Hello Everyone! Happy Back to the Future Day!

I hope everyone is having a great week. We have a wonderful day in the classroom today and we accomplished a ton. Students are off and running in their reading groups during Daily 5. They are also working very hard on two pieces of writing right now. I resisted the urge to make our opinion writing piece about Michigan State or Michigan despite our fun and active morning discussions on the topic! They are writing on a different topic. They are also finishing up writing their historical narratives that I think are going to be very interesting. They have rubrics for each writing piece and will be self assessing their writing with me. I’m excited at how they are progressing. In math we students are working very hard on decimal place value. If you get a chance, ask them questions to help their thinking. Ask them to read decimals using the correct place value terminology. They are doing great on this even with it being a tough topic to work on.

I have started assembling a resource page for each unit on this blog for math. I am working on adding resources and games that can be played at home or during any times that students finish their work early. The link is posted on the right hand column of this page. Check out the Math Resources. Our next unit is geometry and there are some really fun games on the site that you can play with your child. If you find this helpful, or useful for extra practice at home, please let me know.

I am hoping once this unit is finished to have some parent volunteers to come in during Math Workshop and assist with some of the different stations the students rotate through. I explain each task before the rotation so even if you aren’t extremely comfortable with math, you will be helpful at answering questions at the station, while I am working with a small strategy group. There will be more on that coming soon, but I wanted to mention it because you need to have your background check completed with the office to volunteer in the room. If you are interested in this opportunity or others to come in and assist in the room, please complete the forms with the office so you are ready to go. I look forward to working with you soon!

Mr. Hawkins