It was exciting week in the classroom with a lot of learning during the week and a Fall Celebration on Friday. The Fall Celebration was great. A big thank you to all of the parents that brought snacks and supplies for the party and for those of you who came in and volunteered... we definitely had a blast!
Last week and what to expect this week:
In Math: We learned about writing number models to represent problems, parentheses and their purpose, and what makes a number sentence true, false or ? (we can't tell).
This week: We will be finishing up Unit 3 discussing open number sentences. There will be a Unit 3 Study Guide going home tomorrow (Monday) that will be due on Wednesday. We are planning on taking our Unit 3 Test this coming Thursday.
In Writing: Last week we started writing our new rough drafts of a personal narrative. We learned about what makes a good topic for personal narrative, different punctuation marks and their purposes and kept them in mind as we drafted. We also talked about using a "try it" page using sound patterns we already know to spell unfamiliar words we may not know. We published our fall descriptive pieces and many published an informational text relating to why leaves change colors in the fall. Stay tuned for the display!
This week: We are going to revisit a personal narrative to name and notice what make's it great. We are then going to spend the rest of the week making revisions to our drafts, revisiting some of the ideas that make personal narratives great including: adding sensory detail, and "inner talk". We will do this all all while remembering what makes a bold beginning and a memorable ending.
In Reading: As I have been benchmark testing students, we have taken a step back and looked at what makes a good question, predicting using clues, and connections that relate to the books that we are reading. We have been recording these on our "Think Marks" and have been keeping track of the books we read on our Reading Logs.
OCTOBER READING CALENDARS ARE DUE THIS WEEK! Please make sure your child has read for at least 4 days a week for 20 minutes. An initial on the day is perfectly fine. As many students have told me they "never got a reading calendar" I told them that any calendar with a signature will work just fine. I will be sending home November Reading Calendars on Monday.
This week: We are going to continue to work on making good predictions and dip our toes into the idea of making inferences. We are going to use our think marks to write a reading response letter, and hopefully get a chance respond to each other's reading response letters.
In Social Studies: Last week, we played a jeopardy review game and took our Chapter 3 social studies test about the peopling of the United States. These should be coming home sometime within the week. ( Keep in mind, students were given the opportunity after finishing the test to go back to the book and find the correct answers. So I'm expecting some high scores.)
This week: We are going to start our tour of the Northeast. We will now be digging into each region of the United States and discussing important information relating to the region. Students will be coming up with their "wonderings" about the northeast and start a geography challenge, exploring the Northeast region.
In Science: We watched a short video describing scientific inquiry. We then designed and conducted a "redo" of our previous experiment involving organic and inorganic material.
This week: Our focus is going to shift to fungus and their role as decomposers, as we start a new experiment with mycelium plugs. We will also be reading informational passages about mycelium and learning how to "take notes" on key information. Stay tuned!
As we start November, I am going to be really challenging students to be completing "quality work" and I will be holding students accountable for completing homework on time. We will be changing seats on Monday, and please remember that many of you signed up for conferences on Monday (November 3rd) and that there is no school on Tuesday, November 4th.
If at anytime you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me at any time.
Stay Warm!
Ms. Peck
In Math: We learned about writing number models to represent problems, parentheses and their purpose, and what makes a number sentence true, false or ? (we can't tell).
This week: We will be finishing up Unit 3 discussing open number sentences. There will be a Unit 3 Study Guide going home tomorrow (Monday) that will be due on Wednesday. We are planning on taking our Unit 3 Test this coming Thursday.
In Writing: Last week we started writing our new rough drafts of a personal narrative. We learned about what makes a good topic for personal narrative, different punctuation marks and their purposes and kept them in mind as we drafted. We also talked about using a "try it" page using sound patterns we already know to spell unfamiliar words we may not know. We published our fall descriptive pieces and many published an informational text relating to why leaves change colors in the fall. Stay tuned for the display!
This week: We are going to revisit a personal narrative to name and notice what make's it great. We are then going to spend the rest of the week making revisions to our drafts, revisiting some of the ideas that make personal narratives great including: adding sensory detail, and "inner talk". We will do this all all while remembering what makes a bold beginning and a memorable ending.
In Reading: As I have been benchmark testing students, we have taken a step back and looked at what makes a good question, predicting using clues, and connections that relate to the books that we are reading. We have been recording these on our "Think Marks" and have been keeping track of the books we read on our Reading Logs.
OCTOBER READING CALENDARS ARE DUE THIS WEEK! Please make sure your child has read for at least 4 days a week for 20 minutes. An initial on the day is perfectly fine. As many students have told me they "never got a reading calendar" I told them that any calendar with a signature will work just fine. I will be sending home November Reading Calendars on Monday.
This week: We are going to continue to work on making good predictions and dip our toes into the idea of making inferences. We are going to use our think marks to write a reading response letter, and hopefully get a chance respond to each other's reading response letters.
In Social Studies: Last week, we played a jeopardy review game and took our Chapter 3 social studies test about the peopling of the United States. These should be coming home sometime within the week. ( Keep in mind, students were given the opportunity after finishing the test to go back to the book and find the correct answers. So I'm expecting some high scores.)
This week: We are going to start our tour of the Northeast. We will now be digging into each region of the United States and discussing important information relating to the region. Students will be coming up with their "wonderings" about the northeast and start a geography challenge, exploring the Northeast region.
In Science: We watched a short video describing scientific inquiry. We then designed and conducted a "redo" of our previous experiment involving organic and inorganic material.
This week: Our focus is going to shift to fungus and their role as decomposers, as we start a new experiment with mycelium plugs. We will also be reading informational passages about mycelium and learning how to "take notes" on key information. Stay tuned!
As we start November, I am going to be really challenging students to be completing "quality work" and I will be holding students accountable for completing homework on time. We will be changing seats on Monday, and please remember that many of you signed up for conferences on Monday (November 3rd) and that there is no school on Tuesday, November 4th.
If at anytime you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me at any time.
Stay Warm!
Ms. Peck