May 29th-June 1st

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Please send in the $3.50 admittance fee to the Animal Park (if you haven't done so already) as soon as possible!  On the day of the field trip, students will be allowed to bring $2.00 from home to spend on either an ice cream or a drink.

Last week was the last week for the homework packets.  They will not have a new homework packet in their boomerang folders today. Students are still expected to practice their goals at home only now they are no longer required to log when and how they practice.

Classroom wishlist:  expo markers and tissues

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working on r-controlled vowels that make the /or/ sound with the spelling patterns or, ore, and oar.  We practiced these patterns with the following words:  more, tore, wore, store, oar, roar, board, port, north, and fort.  We will continue to build and blend words with the /or/ sound throughout the week.

Vocabulary:  Our new vocabulary words are:  invented, design, products, instrument, powerful, and allowed.  We used our elbow buddies to define the word, use it in a sentence, and build connections to each of the words.  Then we listened and searched for the words in the the story called Kid Inventors Then and Now by Kali Capria.

Comprehension:  This week we will be practicing the strategy of rereading something when something doesn't make sense.  When we reread, we'll ask ourselves questions about the characters, the setting, and the plot.  If we can't answer the questions, we will know that we need to go back and reread to figure them out.  We'll also be reviewing what it means to compare and contrast while reading.  When we compare, we are looking for how people or things are similar.  When we contrast, we are looking for how people or things are different.  We will be practicing these skills while we read the story called African American Inventors by Jim Haskins.

Grammar:  We will be talking about why the word "I" is always a capital.  Together we will look at examples of when I should be capitalized and then students will have the chance to practice on their own.

Writing:  Our main focus again is working on completing our Animal Research Books.  Everyone is working on pulling their final drafts together and creating their beautiful illustrations!  We will also be practicing how to write to a prompt.  The question students will be challenged to answer is, "If you were going to invent a machine named after yourself, what would the machine do?  Describe it." 

Math:  This week, we will be finishing up measuring objects using different units and also how to measure two objects to determine how much longer one is than the other.  We continue to talk about the importance of measuring at the beginning of an object and starting at zero on their measuring tool.  We also talk about making sure we pay attention and measure with the correct units.  In addition, we continue to talk about which tools are appropriate for measuring certain objects.  Later this week, we will work together to measure the lengths of several objects and then plotting those lengths using a line plot.  

Social Science:  We are making our dioramas!  Students will be planning out what their animal's habitat will need to look like and materials they might need in order to create that look.  Once they have planned the scene, they will have a chance to create the background for the animal using whatever materials we have.  These could be things like paint, paper, sand, rocks, sticks, etc.  They will use the materials that fit their animal's habitat best.  Once their habitat is complete, they will be using modeling clay to create a figure to place into their dioramas.  We are so excited!

I hope you have an amazing week!

May 21st-25th

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Field Day is happening tomorrow!  Rain or shine!  Please send your child prepared to participate!  Please bring extra clothes and maybe even shoes as it may be wet!  It's going to be a lot of fun!

Shoe boxes are due on WEDNESDAY May 23rd.  Please remember to send it in with your child ASAP!  Also, if you are willing and able to donate clay to our classroom, it would be greatly appreciated!

Please remember to send in permission slips for our upcoming field trips to the Animal Wildlife Park and Dunn School!  Students who are going on the Wildlife Park field trip also need to send in $3.50 for their admittance fee.  Let me know if you have any questions!

This will be the last formal week for homework.  Students are still expected to bring in their homework packets next Tuesday when we return from the three day weekend.  In the following weeks, students are still expected to practice their goals at home.  For example, they should still be reading for 20 minutes every night, practicing their spelling words, and practicing their math goals (either on IXL, the portaportal, games that were sent home, or math fact cafe).  However, I will no longer be sending out the actual homework packet to record how many times your child practices at home.  It's important to remind your child as well that although summer is right around the corner, we still have 16 more days left of school! We will still be setting goals and meeting goals everyday!  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

This week in...

Phonics:  We will be practicing the /ir/ sound with the spelling patterns:  eer, ere, and ear.  At the same time, we will be practicing the /ur/ sound with the spelling pattern er.  We will be practicing with these words:  near, queer, dear, verb, ear, perch, deer, here, steer, and where.

Vocabulary:  This week's vocabulary words are:  impossible, treasures, watch, talent, and pleasant.  We'll use our elbow buddies to figure out what these words mean, how to use them in a sentence, and build connections with them!  Then, we will listen and search for the vocabulary words in two short stories.  One is called Frozen Art and the other is called  Elephant Artists.

Comprehension:  We will be practicing how to analyze text structure.  This means we will be looking at the way the author organizes the information.  We will also practice how to make judgments while reading.  This means that we are thinking about the information the author gives us and then form an opinion about the topic.  We will be practicing these things while we read Music of the Stone Age.

Grammar:  We will be practicing adjectives that compare.  For example adding -er or -est to the end of the word.  Adjectives that compare are words like brightest, bigger, oddest, and longer.

Writing:  Our main focus in writing right now is our animal book projects.  This week, students will be working to complete the final draft of their books which include pictures and facts about what their animal looks like, their habitat, their diet, and also fun facts about the animal.  As an extra fun part of the assignment, students will be creating an "about the author" page that shares information about themselves as the author of their animal books.  

Math:  Our last unit focuses on measurement.  As of right now, we have opened two standards to work on.  

I can measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter stickers, and measuring tapes.

I can estimate the lengths of objects using inches, feet, centimeters, and meters.

These two standards are combined onto the same menu with the following as the students' checklist:

1.  I can choose the best tool to measure an object.

2.  I can estimate and check lengths using inches.

3.  I can estimate and check lengths using feet.

4.  I can estimate and check lengths using centimeters.

5.  I can estimate and check lengths using meters.

6.  I can measure the length of an object using a ruler.

7.  I can measure the length of an object using a yardstick.

8.  I can measure the length of an object using a meter stick.

9.  I can measure the length of an object using a measuring tape.

This week, our whole group lessons will focus on estimating and measuring various objects around the room with all of the measuring tools.  At the end of the week, we will begin to measure the same object using different units (i.e. inches and centimeters).  

I hope you all have a fabulous week!

May 14th-May 18th

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Permission slips for the Step Up Day and the Animal Wildlife Park need to be returned!  Please remember to send in $3.50 for the admittance fee to the Wildlife Park.

Field Day will be next Tuesday, May 22!

Remember to return the yellow sheet with Step Up Day information for Dunn School.  The bottom of the sheet indicates whether your child will be bringing a lunch from home or if they need a bagged lunch from Russell.  This needs to be returned by Friday!

We need shoe boxes!  As a part of our Animal Projects, we will be creating dioramas in the classroom.  Please send in a shoebox for your child.  Also, if you are willing and able to donate any modeling clay for us to use to make the animals, it would be a huge help!  A letter will be going home soon about this as an extra reminder.

BIG thank you to those of you who were able to donate supplies to our classroom!  It was greatly appreciated! 

Classroom wishlist:  TISSUES!  We are running low!

This week in..

Language Arts:  This week, Team Blowey is trying a new and improved CAFE work time.  We will be exploring and practicing a lot of new options to help us build our reading and writing skills!  Here is a glimpse at how our CAFE time has changed:

First, we have two rounds of CAFE goal time.  Each round is separated into two groups of students.  In both rounds, there will be one group of students working on either writing or word work.  There will also be a group of students working on CAFE (comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary).  At the end of round one, we meet on the rug for a mini lesson.  Then, we have round two.  Students who were working on either writing or word work in round one will now switch to CAFE and vice versa.

When students are working on writing, they get three different choices in how they will practice.  First, students may work in their writing journals.  They can write about a topic they choose or if they have trouble deciding what to write, they can pick an idea from our idea box.  Second, student may choose to work on our current writing project.  At the moment, that is our Animal Research Project.  Third, students may choose to work out of the writing flip book.  The flip book provides writing prompts that are coordinated with the stories we read each week to help us build our comprehension skills.

When students work on word work, they are working off of their spelling menus.  Before students take a spelling test, they must prove to their partner that they have completed a spelling workbook page and also practiced one other menu option.

There are four parts to the CAFE part of our work time:  comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanding vocabulary.  Each part has different options for students to choose from.

When students are practicing comprehension, they can choose from lots of different choices.  First, students may choose to read to themselves.  They can do this by choosing a book from their book box or by using a website from the portaportal.  Near the end of the goal time, they need to fill out an accountability sheet telling me what story they read and what their favorite part was.  Second, students may choose to work through the reading flip book.  Just like the writing flip book, students have a chance to practice their reading skills through activities that are specifically designed with our whole group comprehension story.  Third, students may choose to practice comprehension by completing a book project.  Once they have completed a book, they can show that they understood the book by completing one of a variety of projects.   A few examples would be a story map, a story chart, a web, or the likes and dislikes of the book.

When students are practicing accuracy, they can choose from two different choices.  They can either practice their sight words or they may choose to play the game speedy phrases.  The goal of speedy phrases is to say as many short phrase cards as you can in one minute, and then try to get even more phrases the next minute.  They will time themselves for five minutes total.

When students are practicing fluency, they can choose from even more options.  First, students may practice fluency by working with a partner and doing "I read, you read".  When they are done, they have an accountability sheet to fill out telling me who their partner was and what expressions they used when they were reading.  Second, students can work on fluency by listening to reading.  They may listen to stories by using several of the websites on the portaportal.  Third, students may practice fluency by playing Express It!  Express It! is a game where students work with a partner to read a variety of phrases with correct expression.  First, they read the phrase.  Then, they read the phrase again with more expression.  Then, their partner reads the phrase.  If they read it differently, they figure out why.

When students are practicing expanding vocabulary they can choose from one of three choices.  First, they can go on a vocabulary adventure!  Each week, their will be picture cards with a story on the back that feature 6 vocabulary words.  In their notebooks, students need to write the words, define them, and use them in a sentence.  Once they have completed that, they may read the story together.  Second, students can practice expanding their vocabulary by using a vocab catcher.  When they are reading to themselves, they will tune into interesting words and note them on their vocab catcher.  When they have finished recording them, they will look up the word in the dictionary and practice using the word in a sentence.  Third, students can practice expanding their vocabulary by exploring the word work flip book.  The flip book has specific activities designed the words we study each week as a whole group.

Throughout this process, I am keeping track of student's choices.  This allows me to help students broaden their horizons and make sure that they are exploring different ways of practicing.  It allows helps to make sure students are working on all components of reading and not necessarily just their favorite part of reading.

As a part of this introduction, whole groups lessons this week will revolve around two things.  First, we will be working together to take our research and put it into a rough draft.  Second, our lessons will be revolving around teaching, modeling, and practicing our new system for our language arts goal time.   This  will help us to some time to review comprehension strategies, phonics patterns, and vocabulary words from earlier in the year.

Math:  We are coming to the end of our odd and even unit.  We will have a few more lessons figuring out what numbers (from 0-20) are odd and what numbers are even.  We will also practice writing a doubles or near doubles number sentence for each number.  In addition, students will be using their critical thinking skills to explain why a doubles number sentence is written for even numbers and why a near doubles number sentence is written for odd numbers.  In order to do this, we have been talking about partners and teams.  If a number is even, everyone will have a partner and the number can be split into two equal teams.  If a number is odd, someone will be left out and the two teams will not be equal.

Later this week, we will unpack our final unit:  measurement.  In this unit, students will learn to measure objects accurately using appropriate tools, measure the same object using different units, find out how much longer one object is than another, estimate lengths, measure several objects and show the data on a line plot, and also solve word problems involving length.  The complete checklists will be posted next week.  If your child has moved on to measurement, they can practice any of the measurement standards on IXL.  They are all letter "S."

Other news:  This past Monday was the last time we got to see our book buddies.  We had a lot of fun creating creatures to help us remember each other!  It was awesome to have some older role models for us to look up to.  Working together helped us learn what Team Blowey will need to look like next year as third graders at Dunn School!

May 7th-May 11th

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

Tonight is the spring concert!  The concert starts at 6 p.m. and will be at the Middle School!  The students are so excited to show you all of their hard work!

Remember, homework packets are due on Monday!  Please send them in the boomerang folders.  More practice = more homework points!  50 points earns a prize from the prize box!

Next Monday is an early release day!  Students will be dismissed at 1:00!

Classroom wish list:  erasers, pencils, whiteboard markers, old (but clean) socks to be used as whiteboard erasers

This week in...

Phonics:  We are working on r-controlled vowels with the spelling patterns:  ar, are, and air.  Together, we spelled, sorted and read the following words:  star, shark, care, stare, rare, dare, hair, pair, chair, and fair.  Throughout the week we will continue to blend and build words using these spelling patterns.

Vocabulary:  This week's vocabulary words are: creating, memories, familiar, imagination, glamorous, and occasions.  We will use our elbow buddies to define these words, use them in a sentence, and build connections to them so we are more likely to remember and use them.  Together we will search for these words in the short story called Making Stories Happen.  

Comprehension:  This week we will continue to analyze story structure.  This means we are looking at how a story is organized.  Knowing these details will help us understand the story better.  We are also going to work on drawing conclusions.  This means that we are making decisions about a selection based on the text and the picture clues.  We will also use our background knowledge to help use understand what we are reading.  We will practice these skills while reading the story called Stirring Up Memories by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Grammar:  We will be practicing using a and an.  We will do a few examples together and then students will be practicing independently.

Writing:  This week, we have introduced our new research project, ANIMALS!  Today, students had the opportunity to pick an animal they would like to research.  They will be looking for sources (library books and websites) to use for their research.  Once they have found their sources, they will begin their research.  Over the next few weeks, they will be organizing their research onto a graphic organizer.  Then, they will use the information they gathered to create a rough draft.  This rough draft will be checked by two peers and a grown up so that we can look at ways to make our writing better and also to make sure we have used correct grammar and spelling.  After students have finished editing their rough draft, they will use that to write a book that will teach other students about the animal they researched.  They will also have the chance to illustrate their book.  All of this will be happening over the course of the next few weeks.  Students will be mainly searching for information about what the animal looks like, their habitat, diet, and other fun facts.  We are very excited about our new project!

Read aloud:  To go along with our Biography Day, we began reading a book called Being Teddy Roosevelt.  It's a story about a fourth grade class who also does a biography report.  Instead of parading to other classrooms though, they have a biography tea where they get to impersonate the person they wrote their report about.  It's been a lot of fun to compare and contrast our Biography Day to the book's!

Math:  This week, math will be focusing on a lot of different topics.

First, we will be reviewing how to identify triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, and cubes.

Second, we will be reviewing what a "face" and an "angle" are and how to identify them on a shape.

Third, we will be reviewing how to construct a retangular array of tiles given a certain amount of columns and rows and counting to see how many same-sized squares are in each.

Then, we will also be reviewing 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4.  We'll be talking about what those fractions mean and also how to divide a rectangle and circle into halves, thirds, and fourths.

Later in the week, we'll be discussing how parts of a whole can be different shapes.  For example, a rectangle can be divided in half by dividing it down the middle or diagonally.

We will also begin to unpack how to determine if a number is odd or even (up to 20).  We'll also unpack how to write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends (for example, 7+7=14).

Science:  A lot of our animal research project will have parts of science woven into it.  For example, talking about what a habitat is.  Together, we will be researching beluga whales as I model what it looks like to do the research, organize the information, and write the book.

At the end of the week, we will also be attempting to re-plant some of the seeds that we got from the pods of our other brassica plants.  This will reinforce the complete life cycle of plants.

I hope you have a fabulous week!