Aloha and Mahalo Mr. E!

With a heavy heart we bid farewell to Mr. E, our Chaminade O & P student (student teacher) who was with us twice a week since September.  We will miss having him in our classroom to assist in our learning.   We wish him all the best as he continues the next chapter in his journey to becoming a teacher!  

Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

​In Langauge Arts...
Last week...

• Using the text Eagles and Eaglets by Wonders, students located information using different text features, while also answering our essential question: How are offspring like their parents?  Students identified the main idea of the text and provided supporting details.  
• Using another expository text called Baby Bears by Bobble Kalman, we charted the text features we found and included a description of its purpose.  For example, a table of contents helps us to find what pages chapters are on, while the index tells us where we can find information about a specific topic.  We did this for all the text features we could find including table of contents, index, glossary, maps, charts, diagrams, captions, headings, and title.​

This week...

• Students learned about Author's Purpose.  They learned that authors write for three main reasons: to persuade, inform, or entertain.  After reading through various text and sorting them into those categories, we found some common features amongst the three categories.  Books that may want to persuade its readers will sometimes have strong words like "you must" "STOP."  It may want to try to convince us to feel a certain way about a topic or even try to get us do so something.  We also talked about how we should be critical of the text we read and be aware that only the author's perspective is presented and can be sided or bias.  This is most commonly true with text found on the internet.  Text with an author's purpose to inform will present lots of facts or true information, may teach you how to do something step by step, and most often has text features.  While text with an author's purpose to entertain will often times be a made-up story, have characters, and makes us emotional (happy, sad, excited).  ​ ​

• Using the text Magnets Work! we discussed our essential question: How do earth's forces affect us?  Students looked for clues that helped to determine the author's purpose.  Using this text students noticed the author's precise use of language, particularly with the smilies used.  Students learned that smilies are when two unlike objects are being compared.  We read a great book called Stubborn as a Mule and Other Silly Smilies by Nancy Loewen.  

• We have been reading the classic Bunnicula by James Howe.  We’ve gotten to the best part- the war is on!  Chester and Harold have decided that Bunnicula is a threat and to "fight" back, and the kids are loving the heightened conflict between Chester, Harold, and Bunnicula.  It gives us the perfect opportunity to discuss rising conflict and resolution. 
• Students have learned that they must become an expert on a topic, pulling information from many sources, before they can write an informational writing piece about the topic.  As a class, we have been reading and watching a lot about plants and pollination.  Students have added a lot of new information to their schemas.  Until they are ready to begin their writing, students are studying how different authors use a variety of writing techniques and text features that helps to organize information.  ​​

In math...

• Students learned how a hundreds chart can be a useful tool when adding.  They practiced moving their fingers down to add ten and to the right to add ones.  ​

• Students practiced their skip counting fluency using a number line.  They practiced adding 10 to any given number, not starting at 0.  For example 52 + 10 or 27 + 10.  They also practiced skip counting by 5s.  They noticed patterns as the skip counting continues.      
• Students used the number line to add numbers.  They learned to start at the larger number, then decompose the other addend to more friendly jumps.  For the example 57 + 12 students should start at 57 then decompose 12 into 10 and 2.  Then do a jump of 10 first, then a jump of 2.  We call this strategy the "Jumps-of-Ten."  
• Students learned that numbers can be decomposed in other ways to stop at 10s on the number line.  For the example 58 + 9, students learned to think 58 + 2 + 7.  They would jump from 58 to 60, then 60 to 67 on the number line.  We call this strategy "Make-ten."

In Science...

• Our form and function PLTW unit is in full swing.  Students are learning the form and function of things found in nature and how man-made objects can be made modeling after the form and function of things found in nature.  As they are engaged in this unit students have already begun exploring plant life cycles and seed dispersement.  They will be helping to design and build a product that will help the characters in this Unit's fictional story to disperse seeds over a large field.  
• Students participated in a science lab about plant pollination.  Using fake flowers and cooking flour (pollen), students transferred the pollen on the stamen of one flower to another flower of the same species' stigma using pipe cleaners, to simulate a bee's leg.  Students labeled a diagram of the plant parts and learned about others ways pollination can occur (wind and other animals). 

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS

• Next week is Safety Week.  Please refer to the yellow form that went home with important information about our School Evacuation Drill Scheduled for Tuesday 11/20.  Students must wear shoes and uniform shirt.  They should dress cool and bring water to drink upon our return.  We will be evacuating to Kapolei High School.
• If you have not turned in your child's Evidence Binder please return it on Monday.  Thank you!
• Test folders with a math assessment and reading assessment went home on Friday.  Please sign and return on Monday. 
  
• Students have two weeks to gather resources for their selected forest animal.  We are not ready to start writing about our animals yet.  We are still working on our pollination writing.  We will begin writing about our animals in 2 weeks.  However, parents can start gathering resources together.  Be mindful of due dates for borrowed books, you may not want to borrow books from public libraries too early, unless you don't mind checking them out again.    
  
• No School 11/22 and 11/23.  Happy Thanksgiving!