Lesson 3 

Taking care of a pool is difficult.  You have to maintain and monitor a lot of different things, like PH, chlorine, temperature, salt, nitrates, and more.  All of these things have to be balanced in order to have a clean healthy pool to swim in.  In order to do this it is important to add chemicals on a schedule depending on the pool chemistry.  When I first started taking care of our pool, I would add chlorine or alkalinity, but I didn't write done when or how much.  This created a problem because later I would forget.  I could not remember when or how much of certain things I added, so I would guess as to when and how much to add later.  The result was the pool would have to much of one thing and not enough of another.  Of course the solution was simple, start keeping track.  So I made a log and wrote down everything I did to the pool.  This made it simple to remember later.  I was able to go back and refer to my notes, which made it helpful to take better care of the pool.

This is what I am asking you to do during reading workshop - keep track of your thinking, so you can go back to them later and use the information to achieve better results in synthesizing ideas and understanding.

Here is what I'm thinking and what I might write in my notes:

• I'm thinking she is a brave woman and strong on the inside and out because she is walking alone at night and is not intimidated by this thief.  

• I'm inferring that Maybe the boy is poor and really needs money.  He might be hungry.

Now you try it.  Read to the line "...Are you hungry?"  What could you add to your notes?  Share with someone what you are thinking.

Finally, finish reading Thank You, Ma'am and make your first entry.  You will need to make a least one entry every time we read.