Dear Parents,
The first month of school has flown by! During this month, students have been settling into classroom routines, learning about their classmates and themselves, and setting goals. Many of the activities we have done help them to reflect on who they are as a person. In class, we have read books by Jacqueline Woodson that focus on kindness and friendship. Throughout the year I will refer to the characters and events in these books as we explore topics such as inclusiveness, bullying, and other important social issues. This week was the Fifth Annual Character Day where people around the world look at character traits and how they make a difference. This week we discussed various character traits such as courage, honesty, and thoughtfulness, and they listed the ones that they thought represented themselves. We will continue this conversation throught the year as we delve into different themes in our literature. CURRICULUM Writing and Literature This week I read The Day The Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. This very funny book is written from the perspective of a box of crayons. Then students chose an object from their desk and wrote their own perspective story in the voice of the object. They were quite funny and very creative. Using perspective in reading and writing, helps students to see different viewpoints. Another favorite book, The Pain and The Great One, by Judy Blume not only demonstates a brother/sister relationship, but also allows the reader to see different sides to a situation. Minstrel In The Tower We began the week doing Reader's Theater with chapters one and two. The two groups practiced with their scripts then performed for each other. The adventures continue in chapters three and four as Alice and Roger's quest to find Bordeaux leads them into some trouble. While exploring an ancient tower, they are kidnapped by some outlaws. We discussed eating game birds, such as quail and being a ragamuffin. Language This we focused on sentence structure and the use of subjects and predicates. Throughout the year we will continue to build on the various language skills and parts of speech. In handwriting this week, students worked on the lower case letters u, y, i, and j. Spelling In unit two we are focusing on short e and o words. Some concepts we worked on were definitions, ending sounds, analogies, synonyms and context clues. Math Students have been working on addition with regrouping in the ones, tens, and hundreds place in chapter three. We are also spending time solving word problems. When solving a word problem we look at the information given, key words, and what information they are asking. Social Studies Our mix it up groups continued with map skills, focusing on directions. Using a world map they followed specific directions to navigate around the continents and oceans. In class, we have been learning more about monarch butterflies, their life cycle, and physical traits. Please let me know if you are interested in coming on our field trip next Friday. All are welcome! This is a message from Jodi Pink: Saturday, October 20th: Farmers For America Screening and Panel with Local Food Tasting. Click here to learn more and register. In addition, the Northeast Organic Farming Association, NOFA, is offering a free gardening workshop, led by FA teacher Steve Walach, on campus prior to this event. You can click here to learn more about their workshop. Contact Steve Walach to register. Just a reminder to please return your Hopes and Dreams questionaire by Friday October 19th. Thank you to all who have sent them in already. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. The weather looks like typical fall days ahead! Sincerely, Gayle
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |