Class Update 9/21/18

We continued our science unit this week with our second Mystery Science question, "Why is there sand at the beach?" The students were able to learn about the processes of weathering and erosion to see how rock can be broken down into smaller and smaller pieces and carried from mountains all the way to the ocean. The children worked in groups to model this process with paper "boulders".

Later in the week, the students were able to explore different samples of sand and pebbles. They looked at the samples with magnifying glasses and made observations about the size, color, and shape of the sand. Then, they drew conclusions about where the sand came from. Students took pictures of their sand and posted their thoughts to Seesaw.

We have finished Chapter 1 in math, and will begin Chapter 2 next. The second chapter focuses on number patterns. The students will learn concepts related to skip counting, repeated addition, even and odd numbers, and arrays.

In reading, students are beginning to record their thinking with "stop and jots" on Post-It notes. Over the next few weeks they will learn the many types of stop and jots they can do, and practice with their independent reading books. Carpet partners shared stop and jots about connections to get started. Next week, we will focus on the strategy of making predictions about our reading.

The children's personal narratives are coming along nicely. Most students have finished drafting and have been working on revising. They learned different ways to make strong leads that hook the reader, like starting with a sound effect or with talking. The children are also revising to "show" what is happening, rather than to "tell" what is happening by adding adjectives and strong actions. Writing partners have been conferring with each other to help give advice about places to revise each other's writing.

Thank you to everyone who sent back the envelopes to mail our Flat Stanleys! The students cut out their Stanleys and filled out letters to mail to their friends and relatives. Most of the envelopes are stuffed and ready to be mailed out on Monday. If you still need to send in your envelope, please try to do so next week. We can't wait to see what adventures our Stanleys will be up to!