Class Update 9/14/18

We started our first unit in science this week to explore types of water and landforms on Earth's surface. We will be using Mystery Science this year to help the students answer questions and conduct investigations related to the science curriculum. This week's Mystery Science question was "If you floated down a river, where would you end up". The children learned that all rivers flow to the ocean and have a current. They also created a model of the earth and "made it rain" to see how rivers are formed and that they flow from high elevations to low elevations.

In math, we are now focusing on how addition and subtraction are inverse operations. Students are learning how to use related facts to help them solve problems and find missing addends. Next week, we will wrap up Chapter 1 and complete lessons 12 - 13. We will also review the chapter for a test. Review pages will be sent home in the green folder to help prepare for the test, which will tentatively take place on Friday, September 21st.

The children also spent some time on laptops in math centers learning how to access code.org to learn beginner coding skills. We are just getting started, but the students are very interested in learning more about this topic! Partners worked on iPads to do QR code scavenger hunts to solve addition and subtraction fact problems. Finally, many students were able to review their math skills by completing activities on Seesaw. I am proud of how they were able to record their thinking and show what they have learned! An example of one completed activity from Seesaw is below. Connect with your child's account to see what they have been up to. More activities will be posted soon!

Students are doing a great job participating in their reading groups. They are learning strategies to help them read fluently and problem solve tricky words. They are also working on retelling what they have read and checking often as they read to make sure they are understanding the text.

In writing, the students are learning how to craft personal narrative stories. They have each selected a true "seed" story from their past to write about. This week we brainstormed ideas and learned how to plan out the story by telling it across our fingers, adding planning notes to the top of the draft pages, and doing quick sketches. Students are now writing their rough drafts. They are trying hard to use sensory details to make their writing descriptive. Next week, we will continue to move through the stages of the writing process to finish drafting and begin revising.