Weekly News December 21-23, 2015

Report Cards: Please sign and return the envelope. This tells me that you have received your child’s report card. If you have any questions about your child’s progress please let me know. I would be happy to meet with you.

Homework: We will not have homework this week.

Language Arts: On Tuesday we will celebrate reading by wearing our PJs or comfy clothes and cozy-up with a good book. You are encouraged to send your child’s favorite books to read. Please make sure your child’s name is on the books. We will be working on fluency this week as students prepare to share with the class their group’s reading story in a fun way.

Mathematics: We will be learning about multiplying by 2s and 5s. We will practice finding facts using skip counting and dot paper/arrays. I bought the class  a few new indoor recess games. We will talk about how to play he games. Then we will will enjoy some game time.

Social Studies: We will continue to work on typing our addresses out and getting our Flat Stanley letters ready to be mailed. We will learn about landforms.

Ways you can help at home: Practice reading stories aloud with each other. Encourage your child to sound like they are talking. Can they get their voice to make what the character would sound like?  Play games and have fun enjoying family traditions of this time of year. Gather story ideas for personal narrative writing.

Reminders:

• On Wednesday, December 23rd at 2:00 we will have our winter celebration. Please send in a special snack for your child to enjoy.

Video of the Week

We will be watching a BrainPop Jr. video on Landforms. It requires a subscription so I will not be able to share it.

Weekly News December 14-18, 2015

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Please make sure you sign your child’s reading log.

Language Arts: We will continue to practice making predictions as we read Little Nino’s Pizzeria. We will work on finding what the author’s message is in the story. Students will identify pairs of homonyms and we will discuss idioms used in the book. In our word work we will study the word families ink, ank, unk and onk. In our vocabulary notebook we will add the word symbol. We will continue to work on writing our personal narratives. 

Mathematics:  We will finish up chapter 5 and begin chapter 6. In this chapter we will learn how to multiply by 2, 5 and 10. We will be using skip counting to count by 2s, 5s and 10s. Students will learn to use known multiplication facts to learn new facts. We will identify even and odd numbers. Students will complete number patterns using multiplication.

Social Studies: We will be typing our addresses out and getting our Flat Stanley letters ready to be mailed.

Ways you can help at home: Look for ank, ink, unk and onk words as you read with your child. Make predictions before reading, revise or confirm your predictions as you read, look for text evidence that supports your predictions. Practice telling a story as it might sound if you were writing it as a personal narrative. Continue to practice math facts.

Reminders:

• On Wednesday, December 23 at 2:00 we will have our winter celebration. Please send in a special snack for your child to enjoy.

Video of the Week

The Big Number Song

http://viewpure.com/e0dJWfQHF8Y

Video of the Week

Weekly News November 30-December 4, 2015

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Please make sure you sign your child’s reading log.

Language Arts: We will be working on making predictions based on what is known from reading the opening pages of a story. In our word work we will listen for the final blend in a word. In writing we will be working on improving our sentences by stretching them out with descriptive adjectives and vivid verbs.

Mathematics: Chapter 4 math test will be coming home today. Please sign and return the test for Tuesday. Let me know if you have any questions. Number 11 and 12 are two-step questions. While we did practice equations like this our practice was more supported. So these questions are considered novel and present more of a challenge. This week we will be working on understanding basic multiplication and division using repeated addition and subtraction.

Social Studies: We will be reading Mapping Penny’s World and learning about maps. Some key vocabulary include: map scale, map key (legend), compass rose and symbols. We will also be reading Flat Stanley. This will kick off a mapping adventure.

Ways you can help at home:  Quiz your child on math facts. They should know the equations within 3 seconds. Find maps, look through and identify key map features such as the compass rose, symbols etc. Read a book together and make a prediction. Adjust your prediction as you continue to read. Look for words that end with a final blend like ng, or st.

Video of the Week

Onomatopoeia

Weekly News November 23-24, 2015

We will not have official homework this week. Continue to enjoy reading together, practice math facts or play some fun games with your child. Over the break you can help your child by sharing family stories together. If you are visiting with family have relatives tell about events from their life. It is a great opportunity for your child to practice his or her listening skills as well.

We will be working on our Social Studies economic needs of a community. We will be focusing on goods and services; producers and consumers; and needs and wants. The students will be sharing information they have read in their guided reading groups on the topic.

The students will be doing their Trimester 1 writing assessment.

We will be doing a real world math problem solving activity. If you have any grocery store flyers please send them in with your child on Tuesday to help with this activity.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Break!

Video of the week

Last week several weeks we watched videos that require subscription.
This week we will enjoy a silly song.

http://viewpure.com/sAIbwodgoU8

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!

Weekly News November 16-20, 2015

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Please make sure you sign your child’s reading log.

Language Arts: We will continue to work on personal narratives. Last week we learned about entertaining beginnings. The boys and girls practiced writing the following types of beginnings: sound effect, action, thought or question and dialogue. We will continue to focus on this and add a setting to our stories. At home continue to practice telling stories aloud and try to see what type of beginnings you see in the stories you are reading.   

Mathematics: We are continuing our work in chapter 4. You can help at home by giving your child addition and subtraction word problems. This week we will work on two step word problems. Practicing these type of problems is also encouraged. Our math fact practice at school has begun. Students will be quizzed on a set of facts. They must know the problem within three seconds without using their fingers or tapping. If they miss a problem or don’t know it within three seconds they will get a sheet of facts to practice at home. Once they get the set correct in two consecutive quizzes they move on to a new set of facts.

Science: Thank you to all those who were able to attend our nocturnal animal fair. The children enjoyed sharing their projects with you.

Social Studies: We will begin our study of the economic needs of a community. In our guided reading lessons we will be reading stories that tie into this topic. We will learn about goods and services, producers and consumers. Students will identify examples of these in our community.

Weekly News November 9-13, 2015

Nocturnal Animal Fair: We will have our nocturnal animal fair on Thursday, November 12th at 9:30. I hope you will be able to attend.

Homework: Wednesday homework is optional due to Veterans Day. The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Please make sure you sign your child’s reading log.

Language Arts: We will begin personal narrative writing. For our personal narratives we will be focusing on one moment in time and stretching it out. This is also know as a “Small Moment Story.” To help with this at home practice telling stories about a moment in time aloud. For example, if you just went to shop for new shoes with your child talk about the moment he or she knew which pair was the one he or she wanted. Stretch it out and add all the details from the setting and thoughts or feelings that were happening. Say the words you would put in your story. My story would sound like this... Model it yourself. Another way you can help is by gathering up small moment story ideas. As you read together look for parts in stories that are sharing a small moment. Notice how authors begin their stories.

Mathematics: We will be doing word problems that are joining sets and taking away sets. Later in the week we will begin problems that involve comparing to find how much more or how much fewer. The students will learn how to make bar models to show these types of problems. For many students they can figure out how to solve for the answer but are working on learning how to show it with a bar model. Knowing how to do bar models will help students as they progress to more challenging word problems. Students will need to know whether they problem requires adding or subtraction. Practicing at home with your child is encouraged!

Weekly News November 2-6, 2015

Conference Reminder: Please check your conference time. Let me know if you can’t make it to your scheduled time. Each conference is only 15 minutes. Please be on time. I will do my best to stay on schedule. You can find your conference time at the sign up genius website:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c44abac23a4ff2-mrs

Nocturnal Animal Fair: We will have our nocturnal animal fair on Thursday, November 12th at 9:30. I hope you will be able to attend.

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Please make sure you sign your child’s reading log.

Language Arts/Science: We will be working on our nocturnal animal projects. We have a special enrichment program on Thursday morning called Wingmasters. We will get to see birds of prey and learn about their adaptations. It is always a fun learning experience for the children.

Mathematics: We will be beginning chapter 4. Please see the math letter about this chapter. We will continue to practice subtraction with regrouping. I encourage you to give your child extra problems each night to practice this skill.

Weekly News October 26-30, 2015

Halloween Celebration:  Our room parent, Rebecca Edwards has been a big help organizing a celebration for the boys and girls. Thanks to those who are contributing and helping with our party.

   Reminders: Please pack a special snack for your child to enjoy at our celebration. Students are not wearing costumes for this party.

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Please make sure you sign your child’s reading log.

Language Arts: The boys and girls have been doing a great job researching their nocturnal animals. This week we will learn how to take our research notes put it in our informative pillar and then write a paragraph. We will be reading Odd Velvet and discussing the story elements. This book will also be discussed at our all school meeting on Friday.

Mathematics: Subtraction with regrouping continues this week. Last week we talked about how to subtract across zeros. We will continue to practice. We will be doing some problem solving work this week too.

Subtraction with regrouping takes a lot of practice as there are a lot of steps to remember. I encourage you to practice at home. Next week we will be taking our test on this skill.

Science: We will be discussing what we learned from our trip to Drumlin Farm. We will continue to explore nocturnal animal’s adaptations.

Video of the Week

All About Owls - Video

Weekly News October 19-23, 2015

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder.

Language Arts: Raz Kids login and passwords will be sent home today. Raz Kids provides a great place for your child to practice reading just right books, answering comprehension questions, and listening to stories. It is important for your child to read books at their independent level. Raz-Kids uses a different leveling system than what is sent home on your child’s report card. You can see the correlation on their website. This week the boys and girls are doing their nocturnal animal research. We will continue to work on our informative writing. We will work with ff-ll-ss words in our word work this week. Our vocabulary words will be habitat and camouflage.

Mathematics: We will continue our work on subtraction with regrouping. We will learn about regrouping the hundreds and tens. I encourage you to practice this with your child at home.

Science: The boys and girls will begin researching a nocturnal animal. We will be reading and taking notes using key words. Ask your child what animal he or she is becoming an expert on. You can bring print outs from websites or books on the animal to help with the research. We will continue to work on our vocabulary words nocturnal, adaptation, echolocation, camouflage, prey, predator, diet and habitat. We will be preparing for our field trip to Drumlin Farm on Monday.

Video of the Week

Adaptation Song

Weekly News October 13-16, 2015

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder.

Language Arts: We will learn how to use Raz Kids at school this week. We will be reading about bats as we begin our study of nocturnal animals. The students will learn how to use key words to complete our informative pillar. Then we will talk about how to turn the key words into sentences to make an informative paragraph.

Mathematics: This week we will be learning about subtraction up to 1,000. Please see the School to Home Connection sheet about chapter 3 in your Spring Street Folder. We will begin by doing subtraction without regrouping. We will use base ten blocks to model it. Then we will use the blocks to show how to regroup the tens and ones to subtract.

Online Math Tools: Get online math support that follows what we do in class. Go to your parent portal on the district’s homepage to get your child’s username and password. Then click on the Think Central link that is by the password. This will take you to the online resource from our Math In Focus book. At this site you can get online manipulatives such as base ten blocks. You can also see the student text book (not workbook). This book has practice problems and activities. I encourage you to have your child use the online manipulatives to help with homework. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Science: We will begin our study of nocturnal animals beginning with the bat. We will be reading/researching and taking notes. We will use the note to write informative paragraphs. Some key vocabulary words include: nocturnal, adaptation, echolocation, camouflage, prey, predator, diet and habitat.

Social Studies: We will read our Scholastic News titled Why Do We Explore.