Reading: This week we used a second text about animal rights that pairs well with some of the issues that Marty is facing in our novel, Shiloh. We found evidence from our article about animal rights vs mistreatment to support some evidence we found in our novel about Shiloh being mistreated. We learned how to number paragraphs and cite them in our work. It was fantastic group work! We also talked a little bit about theme this week. We'll continue on that topic next week. Ask your reader how the author, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor uses her words to describe Judd. How did she make us feel about him?
Writing: We wrapped up our introductory unit of writing this week which was led by four essential questions: What do writers write about? How do writers get ideas? Why do writers write? What kinds of writing are there? Next week we'll discuss the writing process and get into our first genre: narrative writing. Ask your what they've been drafting this week. Ask them about writer's share, or what the three reasons are that authors write (the author's purpose).
Math: This week we continued our place value unit. We rounded numbers to the thousands place and then to higher place values. We used a number line (vertical) to help us and then were able to just look at numbers to round them. On Thursday we review all of the material we have learned this year in math. Then on Friday we took a mid-term assessment. Some students were not able to finish (we had 6 students in Orchestra at the same time) so we will finish the test on Monday. I will then correct them and send them home for a signature. Ask your student if they can round the umber 232,579 to the nearest ten thousands.
Social Studies: This week we started learning about Informational Texts and how our Social Studies book is formatted. We did a "scavenger hunt" through the book and then we talked about certain parts of the book (table of contents, index, glossary, etc) We are making a foldable book for our notebook so we will be able to remember the different parts of an informational text. Ask your students where they found the index in their book.
Current Events: This week we learned about pollutants tested on mice, athletes getting ready for the Olympic games, rhinoceros' becoming extinct, and an art student making posters for homeless people. We also watched the Week in Rap for students and talked about the superman that will occur on Sunday. Ask your child what they learned about!
Science: We in our Land and Water unit we discussed the water cycle. We talked about how important the water cycle is to our world. We watched a short video about the water cycle and then we made a water cycle book for our journal. On Thursday we had our first lab and actually saw the water cycle using our stream tables. Next week we will see how rain affects our land. Ask your kids to tell you about the water cycle and how it works!
Miscellaneous:
- A huge thank you to our PTO for generously contributing to our beginning of the year funds. We used our gift for several new books, classroom supplies and decorations, and desk name tags. We are very grateful!!
- Check out this month's D97 Librarian Newsletter for book and research resources, book recommendations and more! - https://www.smore.com/g0qx9-d97-elementary-library-news"
