Monday, October 31, 2016

Weekly News October 31-November 4, 2016

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder.
Language Arts: We are working on writing our personal narrative story to Drumlin Farm. We are researching the bat and learning how to take notes. Students are learning about nonfiction text features. In word work we are reviewing some l blends such as cl, bl and sl. Encouraged your child to find blends in words and spell them correctly in words.
Mathematics: We will be doing word problems that are joining sets and taking away sets. Later in the week we will begin problems that involve comparing to find how much more or how much fewer. The students will learn how to make bar models to show these types of problems. For many students they can figure out how to solve for the answer but are working on learning how to show it with a bar model. Knowing how to do bar models will help students as they progress to more challenging word problems. Students will need to know whether they problem requires adding or subtraction. Practicing at home with your child is encouraged!
Science: We are researching the bat together as a class. Students will be selecting a nocturnal animal to research.
Social Studies: We are going to begin our study on goods and services by taking a field trip to the Shrewsbury Public Library. Please see details on the permission slip that was sent home today.
If your child doesn’t have a library card there you are encouraged to  to fill out the form and return it to school. If your child has one you do not need to return it.
here is a Morning Meeting Share Calendar for November and December in the Spring Street Folder.
Remember that our parent teacher conferences are on Tuesday, November 8th. I am looking forward to talking with families. Please let me know if you can't make it. I would be happy to meet with you at a different time.

Video of the Week

Camouflage




Monday, October 24, 2016

Weekly News October 24-28, 2016

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. We do not have math homework on Tuesday. Please make sure you are ready for the field trip on Wednesday. Read the letter that is in your child’s folder.
Halloween Party: You may send in a special snack for your child to enjoy at our celebration on Monday. Please make sure it is nut free. We will not be dressing up for this celebration.
Language Arts: We will be writing a personal narrative story about our field trip to Drumlin farm. The focus will be on including an entertaining beginning and writing a setting with what we see, hear, touch, and smell. We will talk about how to focus on one part of the trip and stretch that moment out so that it includes specific details. We will compare general sentences to specific.
Mathematics: We will be wrapping up chapter 3 on subtracting three digit numbers with and without regrouping. However this skill will be practiced throughout the remainder of the year. You may be seeing some work come home tonight from our math folder. Please look through it with your child. While some students may not have completed everything the main focus of the lesson has been practiced. These unfinished pages are great practice for your child.
Science: We are discussing what adaptations animals have this week. We We will read about our Scholastic News about Vampire Bats.

Video of the Week

This week we are watching a fun video about a camel's adaptations. Have fun!

Monday, October 17, 2016

Weekly News October 17-21, 2016

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder.
This week there wasn’t any news for our Spring Street Folder so I kept them at school.

Language Arts: We will be discussing why it is important to be practicing our reading in just right books. We will review what makes a book just right. Students will learn the acronym I-PICK. It stands for picking books with a purpose, interest, you can comprehend it and know most of the words.

Mathematics: The boys and girls are doing a great job subtracting with regrouping. Have your child explain the steps for you. This week we will be working on regrouping  a ten to for 10 ones and a hundred for 10 tens. A little rhyme we have is “More on the top, no need to stop. More on the floor, go next door and get ten more. Numbers the same, zero is the game.” We will learn how to subtract across zeroes for equations like 400-219.

Science: We are beginning to learn about nocturnal animals. We will talk about what nocturnal means. We will read about our Scholastic News about Leaf Critters.

Remember to sign and return your child's reflection. Please read your child's writing journal and have your child return it to school on Tuesday.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Video of the Week

This week we will listen to Nocturnal Animal Noises.

Nocturnal Animal Noises

Monday, October 10, 2016

Weekly News October 11-14, 2016

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Friday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Monday Night’s Math and reading Log are optional this week.

Language Arts: We will be learning about our last Daily Five reading activity called Listen to Reading. We will be using our Raz-Kids account to Listen to reading. If you wish to have your child use his/her own personal earbuds or small headphones please send it in a baggie with your child’s name on it. I have a place in the classroom where we will be storing them. Thank you to those who have already sent the earbuds to school at the start of the year. We are learning about personal narratives. We are focusing on entertaining beginnings this week.

Mathematics: We are working on subtracting three digit numbers with regrouping in the tens and ones. Then later this week we will learn how to regroup the hundreds and tens. The children will be playing a game called Break a Hundred.

Social Studies: We will read our Scholastic News on Fire Fighters' Suits. This week is Fire Prevention (Safety) Week. You can find more information about fire prevention at http://www.sparky.org/parentpage/fpwkids.htm

Science: We are finishing up our Frog projects and we will begin our nocturnal animal study. On Friday, we will have a special program called Wingmasters: Birds of Prey. We will learn about the adaptations these have birds that help them to survive.

Video of the Week

Our video of the week this week is about nocturnal animals.
http://viewpure.com/UW_oNQyKlJc?start=0&end=0


Monday, October 3, 2016

Weekly News October 3-7, 2016

Homework: The math packet and reading log are due on Thursday. Please return it in your Yellow Reading Log/Math Homework Folder. Thursday Night’s Math Fact practice sheets are optional this week.

Raz-Kids Login information will be sent home tomorrow. Raz-Kids provides a great resource of books for your child to read online at home or school. Our PTO Funds help us pay for this wonderful resource. You can sign-in to see your child’s results on the comprehension quizzes. I encourage you to include Raz-Kids in your child’s weekly reading. It would be ideal if students complete at least one Raz-Kids book at home each week (read/listen and quiz). Reading “just right” books is the best way for children to improve their reading. I have included your child’s “just right” or independent level on the “Level UP” section. I also have left the book room option open for you to select books at different levels. If you find your child is frustrated move down to an easier level. Keep in mind that the Raz-Kids reading levels do not always correlated with the DRA/guided reading levels the school shares. Students often do best when they know you are checking in with them and discussing what they have read. Make it part of your weekly reading routine. I will get results of what your child reads and how they do on the quizzes. Have fun adding these books to your reading library this year. Let me know if you need any help accessing your account.

Language Arts: We will read our Scholastic News Magazine. This week it is about Voting. We will do a mock election and send our results to Scholastic’s Election. The class will practice how to do Read to Someone. We will discuss nonfiction text features. The children will be wrapping-up opinion writing this week. We will learn about compound words and two syllable words.

Mathematics: We will be reviewing chapter 2 on addition with regrouping. We will be taking our test on Tuesday. I am sending home the workbook pages for chapter 2 that were in your child’s unfinished math folder. You can keep these worksheets to review with your child at home. I do not need to have them sent back to school unless I wrote “Please Finish” at the top. It is more important that students understand the skill and are doing quality work than quantity.
Mr. Mabie’s Spring Link this week is going to include information about accessing the Math in Focus’s online resource called Think Central. It is a great resource for you to learn what your child is working on at school. There are virtual manipulatives for students to use when doing homework. It also has our student math book. I use this book as one of my resources for my small group work with students. The  student workbook pages are not on the online account. These are the problems students work on mostly during “Math By Myself” or during “Math with Partner.” There are videos that help explain more about Math in Focus. To access this site you need to go to your Power School Parent Portal  to find your child’s username and password. There is a link on the portal that will take you to the site. Let me know if you need support. I would be happy to help you find your way to this resource.

Science: We will continue to read about life cycle of a frog and work collaboratively on a PBL (project based learning) project. Our goal is to create a project (book, poster, skit or zoo brochure) teaching others about the frog’s metamorphosis. . We continue to read about the life cycle of a frog and we will work collaboratively on a PBL (Project Based Learning) project. Our goal is to teaching others about the frog’s metamorphosis.

Social Studies: We will talk about Columbus Day. We will learn about leaders and how good citizens vote in our Scholastic News.

October Scholastic Reading Club catalog will be in your child’s Folder. If you want to order please submit it to me or online by Friday, October 14th. Our online code is GVN48. You can find the website link on our class blog.

October Student Share Calendar: Please see the calendar for your child’s Share Day. Student can bring up to three pictures to share with the class. You can upload them to their Kid Blog account or just bring them to school. The Kid Blog address is https://kidblog.org/class/mrs-porters-class-2016-2017/posts
Students do not have to bring anything. They can just tell us about something going on in their life. The share should not take longer than 3 minutes most students finish in under a minute. In the past I have had students upload great videos to their Kid Blog to share. These shouldn’t be longer than 2 minutes with a minute to talk about it. It is fun to see students share certain talents of theirs with a quick video.

Conferences: I sent a Sign-Up Genius Link out to sign-up for a Conference. Here is the Link
There is no school Friday because of a teacher Professional Development Day Enjoy the long weekend!

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Video of the Week

This week we will watch a view called Punctuation Marks.

Punctuation Marks!




Last week we watched a video about Metamorphosis.
Life Cycles