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Week 5 Continued (Thursday October 16)

Today I conferred with two students on their writing and edited their
stories. I noticed the students were writing a lot of run on sentences. Instead of
just correcting their writing, I had them reread it and then focus on the run on
sentence. They normally would realize first that visually how big the sentence
looked and we would read it together for natural pauses. I would ask the
student what punctuation they thought was appropriate, and I would read the
sentences with inflection so the students could hear the differences.
Week 6 (Wednesday Oct. 22 and Thursday Oct. 23)
Today was Culture day, and our class went to the gym to look around
and explore the different cultures represented in our school. Parents had
created displays with artifacts for students to look at and learn about. Due to
that math was shortened.
During core extension, everyone finished their poster on Asian countries,
and I worked with students on how to use the index in the textbooks to find the
topics they were struggling to fill in information for on their posters. After we hung
up the posters, we went around the school hallways to fill out our "passports",
unfortunately we only got about halfway through due to the rowdiness level of
the students. During writing, students shared their finished writing pieces. They
had the opportunity to stand or sit in the authors chair and we used a new iPad
app I had found. The app is a virtual can with popsicle sticks with each students
name, when the can is clicked it shakes and a student is picked at random and
the stick is discarded. This was used to pick who would read. Some students
were still working on their final copy, so they shared what they had so far.
Week 7 (Wednesday Oct. 29 and Thursday Oct. 30)
This week I taught a lesson in science which integrated science and
language arts using multimedia. The students watched a short clip on the water
cycle and run off and in their base groups they discussed the questions I had on
the worksheet for them. The students were supposed to watch the same clip
twice, but we accidentally started playing the wrong clip. I felt like the students
really would have benefitted more if the lesson had gone as planned, however
we just didnt have the time. On the worksheet, the students were to label the
water cycle and explain what run off is based on what was said in the video.
After the worksheet was completed, there was a critical thinking question which
was what would happen if there is too much rain? The students discussed this
in their base groups and I had a few students share their thoughts. The students
took that into account while they did their experiment on their landforms

modelling rain on land. I thought the integration of language arts and science
worked really well, and it was a good introduction to the experiment.
During language arts, I gave tests to two of my word study groups, the first
group was adding ed (double, e- drop, nothing)and the second group was
long o vowel (CVVC -oa-, CVC short o-, CVCe long o-, oddball). I had
selected twelve words from their word studies, and the test was given orally. I
would say the word and the students were to write the word under the correct
heading as well as spelling it correctly. Then at the bottom was a few questions
depending on the type of word study. During my second group, (long o) I had
an incident of cheating. I had made it clear multiple times of our honesty
policy and to keep our eyes on our own papers, however that made no
difference. The girl who was looking on the paper of her neighbor copied
everything, including mistakes (such as stone spelled as stoan not only was it
misspelled, it was also under the wrong column). When everyone was done the
test, I took the girl aside and asked her to retake the test. This time she actually
used strategies to help her, when I would say the word, she would turn her paper
over, spell the word and then know which column to put it in. She answered all
twelve words correctly.
Week 8 (Wednesday November 5 and Thursday Nov. 6)
Today the students had a science test, and this was the first formal test I
have seen been given. There was a lot of questions and every section of the test
was reviewed and explained. The whole process took ten minutes, and then
there were still students coming up about questions on format and how to write
the answer, etc. After the test, we rearranged the desks. My teacher wanted to
have base groups since we were in science now, however the desks just didnt
have enough space in between them for students to easily transition. So we
collaborated and decided to move the carpet to the center of the room
instead of the front, and we had the desks in groups of four surrounding the
carpet. This allowed for a lot more space in the room while remaining in base
groups. The students cooperatively helped move their desks and the task was
completed pretty efficiently.
In language arts, my word study groups received new sorts. The two
groups were now past and present and then u vowel sound (CVVC-oo-, CVC,
CVCe, CVVC ui-). When presenting the past and present words, the students
already knew their words and I let them discuss and sort amongst themselves
while just facilitating. However for my U vowel sound group, we discussed each
header and the words that fell under them. We read the words aloud and we
spoke about the sounds they made, which words were similar and why the

oddball words were oddballs. While introducing the words I made sure the
students were correctly copying down the words in the correct column so that
they could accurately study the new words.
Week 9 (Wednesday Nov. 12 and Thursday Nov. 13)
During language arts I created and implemented two tests on new word
sorts for my within word groups. I had the same format as previous tests, with the
three columns (oddball is not included) and four words for each column and
the second part of the test the students had to give one new example of each
CVC, CVCe and CVVC, and the other test they had to explain why a certain
word was considered oddball. The class did Flashlight Friday since the
students would be having the Turkey Trot which would take place during the
normal time of Flashlight Friday. We shut off all the lights, closed the blinds and
each student received his and her own mini flashlight. Some students even
made makeshift forts with their desks and jackets. Everyone was reading silently
for about a half hour. The students that were coming in late knew exactly what
to do and were excited to read in this way. While the students read, my co-op
and I created a rubric for a creating a character project. We collaboratively
decided from the original handout with directions on it, what was important and
needed to be re-worded so that it could be accurately assessed (such as the
number of complete sentences for each item). I also had the opportunity to
show my teacher how to turn a list into a table to create her rubrics from her
directions.
Week 10 (Wednesday Nov. 19 and Thursday Nov. 20)
The language arts schedule of tasks had been switched a bit and the
students spent more time during core extension and instead of students reading
their own books during reading workshop, the students were doing a guided
reading with my teacher. They started the book Because of Winn Dixie by Kate
DiCamillo. The students have already been introduced to this author through the
book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, which my teacher and I read to
them during interactive read aloud. I wasnt aware of the change, but I believe
it is because the students have been having a hard time with metacognitive
thinking and making connections to the stories and using their post it notes when
they have a thought. Each student had their own copy of Winn Dixie and
followed along as my teacher read aloud. At times she would purposely stop
reading, for students to fill in her blanks, that way everyone was attentive.
During this time I graded all of the characters that the students made.
After the rubric was created last week, the students had the opportunity to fix or
add anything needed to their characters. All the students had their own copy of

the rubric, and they had to hand in their rubric with their name on it to signify
that they double checked their work. It was really interesting to see how many
students just didnt have complete sentences, the correct number of sentences,
didnt underline the title of the story or misspelled main characters names that
were written on the board. The class has had a hard time following directions
lately, and it has become evident in their work. For the most part the projects
looked really great and it was clear that the students comprehended the book.
Week 11 (Wednesday Dec. 3 and Thursday Dec. 4)
During math I made spin wheels for the math facts and during science we
continued the experiment of creating our own landscape, making executive
decisions on where certain items should be placed and thinking about why? I
always enjoyed the science experiments and walking around to each table and
listening to their conversations because the students are really grasping these
concepts and they are so excited about it.
During language arts we had the same set up as last week and we
skipped writing again and just read Because of Winn Dixie for about an hour
because the students took a vote to finish the story. During the guided reading
we discussed how there are adult problems and then there are kid problems
and how this is a common theme in Kate DiCamillos books. The students also
made various connections to her other book, The Miraculous Journey of Edward
Tulane, and through the connections some students even made predictions on
how they thought the book would end. Lastly, we also discussed how the
Preacher was acting out of character because he was crying in the story and
that we know this is a big turning point for us. The students recorded on their post
it notes how and why he acted out of character and what this could mean.
Week 12 (Monday Dec 8)
Today was my last day and it was during math and social studies. In the
morning I gave the class my thank you gift to them, another book written by
Kate DiCamillo, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, which had won
the Newbery Medal for 2014. I thought it was a great addition to their classroom
library since they were really beginning to make connections to the author and
her style and this book would not be an exception. I made some more spin
wheels for the new math facts that the students were learning and helped them
fill out their multiplication chart. The students had finished up with science last
week, and we were back in social studies. Today was just a review of
Christopher Columbus and we read together a part of the textbook and filled
out a review worksheet. Afterwards the students were given a story about
Christopher Columbus and his travels and on the reverse side was a cloze

activity related to the story. Despite the fact that all proper nouns were correctly
spelled on the reverse sides, even the brightest students were misspelling and
not capitalizing. They were just intent on finishing first and even after I pointed
out that they needed to double check their work, they blew it off.

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