Monday, January 11, 2016

Classroom Summary for January 4 - 8


Here's what we did this past week...

In math we began Topic 8 which focuses on double digit addition. We were very excited to begin working with numbers like our parents and other adults do. We began our week learning how to add a single digit number to a double digit number. By the end of the week we had learned how to regroup tens (for those of the 20th century like Miss V.: "carrying") and add a double digit number to a double digit number! We will continue to use this skill throughout the year (and beyond).

In Fundations we began working in unit 7 which focuses on learning a new syllable type: the open syllable. Open syllables are parts of words where the vowel sound is long but it does not have any other vowel to help it: no silent e, no double vowel. Below are some examples of words that have open syllables:

a-pron                         u-til-i-ty                     e-lec-tric                   bu-col-ic

In reading we began working in our new independent book baskets and practiced writing summaries using a graphic organizer. We learned that a well-written summary names the characters in the story, the problem that happens, the steps to the solution with some important details and the conclusion to the story. We practiced writing our group summaries using books we were very familiar with (many of us chose to use fairy tales) and then we typed them into a Google Document so that we could share them with our classmates and teachers.




In writing workshop we began learning about a new form of writing known as the paragraph. We reviewed different writing forms that we knew about already (e.g. note, letter, etc.) and then focused our learning on the paragraph. We learned that a paragraph is not the same thing as a writing style (e.g. narrative, informative, persuasive) and that a paragraph contains specific elements: a topic sentence, detail sentences and an ending or concluding sentence. As a class, we looked at a mentor text to see what paragraphs look like when they are put together in a story form and then we wrote one together about ice cream! When we finished we had a chance to begin writing our own independent paragraphs. We will continue to work on paragraph writing skills over the next few months.

In social studies we have been working on learning about the seven continents and five oceans of the world. We completed our first geography scavenger hunt using the Google Earth app on our iPads. We needed to visit all of the continents and discover certain facts about them such as how big they are or what kinds of animals live there. We will continue to work on geography skills over the next few weeks by looking at different types of landforms and bodies of water.








As a special treat this week, we got to read with Mrs. Visocchi's fourth graders! We had a great time getting to know one another and reading different books together.













Parent F.Y.I.
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is January 18. There is no school.
  • Scholastic book order flyers will be going home in a few weeks. Orders will be due January 29 by noon.



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