Monday, February 6, 2017

Classroom Summary January 23 - February 3, 2017

Never give up!
Here's what we did this week...

In math we worked with regrouping in subtraction. We began by reviewing how to regroup ten ones into one ten and then introduced the idea of breaking a ten to make ten ones. We practiced subtracting one digit numbers and graduated to subtracting double digit numbers. We will continue practicing our subtraction skills (as well as addition skills!) over the next few months.



In Miss Varrell's Fundations class we finished our work with Unit 8, learning about the r-controlled syllable type when /ar/ and /or/ are part of the syllable. We will continue to work with the r-controlled syllable in Unit 9 using the vowel combinations /er/, /ir/ and /ur/. Learning how to choose from three different spellings for the same sound will be practiced using the "spelling option" method: writing the word with all of the spelling options and using visual memory and dictionary skills to check for standard spelling.

In Miss Varrell's reading group, children worked on inferring when listening to the read aloud, The Adventures of a South Pole Pig: A Novel of Snow and Courage by Chris Kurtz.

We also worked with contractions, making them and breaking them down, in our Working with Words center. We know that a contraction is a word made up of two words joined together with up to four letters missing. An apostrophe is placed where the letters are missing.

CAN NOT ---> CAN'T       SHE WILL ---> SHE'LL       HE WOULD ---> HE'D

In writing workshop we have been working on paragraph writing of course! Over the past few weeks we have practiced writing topic sentences and detail sentences. We have written sentences that begin differently (to keep us from falling asleep when we read) and that use juicier words (to keep us interested). We have learned that a shorter paragraph with interesting sentences sounds and reads much better than a longer paragraph that doesn't really tell you anything at all. Here's an example:

This paragraph has 11 sentences:

I love Pine Glen School. It is really fun. It has a lot of cool teachers. They teach you a lot. It has a lot of cool students. You can make friends with them. There are many things to do. You can go to school programs. You can have a class pet. You can learn a lot. Pine Glen is the best school.

This paragraph only has 7 sentences:

I love Pine Glen School! The teachers there love you and want you to do your best. The students are friendly and welcoming. Sometimes there is so much to do I can't decide which I like best! There are exploding science programs, famous author visits, and jazzy music presentations. Some classrooms even have gerbils as class pets! If you are looking for somewhere to learn, Pine Glen is the best place to be.

Which paragraph do you think is more interesting to read?

In science class we began working on our new Matter and Materials unit. We have been learning about solids, liquids and gases and their properties. Part of our learning has been getting a chance to observe and touch real solids. We have used a digital notebook, produced by Mr. Musselman (of the Burlington Science Center), to record our observations. Making observations and predictions, completing charts and tables and participating in experiments will all be part of our science experience over the next few weeks. We will continue to work in this unit throughout February!

As always, we continue to learn how to keep ourselves organized for our daily tasks. Learning to keep our desks neat and clean not only keeps the germs at bay but keeps us in "ready to learn" mode during the week. Here is Jeziah's fabulously clean desk!



And of course, when we complete projects, they must go home!

"We are the world!"

And just because we can...here are some memories for a Monday...




Parent F.Y.I.
  • STMath (otherwise known as Jiji Math) is available for use at home. If your child is looking to do some extra math practice at home that is not math fact focused, STMath is a good choice! If you have lost your login from the beginning of the year, I can send you a new one. Just let me know!
  • Keep those reading corps slips coming in! 

  • Please be sure to have your child check out the lost and found area if you have noticed any missing hats, gloves, mittens or scarves. :)
  • February vacation begins Monday, February 20.
  • Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 1 for the Pine Glen Carnival! (Volunteers will be needed!)

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