Weekly Update 10/25/13

Important Reminders:

Parent-Teacher Conferences are Monday and Wednesday.  You should be receiving a reminder email from the Sign-Up Genius website that states the date and time you signed-up for.  There is no school on Friday, November 1.

The book fair is taking place in the library.  Make sure to stop by on conference night!

Please make sure students are following the school rules regarding Halloween costumes for Thursday's party. Costumes may not reflect graphic violence or make reference to any activities that are illegal to minors.  No weapons or any other props that may cause injury are allowed.  Students may not wear masks that cover their entire face.  Finally, no aerosol cans are allowed on school grounds.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Class Updates:

We took an amazing field trip to Babler State Park for Missouri Heritage Days.  The students had the opportunity to learn about pioneer life and rotated among eight presentations, including a blacksmith, a mountain man, pioneer games, and a Native American storyteller.  The students also learned how to square dance.  Here are some pictures from our trip:

In social studies, we are learning that the population of Missouri is made of many diverse cultures.  After discussing the difference between primary and secondary sources, students were asked to bring in an artifact that reflects their heritage.  Next week, we will be reading population maps and beginning to learn about some famous people from our state.

In math we spent the week making many different types of graphs.  Students also used the laptops to make graphs on the Create A Graph website.  We learned that we can analyze line graphs to see trends in data. Students are also practicing their multiplication basic facts through the twelves.  If you child does not know their facts through the twelves, it would be very helpful for them to be practicing at home as well.

In writing, we have been focusing on synonyms and antonyms.  We are learning how to replace common words, like "said" with more specific words.  We also created a fall themed word wall filled with synonyms and antonyms for over-used adjectives.  The students have been continuing to work on their fiction pieces with an eye towards revision for strong conclusions and thoughtful transitions that can link the scenes of their stories together.

Our focus in reading this week was visualizing what we read.  I read the book, The Gruffalo, to the class without showing them the pictures.  Each child sketched what they thought the Gruffalo creature might look like based on what picture they saw in their minds and the clues from the author.  We then watched a video presentation of the story to compare what the actual Gruffalo looked like with their drawings.

Weekly Update 10/19/13

Important Reminder:

We will be taking our field trip to Babler State Park for Missouri Heritage Days on Monday.  All students need to bring their lunch on Monday, as we will be eating lunch on the field trip.  Children should also wear comfortable walking shoes and dress for the weather.  We are leaving first thing in the morning, so it is important that students arrive to school on time.  It should be a fun day!

Report cards will be emailed this year on the 24th and 25th.

Class Updates:

We have finished up our ecosystems unit in science.  Check out some pictures below of bananas for our experiment on decomposers! We will now be switching back to social studies for a while to continue our study of Missouri.  Our next chapter covers the various cultures and traditions of the people of our state. Students will examine their heritage and learn how artifacts can connect people to their past.

In reading, students learned how to mark "VIP" points in their books with sticky notes in order to help them place the most important events of the story into a sequencing chart.  We are also practicing identifying similes in stories.  Looking ahead next week we will begin to work on visualizing and summarizing.

In writing, we spent the week working on writing scenes in our fiction stories.  Many students are developing very lengthy pieces with several scenes!  We learned three new strategies for writing a strong lead and brainstormed many new ways to say the word "said" in dialogue.  The children are learning to write "Ba-Da-Bing" sentences as a way to show (not tell) what is happening in their stories.  Ask you child what "Ba-Da-Bing" means!  Below are some of our fall sensory poems.

In math, we are continuing to work on data and graphing.  The students have been learning the importance of choosing the correct scale and interval on a graph, as well as determining the proper key for a pictograph. Coming up this week we will be covering bar graphs, double bar graphs, circle graphs, and line graphs.

Weekly Update 10/12/13

Important Reminders:  If you have not already signed up for parent-teacher conferences, please make sure to do so this week.  I will resend the email link to Sign-Up Genius for any parents who may still need it. Thank you to those of you who have already signed up!

Please remember, if you send lunch money to school for your child's account it is helpful to have it in a sealed envelope with your child's name on it.  This reduces the chance of the money getting lost and into the proper account.  Thank you for your help with this!

This Friday will be a half day of school.  Please make sure your child knows how they will be going home that day, especially if it is different than normal.  As a reminder, please send a note with your child if dismissal plans change.  It is helpful for everyone if notes are received in advance, or first thing in the morning.

Class Updates:

The children were fortunate to participate in Ability Awareness Day on Friday.   The class rotated through three presentations covering autism, Down's Syndrome, and prosthetic devices.  Students were able to learn about a variety of challenges people face, but also about the amazing abilities we all have!

In science we have been conducting an experiment all week on decomposers.  We examined what a testable question is and are making observations to see whether or not yeast can make a banana decompose faster. We have also been studying different types of fossils and how they can help scientists learn more about the past. Students have been busy all week creating posters that illustrate food chains that can be found in a variety of habitats.  Here are some pictures of our research, as well as some of the fantastic biome quilt squares from last week.

In math, we have started a new unit about data and graphing.  The children will be learning a variety of ways to collect, record, analyze, and display data.  This week we will focus on frequency tables, finding the mean, median, mode, and range for a given set of data, and line plots.  We will also be focusing on our multiplication basic facts in order to prepare us for our next big unit which will be all about multiplication.

In reading and writing, we have been examining story arcs.  By studying familiar books, such as Mr. Peabody's Apples, we were able to determine the sequence of events that make up the rising action, climax, and falling action of a fiction story.  Then, students used what we learned to develop story arcs for their realistic fiction stories during writing workshop.  The children are also busy beginning the drafting process of their writing by creating a series of mini-scenes.  They are working hard to "show", rather than "tell" what is happening, so as to create a vivid picture in the reader's mind.

Weekly Update 10/4/13

Conference Sign Up Time

On Monday, October 7th you will be receiving an email invite from Sign Up Genius to sign up for your fall parent-teacher conference.  This is the same website we have used the past two years.  Simply follow the link provided in the email invitation to chose the date and time you would like to have your conference. Conferences this year will be held on October 28th and 30th from 3:30 - 7:30 PM.  Please make sure to sign up by October 21st.  Thank you!

Class Updates

In math we are currently working on telling time to the nearest minute.  The students are also learning how to calculate elapsed time for a given event, on a calendar, and on a schedule or time table.  I have given each child a yellow study guide, which should be in their binder.  The top half of the study guide lists several benchmark time measurements they should be studying nightly if they are unfamiliar with them.  We will be having our test on the time unit (Chapter 5) on Thursday.

In science, we have been learning about various biomes of the world.  Students worked together in groups of two or three to conduct research in books and on our devices.  Then, each child created a quilt square with their findings about the plants, animals, climate, and locations of their biome.  We have combined our squares to make a class quilt.  Here are some pictures of our research:

The students have also been learning about producers, consumers, and decomposers and how they work together in both food chains and food webs.  We took a trip to Gempp Park today along with Mrs. Donze's class to take photographs of producers, consumers, and decomposers in our local ecosystems.  Gempp also has a wetlands area and prairie area, and the students were excited to explore their surroundings.  We observed turtles, frogs, insects, flowers, vines, and mushrooms among many other species.  Here are some photos:

In both reading and writing, we are exploring fiction texts.  During reading we are working on identifying the story elements of fiction, including characters, setting, problem, and solution.  Each reading group has started a fiction chapter book where they will be exploring these story elements in greater detail and discovering their importance to the plot.

In writing, we have started working on a new writing workshop piece of creating a realistic fiction story. Currently our focus is on creating well developed characters.  We are learning about the difference between physical and personality characters traits and brainstorming ideas about what types of problems we will want our characters to face in our stories.  We also just finished writing some beautiful and creative fall sensory poems to get us ready for the changing season!

Don't forget!

Salt dough map extra credit projects for social studies are due by Monday.  Below are a few pictures of some of the projects that have already been turned in.