Weekly Update: September 20 – 24

Some highlights of the week:

·      We had our first all-school fire drill of the school year. The children were quiet, good listeners, and followed the directions. 
They did a great job!

·      We finished our unit on Landforms and will begin studying the history of Arlington Heights next week. There is a note in backpack mail today explaining a research/art project we will be working on to accompany this unit. We are in need of several parent volunteers in the LMC  during our library time on Friday afternoons from 12:55 – 1:25, as well as on Thursday October 7^th from 2:45 – 3:25. Please send me an email if you are available! kosullivan@sd25.org

Reading: The children learned the 4^th station of the Daily 5, Read with a Buddy. We continued to practice Read to Self, Word Work, and Listening Center. For the Read with a Buddy station, we learned that it would be helpful for our buddy if we listened carefully while they read, and suggest to them to sound out tricky words, use the picture as a clue, read around the unknown word, or back up and reread if they happened to get stuck. We were able to rotate from station to station to really set the stage for independent work time, as well as to enable me to pull reading groups this week!

Our Treasures theme this week was Fire Safety. We read a Nonfiction article about the dangers of wildfires. We practiced the comprehension strategy of Main idea and details and found it was an excellent way of retelling the important parts of the story. The students practiced safe, flames, tell, forest and heat as their new vocabulary words of the week! We completed this week's reading assessment together. The children practiced choosing the correct answer in a multiple choice scenario. They also learned how to answer an extended response question. We used the words in the question to begin our answer. Then we went back into the text to find at least two examples of evidence that support our answer. We added two of our own ideas and then wrote a closing sentence. The students will be taking their next reading test independently!

Math: We reviewed “greater than” and “less than.” The children experienced their first math homework assignments this week, and they did a nice job. They played “Addition Top-it” to build number sense and practice adding two numbers. (It is a glorified version of “War,” in which each student draws two cards and adds them together. The person with the greater sum takes the cards from that round.)  We went on to explore temperature, looking carefully at our gigantic classroom thermometer. The students looked closely at the markings in between numbers (the smaller markings counting by ones and the larger markings counting by twos) and also noticed the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius. We also noted freezing temperature, room temperature and body temperature using the thermometer. Finally the children were ready to take their Unit 1 Math test. We always review using our slates and dry erase markers before taking our math test, to refreshen our skills and remember all that we have learned how to do. The children’s tests and extended responses were graded and went home yesterday.  The extended response was completed together as a class, so the children can begin to think about how to explain their problem solving in a logical, sequential way.

We have jumped right into Unit 2 which focuses on addition and subtraction facts: solving number stories, learning and applying a range of strategies, and practicing finding the sums and differences of addition and subtraction facts up to and including 10.

Writing: The kids are currently publishing their autobiographies! They’ve worked hard to think, draw, label, and write about 4 stages of their lives. Now they are eager to polish up their writing in a neat and clean format! To celebrate the hard work they have done, we are going to have a writer’s celebration next Wednesday in our classroom. The children will have some juice and animal crackers, and listen to volunteers share their writing before we display it in the hall for others to enjoy. There is a note in backpack mail about this celebration, please let me know if you preferred that your child not participate in the juice/cracker portion of our celebration. Looking forward to the upcoming celebration is proving to be exciting and motivating as we finish up our work!

Social Studies: We have completed our studies of the 7 continents, 5 oceans, and the various landforms that can found in the world. We have been practicing the Continent Song to help remind us of the names and locations of each one. The children have also been reviewing their “4 homes!” They have learned the name of their continent, country, state, and city. They took their assessment today. Coming up next is our study of the past- including the history of our town, Arlington Heights! 

The children will be working to research a landmark that is or was of historical significance in our town. If you are available to come in to help us as we search for relevant facts and create our artwork, we’d love to have you! There is a note in today’s backpack mail asking the children to select the landmark of their choice. There is also a section for you to sign up if you are available to help out. We hope to see you!

LMC Volunteers: The LMC is looking for a few volunteers to accompany/ assist our class in the library on Friday afternoons after lunch from 12:55 – 1:40. Please contact Joanne Kenney (jkenney@sd25.org) if you are available!

Homework:  Keep up the great work with the homework! The children are completing their work carefully and completely on a consistent basis. I have also noticed how many of the children are adding post-it notes to their reading logs so they can add even MORE information! Wow!! What amazing effort! Thank you for all of the support!

Thank you for the birthday wishes and card signed by the children! What a fun surprise that was! It was a fabulous way to start my birthday. I loved all of the additional homemade cards and  little treats I received on Friday. Thank you, it was a great day!