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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Week of 26-30

It's been a lovely September. Here's some of the happenings for the last week of the month.

ELA: Students will continue to work on narratives and learn how to enhance them. They will start reading in groups and with partners. We will be reading different texts about Johnny Appleseed. Then students will compare and contrast them. They will  retell stories. They will also practice stopping during a story to think about the things that are occuring. Our word of the week is justice.

Math: Our math concepts and practice for the week include identifying numbers as even or odd, addition strategies that utilize doubles (8+8 for example), equation chains (5-2=0+3 or 12=8+4=13-1), adding with 3 addends and adding and subtracting vertically.

Social Studies: We will complete our unit on Characteristics of Communities. Students will recognize natural geograpic features, businesses, recreational areas and more.  Honesty is our trait of the week as well as continuing with responsibility.

Thanks for checking in!

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Week Starting September 19

Here's a look at the week ahead.

ELA: We will continue building stamina during reading sessions. As we continue along, students should be able to sustain their independent reading for longer periods of time. They will use strategies for tricky words or phrases. They will visualize the story, make predictions as they read and more. Fluency is another area of focus for the week. Students will practice reading groups of words rather than word by word. They will also use various voices (soft, scared, exuberant) based on what the text calls for. They will be asked to practice at home, too.
Narrative writing is our present genre. Students' small moments develop from their own experiences. These can be as simple as a ride on a swing to something more meaningful like a birth in the family. The choices are endless!
Our word of the week is wisdom.

Math: Addition and subraction strategies will be practiced this week. We have reviewed partners of 10 and students will use these as they add numbers with teen totals. Math mountain cards will come home with your child for home practice. Automation of facts will help your child with future math concepts and operations.

Social Studies: Students will hear about different types of communities. They will see how urban, suburban and rural communities are alike and different.

Thanks for checking in.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Week Beginning September 12, 2016

Here's a glance at our week ahead.

ELA: This year, I've decided to do a "Word of the Week" to enhance our character education. Last week's word was courage. Students shared other words that were similar and provided examples as well as non-examples. I spoke with them about having courage in the classroom and being willing to take a risk. Mistakes are made by all, and we can even learn from those. Then children created illustrations of courage, which became a collage of courage.  This week's word is friendship. Other items for ELA this week will include Words Their Way (WTW) inventory, looking at different ways of how to read a book and creating a topic list for writing.

Math: We will start the week with an assessment. Results will help me see where your child has strengths and where s/he has areas for growth. Then, our first unit in math begins by reviewing math mountains and equations for addition and subtraction. I will show students where I store manipulatives for them to access when they want and need them to promote solving and understanding.

Social Studies: We are working our way through our character traits. Last week was kindness. This week is respect. We are also talking about families. Through an activity, students saw that families have similarities and differences. They will learn about a common family goal, which is to see that basic needs of all in the family are met. 

Thanks for checking in.

Monday, September 5, 2016

First Week of School

Our first week of school will involve ice breakers, making connections, estasblishing routines and promises, and solidifying a classroom culture to sustain us all year long. While doing this, students will be reading, writing and problem solving. They will ignite new friendships and rekindle past ones. They will learn about me and I will learn about them.