Guided Reading

The last couple of  weeks, we focused on Making Predictions at the guided reading table.  With lots of practice and feedback students are now ready to make predictions on their own (summative evaluation stage).  While working on predictions in their rotations, we are focusing on summarizing narratives at the Guided Reading table.  Students have done a wonderful job in guided groups and are ready to tackle summarizing on their own.  They have been summarizing in their reading response journals, but next week they will summarize at the Reading Strategies center during rotations.

We noticed that level 3 and level 4 summaries in the CASI exemplars included an inference, so we added an overall inference about the author's message, or the narratives theme to strengthen or summaries.  We read the "Listen to the Wind", an non-fiction narrative based on the novel "Three Cups of Tea".

Each group thought we should include the WHERE AND WHEN in our summary so we had all the 5 Ws (What, Where, When, Who, Why).  They felt it was important enough to add.


Here are the results from the three first groups...two more groups will visit the Guided Reading table next week.

We tried to stick to the main ideas only and keep our summary short and concise.

Predictions from Prediction Center:

Here are some of the Reading Response Journals.  Students have been writing me letters about what they are currently reading.

ART! NORVAL MORRISSEAU

Inspired by Canadian artist, Norval Morrisseau, students focus on producing their woodland animals either from air, land, or water.  We may have some finished chef d'oeuvres to show you by tomorrow afternoon.

Here are the results of an earlier project.  Some students took on an extra project while waiting for their classmates to finish their watercolour birch trees.  They made Sugar Skulls in tradition of the skulls of  Dia de los Muertos.

ALGEBRA

As usual, we began our unit by stating what we know about Algebra.  We compared and defined the terms EXPRESSION, EQUATIONS, VARIABLE.  Then we jumped into our first problem.  Despite the challenge, all groups were very successful in resolving this problem!

Some groups found it easier to assign a value to the variables so they could work with numbers rather than symbols.  They used logical reasoning and guess and check to assign a value that was true in the given equations.  Then they used substitution to check the reasonableness of their solutions.

Consolidation:

1) The right side and the left side of an equation must "balance" (are equivalent in value).
2) It is easier to solve the problem if a value is assigned to the variables.
3)  A variable can be represented by different values.

What a wonderful group of Mathematicians I have!  They don't give up!  They tackle every problem with zeal!

Many students were excited to solve the following.  Some worked backwards.  Some used equations.  Some used guess and check.

The following problem was quite challenging! Many students could decipher the value of the 5th number, and some could find the third, but only Rhys, Ben C., and Hailey have solved this problem so far.  (Possibly, Izzy did too!).