Writing
Last week, students had a few free writing days. They could choose the topic, but they had to write 3 sentences with capitals and endmarks. Students are working on developing their topic and writing and illustrating for at least twenty minutes.
Lucy Calkins is the name of a writing series the school has provided teachers with this year. She describes persuasive writing as 1) seeing a problem 2) deciding the audience 3) writing about a solution. We used these stages to develop writings on seeing trash on the playground. Sadly, there have a been a few occasions where a student sees a water bottle or something left on the fields. The class agreed this was a problem. Each student chose if they wanted to write a letter to Mr. Pinnock, teachers, or students/kids. Then, they wrote their opinion and reasons trash should be picked up. Talk with your student about the reasons they gave. Students wrote a rough draft and conferenced 1:1 with me where I gave them a compliment and a goal Next week, students will edit and publish this piece of writing.
Reading
Students read animal books in our guided reading groups last week. They brought them home in their book in a bags, and the books are now in their book boxes in the classroom. We continue to work on the five handy helpers when they come to a word they don't know. 1) sound it out 2) look for chunks 3) think about what makes sense 4) get your mouth ready 5) check the picture.
Students visited literacy centers last week and will visit centers again this week.
Science
The past two weeks students have been learning about animals. Students learned to sort animal by their movement and body covering. We built on that topic by learning more about animal habitats. Students worked in groups to learn about a habitat through library books. They studied the pictures to learn about the animals that lived their and aspects of the habitat. Next, students worked together to create a picture representing their habitat. Finally, they taught our class and Ms. Jones class about their habitat. It was a great opportunity for students to learn to work together and share as a group. Pictures will be uploading soon!
Next week, we start our parent/offspring unit. Students will learn to identify similarities and differences between animal parents and animal babies. Most students already have this knowledge so we are extending the curriculum. Each student drew a picture of an animal they want to learn more about. I checked out library books about each animal. Students will read the books and use a website called PebbleGo to gain more knowledge about their animal. What are babies called? What's the animal's habitat? What does it eat? Then, they will take this information and make a small book about their animal. These will be put in our classroom library so students can read and learn about each others' animals as well.
Math
Last week, students learned how to decomopose numbers. We said a chant "Decompose, break a number down, break a number down." Students learned there are multiple ways to make a number. For example, 6+1=7, 5+2=7, 0+7=7, etc. Students rolled counters out of a cup to find different combinations to make the same number.
At the end of the week, students learned the various ways to make ten. This is a separate standard, and students should be able to find the missing number or addend. For example, 8+___ =10. We practiced the counting on strategy, using a ten frame, and learning about the ten best friends. The ten best friends are fun stories to help students memorize combinations of numbers that equal ten.
0 & 10 They are best friends because they have a lot in common.
1 & 9 Nine has muscles and one does not. They go to the gym together.
2 & 8 Two tells eight how many circles he has in his body.
3 & 7 They are both open numbers.
4 & 6 They both look like noses and enjoy talking about noses.
5 & 5 They are twins.
This week students will practice fluently adding and subtracting with numbers 0-5. Now is the time to start practicing these skills at home. You can use flashcards or create a game to review the equations. It is okay if students still use fingers to solve the equation.
Other
Students will be going to the science lab on Monday, March 17th as well as making leprachaun traps!
<3 Mrs. Daugherty
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