This week in reading workshop we talked about characters.  We talked about how identify the main character and the supporting characters, how you can learn about what the character might be like based on how he/she looks.  We talked about making inferences- noticing what characters are doing and saying can also help you decide what a character is like.  We discussed how you can learn more about the main character in a book by the way other characters act around that main character- how do they talk to each other, what are they doing..
In writing workshop we talked about revising.  Writers don't wait around for someone else to tell them how to make their writing better (in this case more persuasive), they reread what they have written and think, "How can I make this even better?"  Then they add and change their piece so it is even better. We discussed that writers don't say, "How do you spell?"  Writers spell tricky words the best they can so that readers can read them.  Writers say the word as slowly as they can, stretching the word out like a rubber band and listening to every sound that they hear, then write them down.  Writers also use all the ways they know to write words.  We read The Lorax and discussed the fact that it is a fiction story, but it has a real message.  It talks about a problem and what needs to be done.  We added this type of writing to our list of possible persuasive styles/pieces to choose from.
In math we worked on sorting things by more than one possible attribute.  We have been practicing addition and working on automaticity of adding and subtracting numbers through 5.  We worked on story problems than involved 'how many more...' and adding on.  We also practiced filling in missing numbers through 20.