Writer's Workshop :)

Reading Non-Fiction!

Please talk to your children about text features and non-fiction books... they have been learning quite a bit and should add non-fiction into their reading diet regularly.

Informational Writing!

Informational Writing!!!  Which form did your child use for their book?  Here are some pictures of examples they could have done.

Hello everyone!

Here's an update on what's happening in our classroom:

Math: We have just finished up a conceptual multiplication unit, Muffles Truffles and we are focusing on fact practice and reviewing strategies we learned in the beginning of the year. When we come back from vacation, we will dive right into our geometry unit so you may want to start talking about shapes and angles with your kiddos.

Social Studies/Reading: We are continuing to learn about the Wampanoag Native Americans in our current social studies unit. We will continue this unit for a week or so after break. Today, we discussed main idea and detail and used a graphic organizer to write down our facts.

Writing: We are in the middle of our informational writing unit. They will be writing in their journals and on the computer.  We are very excited to see the final results! Keep an eye out for how we will be publishing these stories; more later on that!

Valentine's Day: We are celebrating Valentine's Day this Friday. If you'd like your child to participate, please send in enough Valentine's for everyone in the class, though participation is not necessary. See our earlier email regarding Valentine's Day for more information. 

If you have any concerns or questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thanks again for all you do! 

Composer Ziv Playing the Song He Wrote!

January Update

Hello everyone!

Here's an update on what's happening in our classroom:

Writing: This week we started our new writing unit on Informational Writing. Students will be constructing writing pieces on a subject they are an expert at. Feel free to talk to your child at home about what topics he or she might pick and encourage him or her to look for all the areas in his or her life where they could be considered a child expert. Thanks again to everyone who was able to come to our Writers' Gathering, it was great to see so much support for our students!

Reading: We are combining our Social Studies and reading blocks by doing a large unit on Wampanoags three days a week with the focus on non-fiction texts.  We will investigate Wampanoag culture at the time of the Pilgrim's arrival at Plymouth. Several books and multimedia activities will help our students to study what life was like for Wampanoag families much like ours. Expect your child to learn about such terms as wetu, wampum, and others.  We will spend the other two days a week focusing on other non-fiction texts pertaining to Martin Luther King Jr. and other Native American tribes.

Math: We have begun a new Unit expanding our conceptual thinking around multiplication, area, and division called Muffles Truffles. Despite the name--or perhaps because of it--this unit is a lot of fun and allows our students to get their hands dirty with partner work, conceptual poster making, and out-of-the-box thinking. Ask your student about Muffles Truffles!

Science: This week we started a large investigative science unit. This investigation will last several weeks and will allow students to study the various materials the objects around them are made of. They will learn how to compare and contrast different types of materials (matter) such as, pine, oak, PVC, copper, steel, etc.

Have a great weekend!!! :) 

Topographical Map Making

Massachusetts Map Scavenger Hunt

November Update

Math:

We have finished up the math unit 2 and have moved into, what we call, The Big Dinner. Students are working together to determine how much items cost for our Thanksgiving dinner. Students are told how much 1 pound of turkey, apples, carrots, etc., cost and then they have to determine how much that item will cost if they need to purchase various sizes. This is our way of introducing multiplication. Students are asked if they have 4 packs of juice and each pack has 6 juice boxes how many juice boxes will they end up with. The hope is that they can figure out the number string, 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 and then relate it to 4 x 6 (four groups of six). It is fun to see the lightbulbs go off in their heads! This will finish up before Thanksgiving break! Sooo, ask your child to help plan out how much money you will need when you head to the market to get the groceries!

Writing:

We are continuing our work on our personal narrative stories. We, most recently, worked on developing the "heart" of the story (making the center of the story stand out more by adding more vivid language and details) and knowing when to start new paragraphs. We learned that any time the author changes sub topics, has a new person speaking, or moves forward in time we need to start a new paragraph. Look for this during our publishing party.

Reader's Workshop:

We have finally started reading groups. We are working on noticing character change over time, and making inferences about the characters by using clues from the text and our background knowledge. The students are very strong at retelling, but we want to direct them to being able to tell a 20 word summary. This is challenging as they want to tell ALL the details rather than the most important pieces. 

Social Studies:

During SS we are examining maps, we talked about perspective, keys and aerial views. We also heard a story called, Ms. Achusetts. This is about how to remember the shape of Massachusetts. The children drew what they thought was their state and then heard the story, most of their pictures were more accurate after hearing the story of how to remember what Massachusetts looks like. It was a lot of fun to see what they thought as opposed to now knowing. Next week we will build a topographical map of MA. 

Science:

Last week we spent more time on trees and their different characteristics. We had Marc Welch, the urban arborist of the City of Newton come and take a nature walk with us. He discussed various topics including how trees limbs do not actually grow up with them, and sometimes they get buried in the trunk as it grows over the limbs. 

Mindset:

We will start learning about neurons, making mistakes and learning from them, and how we can make our brains grow. It has been fun to hear the students give each other positive feedback even when they are having a hard time just by introducing our mindset bulletin board in our classroom.

We are having a really great year and we can't wait to see what there is to come!

Costume Day Shenanigans

Snow White and 2 of "her 7 Dwarfs"

Walking to Cabot Park Senior Housing to deliver candy