Happy 1st Friday in October!!

This is my kind of weather...slight chill in the air...shorter days...I LOVE IT!! Hope you and your family have something fun planned outdoors this weekend...it's going to be a gorgeous one! I will be attending FIVE (count them...) different sports games of my own kids this weekend! Kate plays U6 soccer, Jake plays U10 soccer and U10 baseball, and Connor plays U11 soccer and U12 baseball...AHHHHHHH!! Luckily it will be a great weekend weather wise!

But enough about me and my kids...let's talk about your lovely kids...I am one of the luckiest teachers alive because you have GREAT kids! I am so amazed at what we fit into a four day week...good thing, since we have a few of them back to back with a crazy week to end it all...the week of Oct 13-17th is really crazy! But here is what went on in our classroom this week:


MATH: we have been working on estimation and adding and subtracting larger numbers...we have been using white boards and breaking into smaller groups to differentiate the learning. A funny thing happened in Math this week that is very characteristic of these kids...I handed out an enrichment paper that had no numbers and instead had all letters...and the paper asked them to solve the equations and write down the addition/subtraction property used. You would have thought I asked them to write me a letter in Spanish...they were all staring at me with their mouths hanging open....you see, these kids are wonderful math students with their strengths being computation...but as you and I both know, applying it all is a whole different ballgame, and I stumped them BIGTIME!! :-) They all finally figured out how to use the letters and apply what they knew, but it was a struggle getting there! So, please bear with me as we're working on addition and subtraction...I am working hard to enrich and differentiate so that they remaein challenged!


LANGUAGE ARTS: we worked on "after reading strategies" this week using our Homer Price novel. "After Reading" asks a reader to reflect, reread, and remember...a student can show that they remember by RETELLING...("after reading" loves "r" words!) The students did an outstanding job retelling Case #3 this week. We talked about the difference between retelling and summarizing. When you sit at the dinner table and talk about your day, you summarize (if you're lucky enough to have a kid that says more than, "I don't know" or "nothing"!) Retelling is when you explain step, by step, by step...using words like FIRST, THEN, NEXT, AFTER, FINALLY...and it is a much longer process. Wait until you see the results...they did an amazing job! I also gave the kids some comprehension questions to go along with the novel. I haven't had a chance to grade them yet, but look for them next week in their take home folders!


WORD STUDY: I forgot to remind the kids that they had a word study test today, but I left class time for the kids to work with their words and study them...if anyone gets a really bad grade, I will definitely let them study next week and retake the test...SORRY, my goof!!

PROJECT: Sorry, I know, the dreaded word...but yes, they have a new one...and it's a quick turn around, but it's not as detailed as the first! Details about this project will come home today and the kids need to bring the bottom portion back on Monday with your signature. In this project the kids get to choose their own fairy tale. They can use a book from home, the public library, or our library...just FYI.


SOCIAL STUDIES: the children have been designing a brochure about their chosen state this week as a culmination of our unit...the brochure includes information about the physical geography, climate, and natural resources of their state, as well as "wow" facts and their own creativity...these brochures are wonderful! We will be sharing them with each other next week and you can look for them to come home by the end of the week. Another thing we did to wrap up this unit was the kids took a "Google Earth" tour of important landmarks in Frederick County. They were able to see them from an aerial perspective, and then visit the website for each one to find important information. They very much enjoyed this activity!


SCIENCE: we start a new science unit next week entitled "Chemical Tests"...I am so excited about this unit and cannot wait to get started! I will blog more next Friday about the unit and what's involved, but be on the lookout for budding scientists popping up at your dinner table!


REMINDERS: please make sure you signed the yellow sheet attached to the SS writing assignment and return both the yellow sheet and the paragraph. I like to make you aware of their writing, but I need to keep it in their folders for the year. I appreciate you sending them back to me as soon as you can!