Weekly Update 1/16/15

We've had a busy week and have been moving right along in all academic areas this week!

A few reminders...

• Monday there is no school.
• The kids are coming in nice and warm with lots of clothes for recess!  Please keep sending them in with the appropriate winter gear.
• In the next few weeks there will be emails going home about the 100th day of school and friendship day activities.  Please keep an eye out for these as there's things the students will need to do and some may require a little bit of help from you!  Thanks!
• Here is a link the the current Scholastic ordering!  You can order directly online and I will send the order on the 30th, so please order by then.  The points used from the books you purchase are used for books for the classroom.  I love choosing new books and old favorites to add to the library for our students to expand their love of reading!
• Order at: scholastic.com/readingclub
  One-Time Class Activation Code: H6JBB

3, 2, 1, things you should know...
3 skills we worked on in math were identifying characteristics of 3-D shapes, working on explaining how we solved our math problems (addition and subtraction) and noticing that many can be solved in different ways, and working on comparing quadrilaterals.

2 skills we worked on in writing were adding a more interesting introduction to our informational stories by asking questions, telling a fact, or talking to the reader.  We also practiced writing questions about our topics that we want more information about and we will research for the answers next week.

1 activity we did this morning was to recognize the Martin Luther King Jr holiday coming up.
When students arrived this morning, they were surprised that some tables were marked "no girls here" and others marked "no boys here".  Also, when sitting on the rug there were signs for "no girls upfront" and later "no boys upfront".  This is an activity that helps them understand a little bit more what it may have been like for Martin Luther King, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks.  They were instructed to follow the rules and they changed throughout the day in the classroom.  After reading workshop, we had a talk about what they thought about it, how they felt, how people may have felt then when they couldn't sit on the bus where they wanted or couldn't use the water fountains (for examples).  The students did a great job in the discussion!

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Weekly Update 1/9/15

Happy New Year!  I hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed family time and winter activities.

Important information:

• Unless it is badly snowing or unbearable cold, we typically still go out for lunch recess so please be sure your child is dressed appropriately.  Also, if it does snow, only children with snow pants are allowed on the snow so please send those as well.  It's also helpful if you have your child practice putting it all on before they come to school.  I know it can be hard! 
• Monday, December 19th, there is no school.  
• Homework is back in full swing.  As before, typical homework is a math sheet, Fundations review, math fact practice a few times a week, nightly reading, and the reading response on the website 1 time a week. 

3, 2, 1 things you should know about this week…

3 skills we practiced during math were learning to draw and identify parallel lines, sort polygons based on their sides and angles, and identify quadrangles in the classroom.  Have your child point out some quadrangles/quadrilaterals in your own house.  How many can they find?

2 skills we've been working on with our author study of James Marshall are identifying the events, problem, and solution of the stories and writing lesson of the story using evidence from the text.

1 person we learned about during social studies was Diego Rivera who was a Mexican painter.  His paintings helped tell the story of all Mexicans in many different situations.

Have a great weekend!