Gracyn focused today on knowing when and how to use doubles to add. She worked on problems by breaking apart the larger number into a 1 and the number, solving the doubles fact, and then adding the 1. For the first problems, we used counters as models and then tried to use mental math to solve the remaining problems. Gracyn also worked on a true or false subtraction page. She had to cut out subtraction equations such as 15-10 = 8-4 and then determine if it was true or false. Then, she pasted the equation into the correct column.

Today Gracyn made Halloween Sprinkle Sugar Cookies. She put the ingredients in the Kitchen Aid mixer and mixed them until the mix was light and fluffy. Gracyn then made the cookies into balls and rolled them in orange and black colored sprinkles. The cookies turned out super soft, tender, ultra chewy and have a delicious vanilla taste.

This morning, we began with Chapter 3 of our Magic Tree House novel "Dinosaurs Before Dark". In this chapter, Jack and Annie discover the mysterious tree house has landed in the Cretaceous Period, over 65 million years ago. We then discussed the chapter and answered three comprehension questions as follow-up. We worked on writing these in complete sentences and sounding out words for spelling. Gracyn was given the option to play a word game at the end of our session, and she again, chose ZAP! She has improved in consistency with this word set, however still has just a few of the words that cause her a little trouble (where, here, three). We also stepped up the challenge in this game by using our chosen word in a sentence.

Gracyn and I practiced her word wall words with a game called,"Bang". Pick a word from a box. Read the word and use it in a sentence. If you pick "Bang", all your words go back in the box. Read-aloud: I read chapter 5 of Junie B. Jones. Gracyn explained the main idea of this chapter. She wrote a short story using the computer. ("Reading Eggs")

Graycn did a lesson on matter today. We went over the definition of matter and the three phases of matter. She did an activity where she was given pictures of items and had to paste them under the correct category of solid, liquid, or gas. She did a hands on experiment where she got to make slime and see how matter can change from a liquid to a solid.

Today, Gracyn practiced counting back to find the difference. This strategy can be used to help learn subtraction facts. She completed many subtraction sentences using mental math, the number line, and her fingers to count back. Gracyn also played a few math games on the iPad to practice her addition and subtraction fluency.

We warmed up with "The Knuckle Song" and then moved on to two pieces in the Bastien Piano Method primer. We reinforced the steady counting of half notes, and proper technique with fingers curved and wrists elevated. We then learned a few more notes of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on the black keys and transposed them onto the white keys, reinforcing C-D-E. Today we also played a black-key improvisational duet.

Gracyn reviewed word wall words by alphabetizing them. A new word was added:"open". She read words using "-ink" and "-ank". I read the poem "Halloween Time" for shared reading. Gracyn read 5 of the lines with me. She independently read "Sam Wants to Play". She used a graphic organizer to gather ideas for a story she will write about Halloween.

This morning, Gracyn took the unit 4 length measurement test. This test covered many concepts including understanding how to use a ruler to measure length to the nearest inch, how to order three objects by length, understanding the importance of the zero point and end point, recognizing that the units marked on a ruler have equal length intervals, and that the ruler is a tool used to measure the attribute of length. Gracyn did a great job. She only missed two questions. We reviewed the missed questions and will work a little bit more on the concept. We began the next lesson, counting on. Gracyn completed addition problems by circling the greater addend and then counted on to find the sum.

Gracyn and I spent this class period conducting an election for "Boss of the Barnyard" in conjunction with the book we read, "Duck for President" and a lesson from The Mailbox. She printed ballots and asked each teacher and student to vote. She counted the ballots, posted the results in the form of a chart, and presented all voters with "I voted today" buttons. She did a great job and was very interested in this lesson. She understands how an election works, the importance of citizenship, the right to vote, and what is happening in our election now. She articuated a great justification for her own vote!