This week in Wonders, we are studying the essential question, “How are pets our friends?” This is a perfect tie into our class pet research and our STEAM challenge – save the class fish (more on that later). We will review the skill of identifyinig characters, settings, and important events. The students are well versed in the characters, settings, and important events from the beginning and ending of the story. Finding the most important event(s) from the middle of the story is something we will continue to practice in class. We will also learn how readers ask questions while they read. We will discuss thick and thin questions in class this week. Here is a quick guide on how you can help when reading at home:
https://www.lexile.com/using-lexile/lexile-at-home/how-to-discuss-a-book-with-your-child/ This week we will study the spelling pattern of two letter blends at the beginning and ending of words, such as –sk in mask or cl- in clap. Finally, we will begin to learn about the subject (who) and predicate (what the subject does) of a sentence. In Math this week, we will review skip counting by 2, 5, and 10. As well, we will discuss greater than and less than, and build structures using base 10 blocks. Base 10 blocks are not a tool I used in school, and in case you didn’t either, here is a quick “need to know” about base-10 learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2msVlhBtppo In writing, we continue to work on our story writing. Many of the students are coming to the end of their first draft. Last week we learned about editing tools and techniques (quick words-mini dictionaries, thesauruses, etc). This week, we will learn about partner feedback, using the guide of 3-2-1. In this model, students will listen to their partner read their story. After their partner has finished reading their story, they will give 3 compliments, ask 2 questions, and give 1 suggestion for improvement. The students will then switch roles. This is a powerful learning tool for young writers, and they enjoy the chance to share their work with partners. We had our first meeting with our fifth grade buddies on Friday, and had the chance to get to know one another. Our buddies will read with us, help up with technology, and we will complete group projects together. In a few weeks, our buddies will help us create an iMovie trailer to showcase our research learning. We will storyboard our ideas, and then use images to build the movie. This is just one example of how our older buddies can serve as learning models in our classroom. Did your child tell you about our current STEAM challenge? During this challenge, students are tasked with designing a tool that can rescue a pet fish (stuffed animal) from a tube (old Clorox wipes container). The students were given time to first imagine on their own, sketching ideas on a white board. Students then were placed in groups where each child had time to share their idea and answer questions. After each child shared, the team came up with a group plan that they are now building. Before gaining access to the materials (things such as paper towel rolls, rubber bands, aluminum foil, pipe cleaners, tape, and so on) they had to create a detailed sketch of their contraption. Students will complete their builds and begin to test their ideas next week. The teams will then take their test results and improve their design. This is always the best part of the challenge and such an important learning experience! I have included some pictures from the “imagine” potion of this week’s challenge below. Have a wonderful week, and let me know if you have any questions! Important Dates: School Board Meetings: October 12th and 26th- 6:30pm- School Library Fire Safety Week- October 17th-20th PTA meeting- October 19th-7:00- School Library Michaelmas Fair (we will attend to purchase items- if families chose to have students buy)- October 21st Picture Retake Day- October 24th Halloween Parade – October 31st 1:00pm (parents are welcome to join us-meet in the classroom at 12:40)
1 Comment
Becky
10/2/2016 12:41:06 pm
Cory loves the steam challenge
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