Here's what we did this week...
In Miss Varrell's Fundations group we began working with a new syllable type called V-C-E: vowel-consonant-silent e. We mainly worked with monosyllabic words but we learned from brainstorming words on our own, that multisyllabic words can also have that same syllable type. By looking at several words that had the v-/k/-e sound, we constructed a spelling rule to help us remember how to spell the /k/ sound in that syllable type. The trick words we focused on were graze and rise.
In Miss Varrell's reading group, we began working with verbs, verb tenses and adverbs. We know that verbs and adverbs are parts of speech. The four main parts of speech that we will work with and study this year are verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives. While we practiced working with verbs, Miss Varrell began doing reading assessments with each student. She will be checking for oral reading fluency and comprehension skills.
In Writing Workshop we took a break from our story writing and began learning about a part of the writing process known as revising. Miss Fallon, our fabulous art teacher, invited us to participate in a science~art project about weather forecasting a few weeks ago. She asked us to create a script for a pretend weather forecast that she would help produce on video with a green screen. We took a ready made weather forecasting script (courtesy of Miss Anderson's class) and we began revising the script so that it said what we wanted it to say! We will continue with our revisions next week. Miss Fallon will work with us on the first part of our project next Friday.
In our enVision math program this week we began working in topic seven which focuses on mental subtraction strategies. Since we had already worked with mental addition strategies in the unit previous, we were able to see how the subtraction strategies were very similar. We learned how to take apart tens and ones and subtract the parts from a whole, use a hundred chart, and use missing addend addition problems to solve subtraction problems with two digits. We will finish the unit next week.
In science we reviewed the main parts of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation) and started learning about clouds. Once we learned about the water cycle, it made sense to begin learning about clouds. Clouds are part of the condensation part of the water cycle and are made of water droplets not marshmallow fluff! There are three main cloud types: cirrus, cumulus and stratus. All three cloud types are found in different parts of the atmosphere. Cirrus clouds are feathery and thin and are the highest in the air. They often are a sign that there will be a change in the weather. Cumulus clouds are high in the sky but not as high as cirrus clouds. They are puffy and often look like cotton balls in the sky. They usually mean fair weather. Stratus clouds are clouds that make the sky look like it has a ceiling. They often prevent you from seeing the blue sky, but they don't always mean rain. We will continue to learn more about clouds next week.
As a special treat, Ms. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman performed a unique science presentation for the whole school called "May the Force Be With You." The show was all about different forces in science. Below are some pictures from the performance today. Thank you very much to Ms. Pavlicek and Mr. Musselman for all their hard work and ingenuity in bringing such difficult science concepts to life!
Weekend Challenge Activity: Take a walk around the block with your family. Find the closest storm drain and fire hydrant to your house. Make a map of where they are located on your street. The next time you get > three inches of snow in Burlington, ask your Mom or Dad if you can shovel out the drain and the hydrant for your neighborhood. Remember to always ask permission when helping outside of your own yard!
F.Y.I.
- Thank you to all the families who came out for parent teacher conferences on Thursday. It was wonderful to meet everyone again and gush about your children!
- Thank you to Mrs. D'Elia for all her work on the Book Fair this week. The children had a wonderful time 'shopping' on Wednesday and of course we are very grateful for everyone's support of the library in our school. :)
- Enjoy your weekend!
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