Week of January 18th

We are going "Down Under"! We have been learning about Australia since we returned from winter break. The kids LOVE researching and we decided to do things a little bit differently this time. Last week, I presented the kids with this guiding question: How does WHERE we live affect HOW we live? I was blown away by the discussion that followed. The students recognized and discussed the following issues/topics: climate/weather, job, transportation, religion, language, housing, food, land, wildlife, and a few more. After this discussion, I told the students that they were going to get to pick anything about Australia that they would like to research and how they wanted to present their findings. I also gave them the opportunity to pick a partner or work alone. I had a blast listening to them get together and discuss their topics/interests. We spent much time last week researching their chosen topics. This project will be done in class, however, if the students show interest in researching at home and/or bringing supplies from, please allow them! I welcome any books and or printed information that your child would like to bring in to help with research. I am providing the poster boards, paints, clay, etc. The goal is for them to finish their research/projects this week or early next week. When the projects are finished, I will let you all know when and how you can come and view the work! Please take time to discuss with your child what they are researching and learning. I know many of the kids have already told you about it!

The Track
Today we had the opportunity to walk around the newly resurfaced track as a Lower Division. We had a lot of fun and love being a part of showing school spirit and pride!

Math Night
Please join us this Thursday night at 7:00 for Math Night. All of the Lower Division teachers will be here to present and explain our amazing math curriculum. You will also get the opportunity to see how what they are learning now helps to prepare them for next year. Bring your questions!

Scholastic Book orders are due this Friday! Don't forget to go on line and order some books :)!

The students did a really good job on their "mini nonfiction book reports". They will be doing more work like this throughout the year. One reminder many of the kiddos needed was that all sentences start with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. This is a reminder that you can continue to give to your child at home. Especially when you are checking over their homework! The students will bring home their "reports" this week for them to revise. They can use a pen to fix the capital letters and punctuation as well as any sentences that don't make sense to them.

Here's what is going on this week:

Language Arts:

• Spelling/phonics: digraphs /n/kn; /r/wr; /f/gh, ph
• Fluency: Intonation
• Comprehension: Setting and Reading Ahead
• Grammar: Adjectives

Vocabulary
We will be doing vocabulary a bit differently. The class will have four words to focus on related to an anchor text we will use throughout the week. This week the words are from the book "The World's Greatest Elephant." The test will be on Friday and will not be multiple choice. It will be fill-in-the-blank and open ended questions. This will give the students more of an opportunity to master the word and show a better understanding of the words. Tonight for homework, they are to find the definitions and provide another word or expression that represents the vocabulary word.

Monster Project
In Technology, we are working on a special "Monster" project. Mrs. Baralt has partnered us with a class in another state. In lab last week the kids drew a "monster" on the computer. This week they will be filling out a graphic organizer on the computer describing their monsters (focusing on the use of adjectives). Next week, the kids will write a descriptive paragraph about their monster. This paragraph will be sent to our partner class without the picture. The partner class will then try to draw our "monsters" using only our descriptions! We will do the same for them. After all of the pictures have been submitted, the kids will be able to view the monsters. They will then reflect on how they did and if they could have used better "descriptive" words to their partners. This is such a fun project, one of my favorites!

Science: We are continuing our study of matter as well as the rock cycle.
Math: Multiples of Equal Groups, Multiplication-Array Number Stories and Multiplication with Arrays
Writing: Planning and Conferencing about Revision

**Please note that LIBRARY checkout is every WEDNESDAY! Please help your child remember to return his or her books. There are quite a few kids who haven't returned books in a bit.

**I still haven't received Reading Logs from many of the children. Reading at home helps to reinforce all that we do here at school. It is an expectation that the students are to be reading 20 minutes daily and filling in their Reading Logs. Please sign your child's homework sheet as well. Once a student completes a Reading Log, they are to get a new one.