekend! Today was a good day!
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