Weekly Update 2/23/14

Important Reminders:

February 26th is the last day to turn in Six Flags Reading Forms.

Spring Conferences - Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences will be on Thursday, March 6th.  Spring conferences are OPTIONAL and are usually only held if there are behavioral or academic concerns.  I have already sent out conference request emails to those families for which I feel a conference would be beneficial at this time.  If you received an email requesting a conference, please make sure to sign up before Tuesday. On Tuesday, I will send an email to all remaining families with a link to sign-up for a conference if you have a concern you would like to discuss with me.

Class Updates:

In math, we practiced classifying triangles by the lengths of their sides and the measure of their angles.  The students also learned how to define and draw a variety of quadrilaterals.  Children had fun building geometric figures from K-Nex and using tangram pieces to make polygons.  We will be reviewing polygons, angles, lines, and other important geometric vocabulary for a Chapter 17 and 18 Test on Wednesday.

In reading, we have explored compare and contrast as a way to structure informational writing.  We are also working on identifying ways we can compare and contrast elements of fiction books we read.  We have been using fairy tales and fractured fairy tales to find the similarities and differences between characters, settings, and plots.

For writing, the students are finishing their drafts of the first half of their books.  This week we will be moving on to our third chapter which will feature a narrative form of informational writing.  The children will be writing a letter or journal entry that tells a small moment story related to their non-fiction topic.  We will be covering point of view as a part of this writing process, since some students will be writing as themselves, while others will be writing through the viewpoint of a person from history.  If your child is behind in researching or writing the first two chapters, they should be working at home to catch up.

In science, we spent most of the week learning about static electricity.  Students completed some hands on activities with everything from tape, to tissue paper, to balloons.  They learned the difference between protons, neutrons, and electrons, as well as how lighting is a form of static electricity.  At the end of the week, we began to look at current electricity and students worked in groups to build a simple circuit that could light a bulb.

We were fortunate to take part in the Lindbergh Connections program on Friday.  Students from Lindbergh High School came to teach lessons to our class about Lewis and Clark, the Gold Rush, westward expansion, and the Oregon Trail.  The children had lots of fun learning from the high school students!

Weekly Update 2/17/14

Important Reminders:

PRISM Night is this Thursday beginning at 3:30 and ending at 7:30.  If your child participated in PRISM, please be sure to stop by to view all of the wonderful projects and receive your certificate.  Projects should be taken home that evening.

Six Flags Reading Logs are due by February 26th in order to earn a free ticket.

Spring Book Fair - The book fair will be running the in the library all week!

Class Updates:

We had a busy week in math!  Students have been learning about types of lines and angles and completed several activities to master these skills, including an angle scavenger hunt, angle sort, and making a variety of geometric terms on geoboards and geoboard apps.  The children also made posters illustrating what they have learned using toothpicks.  Towards the end of the week we learned the definition of a polygon and the difference between regular and irregular polygons.

In reading, we continued to study cause and effect relationships by reading texts that use a variety of cause and effect structures.  We did some close reading of Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, which tied in nicely for Valentine's Day week.  In writing, we have been drafting our first and second chapters of our informational books.  We are using what we learn in reading to apply text structures like cause and effect to our own writing.  This week we will examine compare and contrast.

In social studies, we wrapped up Chapter 5 and will now be moving on to electricity for science.  We will begin our unit this week with static electricity.  Students will be learning about the parts of an atom and completing hands-on activities to demonstrate how static electricity works.

We met with our buddies on Friday to practice Habit 4 from Leader in Me, which is "Think Win-Win".  The children worked together to think of win-win solutions to common problems kids face.  Learning to compromise so that everyone can be happy was a focus of the lesson.  We also had some time for the first graders to read books to their fourth grade buddies.  The first graders had been practicing their fluency and were excited to share with their older friends!

The students had their Valentine's Day party on Friday.  We played a Valentine's themed Bingo game, "minute to win it" style games with candy hearts, and enjoyed passing out Valentines.  Here are a few pictures of the children stacking hearts to see who could build the tallest tower and trying to transfer hearts from one plate to another using only a straw.

Weekly Update 2/9/14

Important Reminders:

Valentine's Day - Our class party will be on Friday.  Bringing in Valentines is optional, however if your child would like to bring some to pass out, please make sure they have one for every student in class.  I gave students a copy of the class roster so they would have everyone's name.  We will not be decorating Valentine boxes or bags in class.  If your child would like to decorate one at home to bring in for collecting Valentines they may do so.  I do encourage students to have some type of box or bag, even if it is a grocery bag.

Cookie Dough Fund Raiser - Long is selling cookie dough to raise money for our school.  Information was sent home on Friday in the students' mail folders.  Sales run through February 18th and students can receive prizes for selling items.  Please see the envelope and green flyer that was sent home for complete details.

Early Release Day - This Wednesday is an early release day with a 1:40 dismissal time.  Please make sure your child knows their plans for going home on that day.

PRISM - If your child is participating in PRISM, completed projects are due by Tuesday.  Late projects will be excepted through the end of the week.  Please make sure to have projects brought in by the end of the week so they can be checked to make sure they have all required parts.

Mid-Quarter - We are approximately halfway through third quarter.  Please remember you can check on your child's progress on SIS.

Class Updates:

Students enjoyed a class reward on Thursday of a nutritious read-in.  We had a crackling "fire" going on our whiteboard, soothing background music, and students were able to read in their pjs with flashlights.  Here are a few pictures:

In math, we have finished our unit on long division.  We will be spending the next few weeks on a variety of geometry topics.  Currently, students are learning about classifying types of lines and angles.  They are also reviewing fundamental geometric terms, such as line segment and ray.  We will be doing many hands on activities throughout our geometry unit to help students master the large amount of vocabulary.

In reading, the children are beginning to work on identifying examples of cause and effect in the texts they read.  We will be examining a variety of cause and effect text structures, including a chain of cause and effect.  When reading with your students at home, you can remind them that the cause is why something happened and the effect is the what happened.

We are in the research and note-taking stages of our informational writing project.  The students have learned how to take "trash or treasure" notes and write down their sources.  Each child has made a notes folder with pockets to organize their note cards into the chapters and headings that will make up the first two chapters of their books.  We will continue to research the week, but also move forward with writing the draft of our first chapter.  If your child feels they are behind in gathering notes, they should continue to do research at home.

We have finished our lessons for Chapter 5 in social studies and will spend this week reviewing for a test on Friday.  We will be switching our focus back to science and a unit on electricity.

Snow Day Homework and Test Reminders

Hello families,

I hope you are staying safe and warm in the endless winter weather!

I told the students yesterday, but also wanted to send a reminder that our Chapter 13/14 Math Test will still take place tomorrow despite the snow day.  Also scheduled for tomorrow is our nutritious read-in reward and the pizza lunch from Dr. Parker.  Details about these activities are in my previous weekly update post.

Also, all Friday homework and the spelling tic-tac-toe are still due on Friday.  We have a spelling test and social studies vocab. quiz on Friday.  Students were encouraged to bring home all items they would need to study with them last night.

Hopefully we will be back to school tomorrow!