Questioning.

Our focus has been on questioning- an important strategy good readers use while reading. Students are practicing asking questions before, during and after reading. They are learning to ask thoughtful questions- those that require further thinking to increase their understanding and deepen their comprehension of the text. Students are using both fiction and nonfiction texts. As a class, we've been having fun using the strategy together.  Students have been trying it on their own as well.  Encourage your child to ask questions while reading at home.

Where do we find answers to our thoughtful questions?

• T- in the TEXT 
• I- Using clues from the pictures or text, INFERRING the answer 
• OS- Doing further research and using and OUTSIDE SOURCE 

Book Fair.

Remember that the book fair is this week! Students will be able to visit the book fair during lunch and recess times with a special pass from me.  If you send money along with your child, they can get a pass.  The book fair will also be open during conferences. Students will visit the book fair this week to check out the books and make wish lists.

Open House.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone at Open House.  It was fun to interact with your families and observe the students as they shared and took ownership over their classroom learning experiences.  I hope you enjoyed the event. I missed all of you that couldn't make it! Congrats to Kaylee who earned a FREE book order book of her choice for entering her survey. Enjoy some photos!

Coin Drive & Dress-Up Week.

Next week we are having a coin drive to help raise money for our school!  Students are  encouraged to bring in coins each day.  If they bring in at least one coin, they can participate in the dress-up day! 

• Monster Monday: Students can bring in Pennies ONLY. Students will be able to decorate their lockers with a monster cut-out.
• Terrifying Tuesday: Students can bring in Nickels ONLY. Theme is Favorite Hat Day. 
• Weird Wednesday: Students can bring in Dimes ONLY. Theme is Weird and Wacky Clothes. 
• Thrilling Thursday: Students can bring in Quarters ONLY. As an added bonus, students who bring in quarters get an extra Caught Reading slip! Theme is Crazy Socks. 
• Freaky Friday: Students can bring in ANY Coins! Theme is non-scary Monster Dress Up!

Social Studies: Maps & Communities.

We are working on map skills and examining different types of communities. Students have learned about how communities can be different (rural, urban and suburban).  Students have also discussed and debated what is important in a community and what is not.  Relating it to wants and needs, students are working together to create their own community in small groups.  It's truly amazing to hear them work out the specifics and build this community together. Each group has different ideas and are developing it in their own way. Students continue to practice working together and problem solving. Enjoy some photos from their experience!

Visualizing.

Another important reading strategy is to visualize.  This helps students place themselves in a book and understand what is happening.  Students learn that many of their mental images come from their schema and link it to something they've heard, seen, experienced or learned before. Students are enjoying taking quiet time to think about what they are reading and create a mental image or movie in their mind.  It's important for students to visualize.  This is especially important when a book does not have pictures.

We have started to practice visualizing with poetry.  Their mental images are hanging in the hallway! Notice how they vary and the things they connected with in the text.

Math Talk.

In math, we are discussing the importance of explaining strategies to one another.  We are learning to value the solving methods of others and learn new strategies.  Students will continue to build their confidence in sharing their thinking and process in solving problems. It's not only important for a student to problem solve to get the correct answer but to be able to explain the process to someone else. Students are also learning to identify an error and use mistakes as learning experiences.

Junior Achievement: Working a job, producing quality products.

Students were placed in teams to practice working together at a job producing quality products.  Students looked at how much they were able to make and how many were wasted due to poor quality.  Students were reminded about goods and services.

They pretended they worked at a donut shop.  They had to properly put the ingredients into the mix and make quality donuts.  They discussed efficient ways to get things done.  They also talked about innovation and creating other goods.

Anti-Bullying Awareness Month.

Students watched two great videos to link our bullying discussions this week.  They requested I share them on the blog to enjoy, share and watch at home.  Encourage your child to talk about friendship and bullying situations at home and how they can be handled in a positive way.


Bully Rap

No, No Bully Song

Fire Prevention Assembly.

Students had an assembly this week focusing on fire safety and how to be prepared.  Students were reminded about the importance of stop, drop & roll as well as changing the batteries in a smoke detector.  Remember, you need a smoke detector on every level in your home as well as in each bedroom.  Students had the opportunity to look at a fire truck and talk with a local fire fighter about their job and what they need to do their job.

Writer's Workshop.

As you know, we are working on Personal Narratives in Writer's Workshop.  Students are doing a wonderful job coming up with meaningful topics and writing all about them.  Students are learning to add details and strong words to help a reader picture the story. Students are also learning to use grand beginnings and strong endings to catch readers' attention.  More importantly, students are learning to set goals.  They are being more observant and reflective of areas where they want to better themselves and their writing. Ask your child what his/her goal is and what they are working on.

Junior Achievement.

Students were excited to have Junior Achievement today. Mrs. Flint will be volunteering her time in our classroom each week for several sessions teaching students about entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy.

Today students discussed communities and reviewed some vocabulary regarding citizens, jobs, wants and needs. They learned about specific jobs and played a group game.