Writing- The 3B writing class brought in a persuasive piece of writing, answering questions from the "Persuasion Is All Around You" sheet. We talked about each piece of persuasive writing, evaluating its effectiveness. Then, they learned different strategies for persuasive writing. These strategies were listed in a chart, and the kids will use this for tomorrow's at-home assignment. The class then used these strategies, as a group, to convince me to let them choose from the prize box! They made a very convincing argument, even stating what George Washington would do! By learning and identifying these strategies, they will be able to apply them as they write their own persuasive paper.
The 4B class had used these persuasive writing strategies to analyze the effectiveness of an article of their choice. Today, we split into groups, depending on which article they chose from the at-home assignment. Within these groups, the kids compared their answers for the different strategies that were used. We discussed and clarified the different types. Then, the class was divided into two groups. They named themselves "The Persuaders" and "The Hybrid Writers". The groups had to use the strategies to convince me that their group should be the one to choose from the prize box. They utilized many techniques (and a little creative license) in order to get their point across. They used statements from experts or important people that support their side. They used logic, numbers, facts, or data, appealed to the audience's emotions, made themselves seem trustworthy and believable, and built a sense of urgency. As the team leaders presented the arguments, the rest of the class used a rubric to check off the strategies that were used. It was s tough call, but in the end, the "Persuaders" won me over!
Math- The 3B class worked on equivalent fractions today, while the 4B class learned about symmetrical patterns.
Grammar- In grammar class, the kids learned about comparative and superlative adverbs and adjectives. They knew these, but just didn't know what they were called! We talked about irregular comparative and superlative adverbs, such as well (well, better, best) and badly (badly, worse, worst). Then, they diagrammed different sentences that contained each.
Spanish- In Spanish class, Ms. Rose reviewed the material that the students have been working on from their workbooks. They worked on different pronunciation rules, such as "c" making the sound as in "city" dependent on the vowel that follows it. They are putting together many different concepts that they have been taught so far this year: Spanish phonics, feminine and masculine articles, and sentence structure.
Social Studies- Today, the class continued to learn about our expanding nation. They learned about the Spanish-American War and the Panama Canal. They took their knew knowledge and applied it as they deciphered political cartoons of the era. Art- In art today, the kids continued stitching away on their tropical bird projects. We turned on some music, grabbed some yarn, and spent the hour and a half stitching and chatting!
Test Prep- We caught a few really great issues today... most involving library skills. This is no surprise, as modern families tend to use the internet MUCH more than the library! One problem that most of the kids had was not knowing to look up a person's name by the last name. For instance, when looking up Abraham Lincoln in an encyclopedia, they would tend to look it up in the A's.
Another issue was with looking up books by their call numbers, and recognizing whether a book would be found on a certain shelf. For instance, would a book 122.15 be found on the shelf labeled 124-155?
One of the other major points that we addressed today was looking up words with the help of guide words. Again, with dictionary.com and other online sources, kids do not get the practice that they 'need' with this skill. We worked on it in class, but they will also have some online games posted on homework hideout for tomorrow!
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