Weekly Update-December 18

Announcements

Thank you all so much for the kind words over the past week regarding the passing of my father-in-law. Aaron and I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers that were sent our way.

Weekly Journals and Friday Folders checklists were not completed this week. They will resume after Winter Break.

Another thank you to everyone for coming to the Winter Open House! I heard the performance was wonderful and everyone enjoyed seeing the Health projects. I was very impressed with the student projects and presentations. Every student did an amazing job of teaching their classmates about a disease. Following are pictures of each student presenting!

In the Classroom 

In math this week, we continued to explore multiplication. Students studied a visual representation of multiplication called an array. Each student cut out and labeled their own set of array cards that will be used throughout the unit to practice multiplication.

Mrs. Finke visited our classroom this week to do one final health activity. Students were given an outline of a body and a bag of various materials. They were asked to use the materials in any way they wanted to show models of the body defenders. The students were very creative and able to show their understanding of the different defenses. 

In writing, we started our next project with non-fiction writing. Each student will be writing an expert piece. So far, we have brainstormed topics we are already experts for which we are already experts. We have completed all the lowercase cursive letters! We will begin the capital letters after Winter break.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday and Winter break!

Upcoming Events

December 21-January 4-No School, Winter Break

January 5-School Resumes

January 18-No School, MLK Jr. Day

January 27-Early Dismissal at 12:50

February 1-PTA meeting at 6:30

Weekly Update-December 4

Announcements

Just a reminder that Health projects are due Thursday, December 10th. Your third grader should have brought home a copy of the scoring guide on Monday. If your third grader completed an electronic project, you can either email the project to me or send it in on a flash drive. Please let me know if you have any questions about the projects. 

Here is the schedule for the approaching Open House on Friday, December 11th. As you can see, 3rd grade will be performing at 11:55 in the gym with the open house in the classroom following at 12:15. We hope to see everyone there!

Grade Level	Perform in Gym	Open House in Classroom
Choir	11:15 am
5th Grade	11:35 am	11:55-12:15
3rd Grade	11:55 am	12:15-12:35
2nd Grade	12:15 pm	12:35-12:55
1st Grade	1:05 pm	1:25-1:45
Kindergarten	1:25 pm	1:45-2:05
4th Grade	1:45 pm	2:05-2:25

Congratulations to Ava for earning a Comet Note this week for being a helpful classmate!

In the Classroom 

Last week in math, students did a project involving cubes and measuring strips. They created cube trains with alternating colors that represented skip counting by a factor. They then measured that train, marked the sections, and labeled with the correct multiples. This project continued to help us practice skip counting as well as get us acquainted with the multiples. Here are some pictures of the activity.

This week, we continued to focus on multiplication by looking at groups of items. We practiced using a picture of an empty sticker page and having to figure out how many stickers would fit on a page.

In Health this week, we discussed My Plate. Students learned about the different food groups and what they provide for your body. We also had a special guest come in to teach us about healthy eating. Mrs. B from the Nutrition department came to help us make a salad that contained something from every food group. Yum!

Our focus in reading this week was on non-fiction features. We read a book called The Buzz About Honeybees to learn about these features together. Each student also studied the features in their small guided reading groups. 

Students worked on and completed their Health report drafts in writing this week. We also began typing our reports. We will have these on display next week at the Open House. 

Upcoming Events

December 11-Winter Open House 

December 18-Winter Room Party 2:15-3:00

December 21-January 4-No School, Winter Break

January 5-School Resumes

January 18-No School, MLK Jr. Day

January 27-Early Dismissal at 12:50

Weekly Update-November 20

Announcements

Please make sure to look at the Health project information in the Friday folder. We have completed a basic outline for each student and will be writing a report here at school. Students are being asked to complete a project for their disease at home. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Here is the schedule for the approaching Open House on Friday, December 11th. As you can see, 3rd grade will be performing at 11:55 in the gym with the open house in the classroom following at 12:15. We hope to see everyone there!

Grade Level	Perform in Gym	Open House in Classroom
Choir	11:15 am
5th Grade	11:35 am	11:55-12:15
3rd Grade	11:55 am	12:15-12:35
2nd Grade	12:15 pm	12:35-12:55
1st Grade	1:05 pm	1:25-1:45
Kindergarten	1:25 pm	1:45-2:05
4th Grade	1:45 pm	2:05-2:25

Friday folders and Weekly Journals will not be completed next week due to the Thanksgiving Break. 

Thank you to everyone for attending Parent Teacher Conferences last week! If you would like to meet again prior to our February conference, please let me know.

Monday is Mismatch Monday! Students should wear their craziest combination of patterns on Monday.

In the Classroom 

We completed our unit on Data and Graphing this week. We did not assess over this unit. Students have also started multiplication! We began with a unit called Groceries, Stamps, and Measuring Strips. This unit uses realistic contexts to helps students develop efficient strategies for finding totals of groups of items. We started with a picture of products in a grocery store and then moved on to sets of stamps. Students are being asked to show their strategy using words, numbers, and symbols as well as explain it to their peers. At this point, we are focusing on efficient strategies to solve these "grouping" problems. The multiplication symbol may or may not be used.

In health this week, students continued studying how their body helps defend against diseases. We used our friend Bob to talk about various body defenses. : ) 

Students also completed a role play activity with Ms. Arnold. Each student had the opportunity to be a body defense and act out what happens when germs get in. 

In reading this week, we studied author's purpose and used the book, Through Artists' Eyes. Students learned about why authors make the choices they make. In writing, we began researching for our disease projects. Students learned about trustworthy websites and how to complete an outline by taking notes. 

Upcoming Events

November 23-Mismatch Monday

November 25-27-No School, Thanksgiving Break

December 11-Winter Open House (more details coming soon!)

December 18-Winter Room Party 2:15-3:00

December 21-January 4-No School, Winter Break

January 5-School Resumes

Weekly Update-November 12

Announcements

Just a reminder, Friday folder checklists were removed this week but will resume next week. Friday folders and Weekly Journals will not be completed the week of Thanksgiving.

We had a blast at the planetarium Wednesday! Students learned about how germs and bacteria attack cells inside the body. We also learned about how astronauts bodies have to adapt to space. Finally, we were able to see various constellations using the star ball in the Planetarium.

In the Classroom 

In math this week, completed a short unit over Data and Graphing. Students learned about surveying, pictographs, and bar graphs.We will begin our first Multiplication unit next week. 

In health, we learned about how your body defends itself against bacteria and viruses. Students learned about white blood cells, mucus, cilia, and antibodies. Dr. Furrer also brought back our samples from last week. We were able to see all the bacteria that lives on our bodies and in our classroom!

In reading, we focused on inferring. We used a big book about marionettes to practice this comprehension skill as a whole class. Then we used wordless picture books to practice inferring in partners. We loved being able to read a story even though there were no words!

We finished our personal narratives this week! We celebrated on Tuesday with a round circle share. Students were able to share their favorite part of their story. Then we moved around the room to read the whole pieces. What a wonderful room of writers we have in room 215! 

Next week, we will begin our non-fiction writing unit. 

Upcoming Events

November 16-Toy Drive begins

November 20-Flu Shots

November 23-Mismatch Monday

November 25-27-No School, Thanksgiving Break

December 11-Winter Open House (more details coming soon!)

December 18-Winter Room Party 2:15-3:00

December 21-January 4-No School, Winter Break

January 5-School Resumes