Better

Sorry for the lack of posts. My entire family got sick, at different times, over the past week. It's been torturous. But, we're on the mend and getting back into the swing of things.

First of all, if you were at all apart of that generous and thoughtful RAK that came my way in the form of a Starbucks giftcard, I am truly grateful and touched. Thank you. My husband says I should pass on the RAK by passing the card on to him. No such luck Bucko.

Yesterday, I introduced an exciting project that all three junior grades will be completing: Biography of a Grandparent. A pink form was sent home and needs to be reviewed by a family member before being returned this week. Please look out for it. You can find a copy of it here and here.
We looked at some examples of completed projects that Andrew had done at his old school. The projects were bound so professionally and the students did an amazing job at them. It really motivated us to do our best. I am excited because I will be doing this project along side the students.
Our expectation is that by the end of the week. we will have outlined chapter expectations with guiding interview questions to go along with each chapter. Students will then be given the March Break and another additional week after that to complete the interview process. The students and I discussed that it would probably be best if someone else (like you) scribed for them while they conducted their interviews. Voice recorders, interviews via email, and video cameras would also be good options. The thought was that if they had to write as the interviewee spoke, it may be difficult to enjoy the experience.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about this project.
In math, we continue to look at decimals. Here is a game that we are playing right now. I am finding that the kids are finding success at adding and comparing, but some students are having trouble with subtraction, especially when the two numbers they generate come from different place values. We will review this in class tomorrow by using the base ten blocks to visualize. There is no math homework this week. To review, or if you are away from school, it would be helpful to play this game at home. You can look online for a virtual spinner like this one. While I'm at it, here are some virtual base ten blocks to help you with decimals at home. Please note that the large cube represents one whole, the flat square represents one tenth, the stick represents one hundredth, and the small cube represents one thousandth.
In Literacy, we are wrapping up our look at inferring. Today, students will be shown another story and asked to infer the author's message on their own. As we did this question (based on a different story) at the beginning of the unit, this will be their chance to independently show us what they have learned.
There has been a lot of talk of Room 310 being our place of business. Students have been reminded to come prepared to work and represent themselves in a respectful manner toward their co-workers and their boss.
Thank you!