But don't tell anyone. It's our secret.
And I also really like keeping this blog updated. But again, that's just our little secret.
For me, it's really great to sit down a few times a week and reflect on what we've been doing in class. It gives me a chance to collect my ideas and consider where we are headed next, and it gives you a chance to peek into your child's school day...because I KNOW that when they get home and you ask them what they did they reply with a big fat "nothing" and move on.
But you know - and I know! - that we did WAY more than nothing!!!
We are gearing up for a big social studies test next week - and I mean BIG. We've covered a LOT of content in this first chapter, and I tried to whittle it down to the MOST important goodies...the problem is that I simply love history and so EVERYTHING is important! The long and short of it is that I'll send home a study guide tomorrow, but please know that this test is BIG because it's far more than the basic "recall and repeat" style test. Sure, there is still some multiple choice involved, but most of the questions require some element of explanation - WHY did that answer fit best? HOW do these two places compare? The new state social studies standards are focused on comparing, contrasting, and connecting, so expect to see those types of questions on the test....and on all future tests! The kids have all the information they need in their social studies notebooks - as long as they took notes during class on the foldable note sheets we've been using!
We're working our way through theme and different themes in texts, and tomorrow will be a hearty review of some of the major elements we've looked at this year: Plot, setting, characterization, and theme. I'm excited to work on some more writing with the kids tomorrow, too. Today was a blast because we got to share aloud some of our Minotaur retells - it was fun to see what the kids had written and how they had applied the lessons about tone, word choice, and compound sentences to their writing!!
Stay tuned for more excitement, but for now, know that homework today looks like this:
Homework:
Vocab WS
Math WS - the math worksheet may have some tough problems on it. I've been told by the students that Ms. Kennell wants them to TRY the problems on their own before asking for help...and that they're only being graded on the problems that they've learned the skills for. So let them struggle a bit - it'll be okay! (I know...easier said than done, right?!!)
Happy Wednesday!