Kicking off fourth quarter!

Students had two short but busy first weeks of fourth quarter.  Students spent this week reflecting on their progress made in 3rd quarter in writing and math problem solving.  There was no time for reflecting in reading.  Critical reflecting is the highest level of reflection and an important part of the learning process.  If you and your child have time, I highly recommend you sit down together and complete the reading reflection together.  It is located in the reading section of the progress portfolio.  There is a yellow checklist that can help your child determine reading strengths and set goals.  

Here is a summary of what happened in our classroom:

​In Langauge Arts... 

• We started off the quarter with a review of author's purpose.  We created a tree map to help us categorize different text into the following categories: ​ 

• Students are learning that authors write to teach important lessons that we can apply to our own lives.  Many authors will often have a lesson in mind to teach even before the story is developed.  As good readers, it is our job to determine the central message and common theme.  We read Horsefly and Honeybee by Randy Cecil that taught us all a valuable lesson about teamwork.   The following flow map is from a guided activity done with the children.  The red text represents student responses. 

• In addition to this story, other stories were read to teach author's message.  We read Swimmy by Leo Lionni and various fables from Wonders.  Students used this similar flow map to recount major events in order to determine the central message and theme. 
• To practice with word choice, students listens to Pete's a Pizza by William Stieg,  created their own construction paper pizzas, then used "colorful and juicy" adjectives to describe their pizzas.  

In Math... 

• In Stepping Stones Module 10 thus far, students have reviewed subtraction strategies using base-ten strategies and number lines.  Some of the strategies were reviewed such as counting on, counting back, jumping to the nearest 10 or 100, and decomposing.
• This week students also practiced decomposing three-digit numbers to represent them using different combinations of base-ten pieces.  

REMINDERS AND ANNOUCEMENTS​

• Report cards, progress portfolios and evidence binders were sent home on Thursday.  Please review them with your child and return binders to school when you are done.  Please keep the report card home and only return the signed report card envelope.