I hope you all enjoyed the nice long break from school, are well-rested, and ready to settle in to a great new year. The children kicked off 2011 by thinking about and writing down their new year's resolutions! These are on display in the hallway outside our classroom.
The LMC will be closed next week due to MAP Testing. Our students will be taking their reading test on Monday afternoon, and their math test on Thursday afternoon. We will have book checkout again the following Friday.
Spelling
The children worked on words with the “H brothers” this week. These words began with /th/, /ch/, /wh/, or /sh/. Next week we will also see the "H brothers," but we will find them hiding in the middle or at the end of the words.
Reading
Did you know that millions of years ago giant crocodiles were as long as a school bus? We read all sorts of
facts like that one in "Meet the Super Croc." We though about what the article was really about. We looked for the most important ideas and facts about crocodiles. Then we organized them to create a summary of the article in a short way. New vocabulary words we practiced with this week's theme include: ancient, confirm, hopeful, unable, and valid.
We also worked on adding prefixes and suffixes to root words. The children did a good job identifying these parts and determining how they affect the meaning of the root word. In grammar, the children learned to add 'ed' to regular verbs to put them in the past tense. We realized that words that end in a consonant often need to have the consonant doubled before the 'ed' is added!
Writing
Our new writing unit focuses on Poetry! We kicked off the unit by listening to several poems. The children began thinking about "what poetry is." We observed that some- but not all- poetry rhymes, its not always in complete sentences, it uses fun and descriptive language, and it tells about a topic! We decided that there are not specific rules in poetry. The children began making a list of topics that they would like to write a poem about. We followed our writing framework of "think, draw, label, write" as we worked this week to create poems! In order to add some interest to their writing, we reviewed the concept of a simile (using "like" or "as"
to make a comparison) and we also discussed alliteration as we read a silly story about the "WorryWarts." It was a book full of words that began with the letter 'w'. It can be so much fun to play with words in these two ways! The children are having fun stretching their thinking and writing this creative and open-ended writing format! I was excited to see the children move toward the poetry section of the library this week to make their reading selections! Also, I've found a few poetry links that I've added to the blog in the margin on the right so the children can practice at home, too!
Math
We have begun Unit 5 in math which surrounds 2 and 3 Dimensional shapes. The children learned about points, and practiced making, naming, and connect them to make line segments. They also practiced naming the line segments! We identified a range of polygons with the help of the pattern block template. We reviewed that polgons are multi-sided shapes that are closed, with straight edges, that do not overlap. The children went on to identify parallel lines and gave great examples of parallel lines they observed in our classroom (ceiling tiles, bricks, mini-blinds on our windows), as well as parallel lines you can find in the community (the sidewalk, and the railroad tracks!) Given geoboards and rubber bands, the class created triangles, quadrangles, pentagons and hexagons. They transferred their creations into their math journals using a ruler to ensure that their lines were as straight as possible. Looking at the triangle, the children worked to label the vertex, sides, and angles. Thank you for sending in shapes for our "Shapes Museum!" It makes the learning so much more authentic when we make that real world connection. We will be using those shapes in our lesson Tuesday of next week, so its not too late to send them in if you haven't already done so.)
If that was not enough, we have also begun drilling those subtraction facts this week. The children are now familiar with two strategies, -9, and the "Count Back" strategy- used when subtracting 1,2, or 3. In the LMC this week, the children visited a website where they were able to practice their math facts in a timed way. (The site we used is also linked on our blog to the right.) The children's scores are already on the rise! What a teachable group I have!
Science
We have started our unit on Habitats! This unit will be split into two parts. The first part will be a whole class unit studying the Rainforest. As a class, we will learn about its location, climate, animals, plants, as well as the way it benefits humans -and the way it is being destructed by humans. The children will learn how to take notes in a graphic organizer and then arrange their learning into a final product.
In the second part of this unit, the children will be divided into small cooperative learning groups. In these small groups they will study another habitat in a similar way, but on their own this time. Working together, the groups will study one of the following habitats: plains, river, mountains, arctic, desert, and ocean. They will use the exact same organizer used while studying the rainforest, and they will "teach" the class what they learned at the end!
That's it for now...
Happy New Year!
The LMC will be closed next week due to MAP Testing. Our students will be taking their reading test on Monday afternoon, and their math test on Thursday afternoon. We will have book checkout again the following Friday.
Spelling
The children worked on words with the “H brothers” this week. These words began with /th/, /ch/, /wh/, or /sh/. Next week we will also see the "H brothers," but we will find them hiding in the middle or at the end of the words.
Reading
Did you know that millions of years ago giant crocodiles were as long as a school bus? We read all sorts of
facts like that one in "Meet the Super Croc." We though about what the article was really about. We looked for the most important ideas and facts about crocodiles. Then we organized them to create a summary of the article in a short way. New vocabulary words we practiced with this week's theme include: ancient, confirm, hopeful, unable, and valid.
We also worked on adding prefixes and suffixes to root words. The children did a good job identifying these parts and determining how they affect the meaning of the root word. In grammar, the children learned to add 'ed' to regular verbs to put them in the past tense. We realized that words that end in a consonant often need to have the consonant doubled before the 'ed' is added!
Writing
Our new writing unit focuses on Poetry! We kicked off the unit by listening to several poems. The children began thinking about "what poetry is." We observed that some- but not all- poetry rhymes, its not always in complete sentences, it uses fun and descriptive language, and it tells about a topic! We decided that there are not specific rules in poetry. The children began making a list of topics that they would like to write a poem about. We followed our writing framework of "think, draw, label, write" as we worked this week to create poems! In order to add some interest to their writing, we reviewed the concept of a simile (using "like" or "as"
to make a comparison) and we also discussed alliteration as we read a silly story about the "WorryWarts." It was a book full of words that began with the letter 'w'. It can be so much fun to play with words in these two ways! The children are having fun stretching their thinking and writing this creative and open-ended writing format! I was excited to see the children move toward the poetry section of the library this week to make their reading selections! Also, I've found a few poetry links that I've added to the blog in the margin on the right so the children can practice at home, too!
Math
We have begun Unit 5 in math which surrounds 2 and 3 Dimensional shapes. The children learned about points, and practiced making, naming, and connect them to make line segments. They also practiced naming the line segments! We identified a range of polygons with the help of the pattern block template. We reviewed that polgons are multi-sided shapes that are closed, with straight edges, that do not overlap. The children went on to identify parallel lines and gave great examples of parallel lines they observed in our classroom (ceiling tiles, bricks, mini-blinds on our windows), as well as parallel lines you can find in the community (the sidewalk, and the railroad tracks!) Given geoboards and rubber bands, the class created triangles, quadrangles, pentagons and hexagons. They transferred their creations into their math journals using a ruler to ensure that their lines were as straight as possible. Looking at the triangle, the children worked to label the vertex, sides, and angles. Thank you for sending in shapes for our "Shapes Museum!" It makes the learning so much more authentic when we make that real world connection. We will be using those shapes in our lesson Tuesday of next week, so its not too late to send them in if you haven't already done so.)
If that was not enough, we have also begun drilling those subtraction facts this week. The children are now familiar with two strategies, -9, and the "Count Back" strategy- used when subtracting 1,2, or 3. In the LMC this week, the children visited a website where they were able to practice their math facts in a timed way. (The site we used is also linked on our blog to the right.) The children's scores are already on the rise! What a teachable group I have!
Science
We have started our unit on Habitats! This unit will be split into two parts. The first part will be a whole class unit studying the Rainforest. As a class, we will learn about its location, climate, animals, plants, as well as the way it benefits humans -and the way it is being destructed by humans. The children will learn how to take notes in a graphic organizer and then arrange their learning into a final product.
In the second part of this unit, the children will be divided into small cooperative learning groups. In these small groups they will study another habitat in a similar way, but on their own this time. Working together, the groups will study one of the following habitats: plains, river, mountains, arctic, desert, and ocean. They will use the exact same organizer used while studying the rainforest, and they will "teach" the class what they learned at the end!
That's it for now...
Happy New Year!
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