We have been so busy the past few weeks...here is what we've been up to...
Language Arts
We are almost finished reading two different novels...How to Steal a Dog and Young Fredle. Both of these novels have wonderful themes and are beautifully written. We are having deep discussions within group using text evidence to support our thinking. We have defined difficult vocabulary using both the context and our Nook dictionaries. The students have been asked to answer thought provoking questions using the text to help support their ideas. I tell the kids all the time there are many facets to a Reading Comprehension grade...written answers are just one...participation in discussions (listening and contributing) is an important part as well as their ability to cite evidence when in a discussion. They have to be reminded often that just because they think something about the book, doesn't mean it is true...they must find something in the story that makes them think/feel that way. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know your child as a "thinker" during this unit.
We have also been working on writing. We have been doing some research on the brain...I read a book and they took notes...they read an article and highlighted important information, and now they are responding to a writing prompt using that information...take a look...
I have a friend who is a scientist at Johns Hopkins University. She told me that they are doing research on the brain, but they are in a heated argument. Some scientists think that the brain is a muscle and others think that it is an organ. Some scientists think that the brain controls everything we do, and others think that all emotions are controlled by the heart. And then, they are in an argument because some think that the brain is full size at birth and others think that the brain grows as the body grows. As you can see, these scientists are confused! Please use your graphic organizer to write an informative paragraph about the brain. I will take your paragraphs and give them to my friend the scientist…maybe then they can STOP ARGUING!
Remember…an informative paragraph has…
· a topic sentence
· at least three facts that support the topic
· details that make the facts interesting
· a concluding sentence
· strong conventions (capital letters, punctuation, spelling)
I am anxious to read their paragraphs! In LA, the students also continue to work diligently towards publishing stories in Writer's Workshop.
Science
We are finishing up our unit in Science. In the past two weeks we have been exploring Food Chains and Food Webs using many different resources. The kids read from the Sciencesaurus textbook to gather information, they have taken notes while watching a video on Discovery Streaming titled "YOU in the Food Web", and we've had many discussions using our own aquariums as examples. We had to send our live organisms back to the Science Center on Friday...we were sad to see them go...it is so much fun to observe live organisms! We start a new Social Studies unit later this week!
Math
7/7 of our class is studying fractions right now! :-) We are busy identifying parts of a whole, parts of a group, and parts of a number. Recognizing denominators is very important when working on this concept. We also explored adding fractions with like denominators. I was so tickled when someone said, "Mrs. Wills, can we work with adding fractions of unlike denominators?!" Um...yeah!! The kids have built critters using fraction pieces, recorded those fractions, and will applying that skill as they identify which fractions of their candy bars have certain fillings, toppings, etc. The kids have also been participating in lots of "math talk" and problem solving. They have been solving fraction word problems in pairs and independently. We will continue with fractions through this week.
OTHER STUFF...
Conference reminders will come home on Friday...please read BOTH half sheets and return BOTH of them the following Monday, so that I can prepare for our meetings. I am only given 15 minutes to spend with each of you, so I ask that you think about what you'd like to discuss in particular...if we need more than 15 minutes, we can schedule a separate meeting at a different time. Since I am meeting with TWENTY SEVEN different sets of parents, please be understanding when I cut off the discussion at the appropriate time interval...all it takes is ONE late conference to throw off ALL the others!! Thank you ahead of time!
Grandparents Breakfast is this week...Wednesday and Thursday...RSVPs were already due.
Book Fair is here! Your child got an opportunity to preview the Book Fair and create a "wish list"...it is open each day from 2-7:30 pm Mon-Thurs and 2-5:30 on Friday... it is also open during Grandparents Breakfast from 8-9am.
Have a great week...we plan to!
Science
We are finishing up our unit in Science. In the past two weeks we have been exploring Food Chains and Food Webs using many different resources. The kids read from the Sciencesaurus textbook to gather information, they have taken notes while watching a video on Discovery Streaming titled "YOU in the Food Web", and we've had many discussions using our own aquariums as examples. We had to send our live organisms back to the Science Center on Friday...we were sad to see them go...it is so much fun to observe live organisms! We start a new Social Studies unit later this week!
Math
7/7 of our class is studying fractions right now! :-) We are busy identifying parts of a whole, parts of a group, and parts of a number. Recognizing denominators is very important when working on this concept. We also explored adding fractions with like denominators. I was so tickled when someone said, "Mrs. Wills, can we work with adding fractions of unlike denominators?!" Um...yeah!! The kids have built critters using fraction pieces, recorded those fractions, and will applying that skill as they identify which fractions of their candy bars have certain fillings, toppings, etc. The kids have also been participating in lots of "math talk" and problem solving. They have been solving fraction word problems in pairs and independently. We will continue with fractions through this week.
OTHER STUFF...
Conference reminders will come home on Friday...please read BOTH half sheets and return BOTH of them the following Monday, so that I can prepare for our meetings. I am only given 15 minutes to spend with each of you, so I ask that you think about what you'd like to discuss in particular...if we need more than 15 minutes, we can schedule a separate meeting at a different time. Since I am meeting with TWENTY SEVEN different sets of parents, please be understanding when I cut off the discussion at the appropriate time interval...all it takes is ONE late conference to throw off ALL the others!! Thank you ahead of time!
Grandparents Breakfast is this week...Wednesday and Thursday...RSVPs were already due.
Book Fair is here! Your child got an opportunity to preview the Book Fair and create a "wish list"...it is open each day from 2-7:30 pm Mon-Thurs and 2-5:30 on Friday... it is also open during Grandparents Breakfast from 8-9am.
Have a great week...we plan to!
