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

Weekly Update-November 6

Announcements

We will be taking a short field trip to the Rock Bridge High School Planetarium on Wednesday, November 11. We will be leaving around 9:00 and returning around 11:00. Due to space limitations, no adult volunteers are needed for this field trip.

Just a reminder that Weekly Journals were not completed this week. They will resume Thursday. 

Friday folder checklists will be removed next week, as I will be meeting with all families for conferences. If there is an issue that arises next week prior to our conference, I will be calling or emailing. Checklists will resume November 20th. 

In the Classroom 

In math this week, we completed our Geometry unit by assessing on Wednesday. Before that, our blogger Evan, took pictures of us playing Geometry Bingo to review. 

We will do a short unit covering Data and Graphing next. We will then move on to our Multiplication units. 

In Health this week, we had a special guest visitor! Caleb's dad, Dr. Furrer, came in to share his knowledge about bacteria and viruses with us. Dr. Furrer is a microbiologist and professor at the University of Missouri. The students had tons of questions for him, and he patiently answered all of them. 

The students then got to collect their own germ samples! This was definitely the highlight of the visit, as Dr. Furrer took the samples back to his lab to let them "grow". We are very excited to see what happens to our samples in a few days. 

In writing, students are almost finished publishing their personal narrative pieces. We will celebrate next week and then begin our Informational Writing unit. We took the STAR reading test this week and also read a Scholastic News magazine.

Upcoming Events

November 11-Field Trip to Rock Bridge High School Planetarium

November 12-Parent Teacher Conferences

November 13-No School, Parent Teacher Conferences
November 16-Toy Drive begins
November 20-Flu Shots

November 23-Mismatch Monday

November 25-27-No School, Thanksgiving Break