Weekly Update 11/11/18

We started our week with students learning about the voting process and participating in the Kids Voting election. Each child filled out a voter registration card and was able to cast a ballot!

In science, the students have still been "stuck on a deserted island". Luckily, there was a chicken laying eggs on the island. This week's problem from Mystery Science was to solve how to cook food over a fire without burning their hands. The children learned that some materials have insulating properties and others have conducting properties. They tested aluminum foil, Styrofoam, and cloth to see which material would be the best to make oven mitts from. Students worked in partners to see if they could feel cold and heat from water bottles through the materials. Ask your child which material was the most insulating!

In math, we are continuing to work through Chapter 5. The students are learning to add two-digit numbers together with regrouping. They are also practicing this skill to answer word problems. We have used both base 10 blocks and pencil and paper methods to regroup. This week we will finish the rest of the lessons in the chapter and test either on Friday or Monday. This is a good time for students to brush up on their basic addition facts, as fact fluency is key for adding larger numbers.

We continued to explore text features in reading. This week we covered the index, table of contents, glossary, photographs, drawings, captions, and labels. The children are learning that many new facts can be found by reading text features. Moving ahead, we will be learning a variety of ways to find the meaning of unknown words in non-fiction. We will also be comparing and contrasting key details found in books over the same topic.


We are ready to begin our opinion writing unit. Students will be selecting favorite books to write opinions about. Last week, we read Mercy Watson to the Rescue, which we will use to model writing opinions about a favorite character.

Using the Spelling City app is a favorite way to practice spelling words for the students.

This week's Flat Stanleys returned from San Francisco, Seattle, and Houston!

The students ended the week with a fantastic music program and Veteran's Day celebration. I enjoyed hearing the students sing - they did an amazing job!