December 15th

Reading & Writing: 

This week we evaluated the story Stone Soup. Some of the focuses of our conversations were identifying story elements, discussing the plot, and considering different points of view. We completed graphic organizers to help gather information that we will use later while writing a fictional diary entry from the point of view of a villager. Our phonics lessons have focused on r-controlled vowel sounds: ear, ere, and eer.

Math: 

This week we reviewed the key concepts that we learned throughout unit 2 including telling time, solving math problems involving money, and two-digit addition and subtraction.

Science:

The students became paleontologists for a day, and they had so much fun digging up their pretend dinosaur bones. Then they worked together to assemble the dinosaur skeletons. Later in the week, we learned all about how different tools have improved due to advances in technology.  

December 8th

Reading & Writing: 

We began unit 4 this week. This unit is about folktales. We worked on asking questions before, during and after reading. We also talked about how characters respond to challenges in the story and how different characters have different points of view. Our phonics lessons have focused on r-controlled vowel sounds, such as: or, oar, and ore.

During writing time, the students published their government worker papers. We also started talking about parts of a letter for our next writing piece, and we wrote our Winter goals.

 

 

Science:

This week we started learning about tools that scientists use when digging up dinosaur bones. We also conducted our own dinosaur bone dig. Ask your child about how this activity went!

Math: 

This week we worked on telling time on an analog clock. Also, we talked about AM and PM. Next week we will take our unit 2 test. This will cover addition and subtraction of 2 digit numbers, 2 step word problems, counting coins, and telling time.

December 2nd

Reading & Writing: 

We are wrapping up Unit 3 on Government Workers. We read a mentor text, Getting a Message to General Washington, and practiced summarizing, naming story elements, and using context clues to clarify tricky vocabulary words. Our phonics lessons have focused on r-controlled vowel sounds, er, ir, and ur.

In writing, students have been completing the revising and editing steps of their informational pieces on government workers. They revised to add transition words and phrases, as well as key vocabulary words and definitions. Students continued to work fixing up their work to use correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

A few friends shared some of their favorite book recommendations during our library time.

Social Studies:

Students worked on a project to create a fact sheet to go with their writing about a government worker job. They used texts and illustrations to convey the most important facts about the job. They also practiced their presentation skills by sharing them with the class.

Math: 

This week we continued identifying and counting groups of coins. We also worked on word problems with bills. Please continue to practice counting coins with sums up to $1.00 at home.

 

Other Fun:

Before our Thanksgiving Break we enjoyed reading the book, Balloons Over Broadway. Then we created our own balloon floats and paraded them around our school. It was a lot of fun!

November 18th

Reading & Writing: This week in our unit on the government we read a historical fiction piece on Betsy Ross, and a nonfiction passage on our government’s laws.  Our focus has been on retelling the key events, determining the important vs. unimportant information, and main topic and key details.  

In writing we are in the starting phase of writing an informational piece.  Each student chose a government worker to research.  They could choose from one of the military branches, post workers, teachers, park rangers, firefighters, or police officers.  Then, every student has been researching and taking notes on the daily job and tools of their worker.  We have begun to draft our introduction paragraph and our first body paragraph.  We will continue this writing in the following weeks. 

 

Math: This week we finished lesson 9 where students have been solving 1 and 2 step word problems while continuing to use their skills in adding and subtracting 2- digit numbers. Next up we will be learning how to solve math problems involving money. Please consider practicing counting coins at home with your child. Thank you!

Social Studies: We are researching government workers, and then we are going to create a fact sheet to share what we have learned. A class presentation will follow, and I can't wait to see what the students create!

Second Steps Lesson: We learned about the importance of empathy.

Class Celebration: Bring a Toy From Home