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Pumpkin Pumpkins Oh My!

10/28/2018

This week, pumpkin faces filled our halls dressed as some of our all-time favorite characters as well as some brand new ones too! It was amazing to see such variety and creativity. (The photo of all the pumpkins on display accidentally got deleted from my phone)...but believe me when I say...I could not believe my eyes! The children should be so proud.

In Language Arts...

After taking the children through the thought process of comparing and contrasting two versions of the same story using The Boy Who Cried Wolf and Wolf Wolf!, students did some practice on their own! They used the classic fairytale Cinderella an English version and Yeh-Shen A Chinese Cinderella Story to compare and contrast. We talked about comparing key details. Key details may be basic story elements such as characters, setting, and problem & solution or key details may also be more complex events that deal with the development of the story. Something insignificant to the development of the story, would not be considered a key detail.

Students learned about the following suffixes: ly- means "in a way that is" and -ful means "full of." We practiced using these suffixes to create new words and talked about how words change when adding them.
We finished are read aloud War with Grandpa and have started reading the classic Bunnicula by James Howe just in time for Halloween.

In math...

Students wrote addition and subtraction equations to form fact families. Students used math stories to help them understand the relationship between the equations.
Using non-standard units of measure such as connecting cubes, students practiced various measuring skills. They learned that the unit needs to line up with one edge of the object, you measure to the nearest whole unit, there should be no gaps between each unit, and the units should be the same size. For example if you're measuring using cubes, all cubes should be the same size: a pencil is 6 - 1 inch paper clips long.
After learning about non-standard units of measure, students were introduced to standard units of measure. We talked about why using this common language of standard units of measure, such as inches are important. When you buy a piece of lumber from the store or need to get a suit tailored to your size, we use customary standard units of measure.
Students practiced using their rulers to measure objects around the classroom in inches and in feet. They learned to align the first scale on the ruler with the starting point of the object.
Then students compared lengths of objects using key words like difference and how many more.

In Science...

After learning about the basic properties of matter, students explored with the phenomena of sand. They explored the following question: When you pour sand into a container, it takes the shape of its container, is sand a solid or a liquid? Using different glass jars they investigated and observed sand in all its forms. Some of their observations were:
- It can be poured like liquid
- It fits the shape of its contained
- It does not have a definite shape (it changes shape)
- It's soft
Afterwards students were told to look at each grain of sand even closer as if they had a magnifying glass and take more observations. They noticed many new things.
- It's actually hard because each grain of sand is hard by itself
- It actually keeps its shape when you look at each grain alone
They made a claim....When looking at each grain of sand alone as one piece it is hard and keeps its shape, so sand is a solid.

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS

There will be early release everyday until Thursday the 11/1 to accommodate Parent teacher conferences. Besides the normal Wednesday dismissal, school will get out everyday at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday will remain the same 12:52 dismissal.
There is a Costume Parade in which your child can participate in on 10/31. Click here for costume guidelines.

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Kicking off Quarter 2!

10/20/2018

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With Halloween around the corner and so much excitement in the air , it's been a very interesting week. For many children it can be a little hard to come back to school after a break, but it was a fun-filled week and we were able to get right back into our routines like we never missed a beat! Students reflected on their learning from 1st quarter and put together their evidence binders and are working on their online portfolios.

Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

In Langauge Arts...

This week's genre focus was on traditional literature, particularly fables. Students learned that fables are short stories, alway teach a valuable life lesson, and most times will have animals as main characters. Students learned about Aesop fables. We read The Fox and the Crane. Majority of the children identified the moral as "treat others the way you want to be treated." While this was a very fitting author's message we also talked about the following version of that message: He who plays a trick on someone, should expect to be tricked in return. We also talked about other famous fables like The Tortoise and the Hare and The Lion and the Mouse.
The essential question this week was What can animals in stories teach us? Using the fable The Boy Who Cried Wolf, students completed a flow map to show the sequence of events and steps to solution. Then we read a different version of the same story called Wolf, Wolf! by John Rocco. Students created a double-bubble map to compare important elements of both stories.

In math...

Students reviewed what they knew about subtraction using subtraction stories and representing them with base-ten cubes. Students learned that addition can be used to help check subtraction problems.
Students learned that when one part is three are less, the count-back strategy is very effective. They practiced this using the number line. Then they thought about related addition problems. For example for 12 -3 = 9, the related addition fact would be 9 + 3 = 12.
Students reinforced their understanding of Total - Part = Part and Part + Part = Total by solving word problems. They investigated the unknown addend in subtraction word problems. They used both the subtraction and addition methods to solve. For example: There were 12 bears on a bus. Some bears got off the bus. Now there are 9 bears left on the bus. The only matching equation is 12 - ? = 3. However, once students write this equation down to represent the story, they can choose to solve using a method of their choice (subtraction or addition). They could start at 12 and count-back 3 (subtraction), or they could start at 9 and count-on to 12 (addition) to find the unknown.

In Social Studies...

Students are using a Comic Book app on their iPads to create a comic to teach others about Stranger Danger.

Ecsedy's Stranger Danger Comic

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS

Parent teacher conferencing start on Tuesday 10/23. There will be early release everyday from Tuesday on until Thursday 11/1 to accommodate Parent teacher conferences. Besides the normal Wednesday dismissal, school will get out everyday at 1:05 p.m. starting Tuesday. Wednesdays will remain the same 12:52 dismissal.
No School on 11/2 due to teacher PD day

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Pumpkin Pumpkins Oh My!

Kicking off Quarter 2!

Ecsedy's Stranger Danger Comic

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