Weekly Update 11/8/13

I'm very proud of our whole class this week!  We've had our new student join us and as you may have heard, she does not speak much English.  Student have been wonderful being respectful, kind, and helpful.  They welcomed her so well and you should be proud of your children!
Important information:
*No school on Monday 11/11/13 for Veteran's Day.
*Math morning is scheduled for Thursday, November 21 from 8:30-9:30.  At the beginning you will meet in the auditorium with the math coach and then proceed to our classroom for a variety of math activities.  As it gets closer, please let me know if you can't make it so I can buddy students up with families if necessary.
*For future planning...On Wednesday, November 27, there is an early release day at 12:00 (not 12:30 as usual).
*Thank you everyone for coming in for conferences.  The students were proud to share their work and it's so important for us to touch base and discuss the progress made and the work we still have to do.
*Since we have all met for conferences and we've discussed math and Fundations tests, I will begin sending copies of the tests home for you to view as well.  Please keep in mind that the Fundations tests are not always an accurate representation of what I see in in the classroom.  I am watching the tests, but also students' everyday writing, practice Fundations work with letter tiles or the white board, and their writing workshop work.
What's happening in room 235?
In literacy, we've been focusing on our James Marshall author study.  We're looking at cause and effect, problem and solution, character traits, and writing our opinion on books and what makes a good friend. In Fundations, we've been working on syllables and trick words: against, knew, know, always, often, and once.  During writing workshop, we have been working on completing and publishing our narrative books.  I am very impressed.  Each student showed growth during this writing unit and the work they've done to fancy up and expand their stories has been great!  Next week, we will be meeting with our 3rd grade buddies to share our stories celebrate their hard work!
In math, we've been working on place value.  Understanding how to write numbers and make them with cubes to show hundreds, tens, and ones is an important skill that much of our math builds on for later this year.  We played a game "Race to 100" and "Race to zero" with partners.  We've also been reviewing how to tell time and different ways to show amounts of money.  We will take unit 3 test at the end of next week.
In social studies, we've been learning about jazz music, the 4th of July, and rural/urban/suburban areas. We will finish the United States unit early next week and then begin science (Earth, Moon, and Sun).