In math today, we finished working on a “Fact Families” worksheet in which Gracyn rolled two dice to acquire the numbers to use in generating the fact family addition and subtraction sentences. In several cases, we added a 10 to the number to increase the difficulty. We are working towards complete independence in Gracyn correctly writing all four sentences. She showed improvement today in writing the first two, but then needed some prompting to do the subtraction sentences. Additionally, we worked on Lesson 17-4, “Subtraction Facts” in her math book. The lesson started with an activity in which she had to match the subtraction fact to the related addition fact and find the difference. We worked through the “Guided Practice”, which required us to complete the addition fact to then solve the related subtraction fact. The goal in this activity was to use addition to help with subtraction. In the “Independent Practice”, Gracyn was tasked with completing 10 subtraction facts using numbers up to 18. We also worked through word problems in which we had to generate a subtraction sentence with a related addition fact to help solve. We practiced “counting up” quite a bit in our activities today. We concluded our math session by reading a portion of a math adventures book “Zookeeper for a Day” by Wendy Clemson and David Clemson. This book puts the reader in the role of Zookeeper and shows how we use math in practical situations each day. We also used a compass rose and read a map to locate targeted places the zookeeper needed to visit.
Gracyn started her day with Pinkalicious stories! She was a little sleepy, so what else would wake her up then the silly Pinkalicious! We actually read three! Then she completed her morning work. Gracyn took her spelling test. These were words from the -am and the -ack families and the bonus word was "pretty". She got every single word correct! I was so proud of her! In reading she read a challenging level E story on Raz Kids fluently and with beautiful expression. She is really giving me quality work today! I can tell she is back to her self! She made a surprise for mom and grandma. She took her time and made the most beautiful gifts for them. She hid the gifts until Sunday! She is very excited to share what she made!
Today, Gracyn had a cold and was sleepy, so we started off slowly with a lesson on "warming up". We used the "I Love Yoga" book and went through warm-ups from our head to our toes, including neck and shoulder rolls, arm circles, eye exercises, waist, hips, knees and ankles. We then looked at acroyoga You tube videos and we talked about combining dance, yoga and acrobatics. I introduced her to the dance troupe Pilobolus (we looked at videos). The troupe does an alphabet series, making their bodies into the shapes of letters. We looked at pictures of the human alphabet and Gracyn picked out the letters she wanted to see.
Gracyn completed a timed math drill in her workbook, “More Minute Math Drills – Addition & Subtraction”. She scored a 100% on her 19 problems of +1 in 1 minute, 25 seconds. She did a great job! Next, we worked on a “Fact Families” worksheet in which Gracyn rolled two dice to acquire the numbers to use in generating the fact family addition and subtraction sentences. In several cases, we added a 10 to the number to increase the difficulty. We are working towards complete independence in Gracyn correctly writing all four sentences. I believe she understands the concept, however at times she mixes the numbers, reads “minus” as “plus”, and needs prompting to remember the steps. When we increased to a 2-digit number, she needed additional help as well. We will continue working with this type of activity in order to increase independence in working with fact families. We worked on Lesson 17-3 from her textbook, “Using Addition to Subtract”. This tasked us with looking at a model with one part pulled out. We then had to find the missing number (other part) to determine its value. The strategy goal in this lesson was to then use more familiar addition facts to find that missing number. We worked through the Guided Practice and Independent Practice as well as the Problem Solving to practice this strategy. In closing, we finished reading the second half of a fun storybook entitled, "If I Were a Plus Sign" by Trisha Speed Shaskan. The book utilized characters in a story format to explain a bit more about addition. Today we read about how a plus sign can add any amount of numbers (and in any order), adding small numbers or big numbers, and finally, that it if we were a plus sign, we could help solve story problems.
Gracyn completed her morning work. Today is Cinco De Mayo! We watched a clip on the history of Cinco De Mayo and the many traditions that are celebrated on this day. In Science she and I completed a bug graph. We colored the different bugs in a picture and then graphed them. She read a story in Raz Kids about a Rodeo. She still wasn't feeling well so after she read I gave her a break and we watched a few videos together.
Today, we cut and pasted classroom pictures on a worksheet. Each picture had to be pasted next to the correct classroom word. Then, we took a reading break. We read a bilingual book called Adios Oscar about a caterpillar who thought he would turn into a butterfly, but instead, turns into a moth! Last, we worked on a worksheet where she draws the classroom object based on the word written next to the drawing box.
