Morning Announcements 2/17/11

Good Morning Emerson Eagles! Dream, Believe, Achieve!

Today is Thursday, February 17, 2011

Skill Blitz:
This week the Reading Comprehension Skill Focus is Main Idea.  (It may be helpful for students to see this passage on my blog as I read the announcements.) You can use this strategy to help you improve your understanding of text from any subject. Let's read a passage from the third grade California Math Project and as we read, think about the overall. purpose of the passage.

"During the California Gold Rush, some people charged miners for supplies and services: A pound of sugar cost $2; a pound of coffee cost $4. Women charged $25 for a meal and earned $50 a week washing shirts. (This may not sound like a lot, but in those days most grocery items, when available, could be purchased for pennies a pound.) Successful miners could pay the prices, but other miners could not; they went home penniless. Many stayed, however, and by 1856, San Francisco had more than 50,000 citizens and was the largest city in the West."

The QUESTION that accompanies this passage asks: How much it would cost a miner to buy 6 pounds of sugar? How much it would cost miners to buy 8 pounds of coffee?

If you are trying to understand the MAIN IDEA of this passage, you will want to separate the main idea from the details.  The accompanying questions do not ask about the main idea, but they ask you to make a calculation using important facts.  Talk with a partner right now, asking them to identify the main idea of this passage. 

You'll find lots of interesting details about the California gold rush- the cost of groceries, how some minors went broke, the growth of cities like San Francisco, but you won't find the main idea exactly stated in the passage.  But if you think about the details and search the passage, you will probably find that the main idea could be stated "The cost of supplies during the gold rush impacted minors' lives." 

Finding the main idea of a math passage will help you to understand the story, not just find the details. 

Lunch and Attendance:
For lunch, you have two choices, the Farm Fresh Salad Bar, or the hot lunch. Today the hot lunch is:

Meat & Cheese Soft Taco, Salsa Golden Corn

If you would like to have a hot lunch, please raise your hand.
Teachers, please take a count and make a note on your online attendance form.

Academic and Behaviour  Expectations:
Every week students should be taking and passing an AR quiz. 
Students must MASTER the math facts for their grade level.
Homework and independent reading are required Monday-Thursday.

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance!

High Expectations:
There's no choice, achieving your personal best is required every day at Emerson!