I am so proud of the progress that the children are continuing to make. I have seen much improvement on spelling scores and seeing the kids working hard to apply their word knowledge and word building skills to their writing. As we continue to work on Small Moment stories, we are focusing on how to plan and write a true small moment story. Here are the components that we have been working on with our small moment stories:
- writer's think of something that has happened to them
- they picture it in their minds
- they sketch it on the paper
- they write words
The kids did great on their first math assessment. This is a great tool to see what the kids are really confident with and what they can use some more work on. The great thing about our curriculum is that it spirals throughout the year and each topic continues to be addressed. As I mentioned last week, please start working with your child on their basic addition facts. Being able to recall these facts quickly, will enable them to tackle the more challenging problems as we move on through the following units. In math this week we will be learning about doubles facts (2+2=4, 4+4=8, etc.), Turn-around Facts, +9 shortcut, addition strategies that use doubles, and subtraction from addition. Please take time to check over your child's Home Links. These are a direct review of the lesson taught each day. The only homework that needs to stay in your child's binder in the math homework after it is corrected. The rest can stay at home!
Last week in Reader's Workshop we worked on characters. We learned how to use what the author wrote to help us learn more about the characters. The kids did some activities where they chose a character from a book they have been reading and worked on determining characteristic, personality traits, descriptions, etc. They did a really great job! This is an activity you can do at home while reading with your child. Ask them questions about the character(s). We have also been talking about sentence structure and commands vs questions. Please make sure that when your child is writing sentences to make sure that they use a punctuation mark at the end as well as a capital letter at the beginning.
In science last week we discussed the changes: freezing and melting. The students observed and recorded the properties of ice. They designed and implemented a method for melting an ice cube, and they set up an investigation of evaporation. We called the activity The Melting Race. The students each had a partner and they had to find a way to get the ice cube that was in a baggie to melt quickly. They were hysterical. They tried everything from blowing on the bag to putting the bag down their shirts (with sound effects of course). Once the were able to get the ice cube to melt, they recorded how long it took. The water from the ice cube was then placed into a petri dish and left out for observation of evaporation. Oh, what fun we have in science!
Tomorrow we are celebrating International Peace Day. We will start the day with a special Town Hall Meeting to celebrate peace. Each child in the lower division has made a peace dove, it will be very symbolic. At the top of this blog is a Voicethread that the kids and I have put together. The kids drew a picture that represented peace to them and wrote about it. It is very sweet. I hope you take time to view it.
Please remember that next week on Thursday, September 30th is Conference Day. The kids will have no school this day. I look forward to bragging about your child! Here is the schedule (marked with your child's name):
- 7:30 - Jett
- 7:50 - Nicolas
- 8:10 - Noah
- 8:30 - Zachary
- 8:50 - Meadow
- 9:10 - Kirsten
- 9:30 - Sole
- 9:50 - Makenna
- 10:10 - Hannah
- 10:30 - Rachael
- 10:50 - Dorothy
- 11:10 - Jonah
- 12:30 - Maggie
- 12:50 - Hailey
- 1:10 - Luke
- 1:30 - Kelly
- 1:50 - Connor
Current Events this week: Monday - Meadow and Noah, Tuesday - Jonah and Hailey, Wednesday - Kirsten and Makenna, Thursday - Sole and Maggie
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