This Wednesday, September 17th, is our first early release day. Students will be dismissed at 1:40. Please make sure your child is aware of how they will be going home in case it is different from the normal routine.
If you received an email from me regarding the ALEKS math program, please ignore this email. ALEKS is a new computer site that we may be using for math later on this year, but we are not utilizing this at the moment. I apologize for any confusion the email may have caused.
Class Updates:
In math, we have been reviewing Chapter 1 in preparation for a test on Tuesday. Review centers like "I Am the Greatest" and "Fishin' for Place Value", a Go Fish style game, helped students practice concepts like reading large numbers correctly and identifying place value positions. Students have a study guide and we took a practice test together last week. These are both excellent tools for the children to use to prepare for the test. Students also worked on making their own vocabulary cards and illustrations of important vocabulary words from the chapter to add to our vocabulary word wall.
In reading, students are working on non-fiction books about a variety of science related topics. They are working on clarifying unknown words and answering questions about the text in written form, making sure they can cite evidence from the text. Students all received "Quality Answer Bookmarks", so they have a reminder of the expectations for written responses across subjects. Please be aware that children should be writing quality answers on all assignments, including their weekly reading sheets in their assignment books.
We are also studying story elements in both reading and writing. Last week, we focused on the elements of setting and characters. We used the biography picture book Snowflake Bentley to examine how both physical and personality character traits add interest and meaning to stories. Students are also recognizing how setting and characters play a role in writing a personal narrative. The children wrote "flash drafts" of their narratives last week, and I was very impressed with the pages of writing they could produce in such a short amount of time!
In social studies, we have wrapped up our first unit. The children are now working on a fun end of unit project called "Me on the World". I am excited to share pictures of their completed work soon! Looking ahead, our next chapter will be on early Native American cultures from around the United States.
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