How Many Days In a Week?!

I just got finished grading our Title I math tests and disaggregating the data on a spreadsheet that for some reason required me to put an X for every question answered CORRECTLY. Let me tell you, that was a LOT of X's! Our class average was 85%, so I would really have preferred to only have to mark incorrect questions instead!

I then had to look at how many students missed each question and I was absolutely flabbergasted that 11 out of 21 students answered "How many days are in a week?" INCORRECTLY! According to some it was 2, or 4, or 5 days in a week, although someone did mark down 25 for some inconceivable reason! One darling even whispered to me during the test "Mrs. Knopf, do Saturday and Sunday count?" to which I replied, "Are they days??" I guess they were reading too deeply into the question and those that answered 5 at least were thinking of how many days in a typical school week.


Aside from that question, there was only one other that a majority of the class answered incorrectly and that is a little subtraction nugget that we have been struggling with for a while. "How many more of X than Y are there?" is generally how it goes and then my kids do everything from just writing down X to adding X and Y together and only the rare few comprehend that this is a subtraction problem despite repeated attempts to teach this format. I think tomorrow I am going to get out some unifix cubes and just work on this one type of subtraction problem! If anyone has any great ideas for getting my kiddos to understand this I'd really appreciate it!


We also went on a field trip today to see Oklahoma author Tammi Sauer present some of her books and the writing process. She was so much fun to watch - very animated and personable! She taught us some new dances and songs, talked about brainstorming, publishing and plot. I wish I could have taped her to share with you - if you ever get a chance to have her come to your school I highly recommend it!

I had actually never really paid much attention to her books, but after hearing her read them aloud and seeing the great illustrations I can now recommend them wholeheartedly! Here are the ones that I am adding to my classroom library:

This one was funny and sweet while still being terribly appealing to my boys! I am going to expand my dino unit to include prehistoric man now too! Cave Boy wants a pet, but various family members object to each one he chooses. The ending is uniquely satisfying!

In this one, poor Avery is allergic to horses, can't figure out how to use his lasso and can't eat the cowboy grub. But, he still manages to be the hero when a bully shows up and tries to shut down Cowboy Camp! It's a classic tale of brains over brawn.

Bernadette seems mostly monsterly, but she has an unexpected soft side that makes her unpopular at Monster Academy. She stays true to herself however and eventually makes friends who don't mind that she likes to pet kittens or pick flowers!

This one is probably my favorite! chickens Marge and Lola want to win tickets to the Elvis Poultry show, but their competition sneers at them that all chickens can do is "bawk, flap, and shake". They end up showing the mean ducks that they've got what it takes to rock'n'roll the barnyard! A funny story that nevertheless speaks about being self-confident and not letting others get you down. I love that all of Tammi's books have a subtle message that you can expand upon in class!

And, coming out next month is the sequel called "Bawk & Roll"

Marge and Lola, now part of Elvis Poultry's act, have to get creative to overcome their stage fright! Luckily they have some good  friends who can help them out!

In other news, a leprechaun has definitely been seen at our school. so far he has stolen every green crayon in kindergarten, left green glitter in odd places in my classroom and left behind a tiny shoe! Hopefully we get lucky with our leprechaun traps on Friday, I'll keep you posted!