Thursday, October 29, 2015

November 2 - 6

M - Media
T - P.E. *Remember helmets
W - Music
Th - Art *Return books
F - P.E./Media, Grandfriend's Day
    *Because of Grandfriend's Day the specialist time will be shortened, no need for helmets.


Math - We will be testing on Unit 3 and will begin Unit 4 (Figures, Angles, and Triangles).  The class will create symmetrical shapes, label figures with letters, review quadrilaterals, and classify triangles by the lengths of sides.

Word Study - Students will:
*Understand that words with plural endings indicate more than one of something
*Recognize plural endings
*Recognize the singular form of plural words
*Understand that plural endings of -s, -es, and -ies add a new syllable to the singular word

Reading/Writing - We will continue to work on analyzing character traits and visualizing while reading.  The students will be reviewing the features of a personal narrative and finalizing their own personal narrative stories.

Social Studies - The class will be spending time using the Pages app to create a travel brochure for Mound.  The students are focusing on learning the natural resources, climate, and physical features of our community.

I look forward to visiting with you all during conferences :)


Friday, October 23, 2015

October 26 - October 30

M - P.E.  *Bring helmets
T - Music
W - Art *Return library books
Th - Media/P.E
F - Music/Art

Math - In math we will be working on solving a variety of multi-digit word problems.  The students will practice interpreting comparison language (more, fewer) and solving comparison word problems.

Reading - We will be starting Unit 2 in our Benchmark Literacy curriculum.  For the next 3 weeks we will be focusing on Character Traits and the metacognitive strategy of Visualizing.  Students will analyze characters' traits, feelings and relationships.

Word Study - We will be working on Unusual Past Tense Words.  The students will learn that not all past tense words have an -ed ending.   They will recognize that sometimes vowels change from present tense to past tense.  Examples:  keep, kept, say, said, blow, blew.

Social Studies - The class will be working with their partners to create a travel brochure about a community that we have researched.  They will describe the natural resources, climate, and physical features.

Notes:

Halloween - We will be having a small Halloween party on Friday afternoon.  The parade starts at 2:15 and you are welcome to join us in the classroom when the parade is over.  If your child's costume doesn't fit in their backpack, please send it in a separate bag.

Dreambox - This is a great resource that Shirley Hills students have access to!  If you are able to, please have your child spend some time working through the program at home.
Here is a link to the FREE app:
Our school code is:  vvkd/exzx  
Students know their usernames and passwords.

Have a great weekend!












Sunday, October 18, 2015

October 19 - 23

M - Music
T - Art **Return library books today
W - Media/P.E
Th - Music/Art
F - Media

Math: The students will be working on understanding the relationship between addition and subtraction.  They will practice solving word problems with unknown partners as well as comparison problems.

Reading - We are on week 3 of Unit 1 in Benchmark Literacy.  This week we will continue to focus on identifying the main idea and details.  Every 3rd week in our curriculum, the students will work on fluency skills throughout the week.  Our class will focus on a Reader's Theater titled Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.  

Word Study - The class will practice words with -ed endings this week.  Students will practice finding the root word in words with -ed endings and learn the rules for adding -ed.

Social Studies - We begin our next unit this week - What Is the Geography of Our Community?  The class will identify and describe the physical features, climate, and natural resources of various geographic ares.  Students will use map tools: scale, grid , key, symbols, title, and compass rose.

Reminders:
* Roller skating starts in P.E. this week.  Please send in their helmet from home on P.E. days.
* Students should be working on earning 6 AR points by the end of October.  Please check with your child to make sure they are working towards this goal.
* Remember to login to Skyward Family Access and sign up for a conference time if you haven't already :)

Friday, October 9, 2015

October 12 - 16

M - Media
T - P.E.
W - No School - Teacher Workshop
Th - MEA break
F - MEA break

In Math this week, we will finish up our Unit on quadrilaterals.  The plan is to finish on Tuesday, but classifying quadrilaterals is often a tricky concept so we may spend an extra day and push the test back until the following week.

In reading we will continue to work on Main Idea and Supporting Details.  The students are beginning to type up their rough draft of their personal narrative and we will spend the next two weeks revising and editing them.

The social studies presentations are really taking off! It is so fun to hear all the interesting facts that the students are finding when doing their research :)

Notes:
* Please remember that our classroom is a peanut/nut free class.  Be mindful of that when sending in snacks for your child.
* If you are interested in helping out on October 30th for the Halloween party, please let me know.  Our schedule will only allow for about 35 minutes of party time in the classroom before the parade begins.
* No homework this week :)  If they have some extra time at home, I encouraged them to read, work through Dreambox, and practice their math facts on Math Magicians.
* If you haven't already, please sign up for a fall conference time through Family Access.



Friday, October 2, 2015

October 5-9

M - P.E
T - Music
W - Art   *Please return library books today!
Th - Media/P.E
F - Music/Art

Math - The class will be taking the test on Unit 1 (addition and subtraction) on Monday.  Their daily work packets will be coming home in the Friday folder, use them to review over the weekend if you have time.  We will start Unit 2 on Tuesday.  The students will be measuring and drawing line segments, finding the perimeter, and sorting quadrilaterals.

Word Study - We are already on our 4th Word Study unit.  The class will be reviewing words that have -ing endings (doubles, e-Drops, No Change).

Reading - Our class will be focusing on reading biographies this week.  We will identify the key features of a biography and compare and contrast the biographies of Galileo and Einstein!  We will also read a longer biography about George Washington.

Writing - We will identify a sequence of events in personal narratives.

Social Studies - Last week we practiced finding the distance and direction from Mound to other communities throughout the US.  This week the students will pick one of those communities, research and gather facts, and then create a presentation using the Keynote app.

It's been a busy week!  Enjoy the pictures :)