STEM, Book Clubs, OREO, and MORE!

Welcome back from Mid-Winter Break! It sounds like lots of families were able to travel to the sunshine last week! (jealous!) Although I stayed in Seattle, I enjoyed a few fun outings with my husband, hiking Poo Poo Point in Issaquah, and spending time with friends. The weather was wonderful, too! It was fun to hear some exciting stories from the kids’ week off. Check out what we are learning this month in room 208! Also, tune into the bottom for important dates involving Smarter Balance testing and our Somerset Auction!

MATH: This week we are beginning Unit 5 which primarily focuses on solving different types of word problems. To begin, we look at problems with unknown addends and factors. This is followed by solving comparision word problems and problems with extra, hidden, or not enough information. Finally, we will spend more time looking at multi-step word problems. We will use different strategies such as underlining and highlighting information, or solving problems using the step-by-step method. The biggest thing I notice in this unit is students simply looking at the numbers and making a guess on which operation to use. My hope is that they can relate these problems to real world experiences and identify the appropriate operation needed to use to solve the problem accurately.

We also continue to work on multiplication fluency each week! Please help out at home by quizzing your child or allowing them to practice on multiplication.com. The goal is for all students to know facts 1-10 in 7 minutes or less by the end of the school year! They are off to a great start.

READING: This week we are focusing on the author’s purpose for writing a story. When identifying the author’s purpose, think about PIE! Is the purpose to PERSUADE, INFORM, or ENTERTAIN? We also get to read an excellent story about a police officer and his partner, Aero, a loving K-9.

I continue to be impressed with book clubs and they are my favorite part of each day! Each group is getting really into their story, comes to the club prepared to share insights that are important to them, and work together to answer questions, make predictions, and dig deeper into the story! Ask your child about the book they are reading in their book club!

WRITING: This week we will begin opinion writing! The writing model we will use will include a specific OPINION, the REASON they have that opinion, EXPLANATIONS supporting their reason, and will close with restating their OPINION. We are calling this OREO writing. I am excited to see how kids express their opinions and continue to help them share their thoughts and ideas in organized paragraphs. Up next, book reviews! These are always my favorite. I love how excited the kids get when writing their reviews and how they help other students to be inspired to read new books.

SCIENCE: I am so excited about our upcoming STEM unit, A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes. To understand the world we live in it is important that we provide kids with engineering and technological literacy and experiences. The goal in this unit is to introduce the field of aerospace engineering by guiding students in hands-on activities, discussions, and readings. We will start by reading the storybook Paulo’s Parachute Mission, which introduces them to aerospace engineering and astronomy. Through this story students will begin thinking about problems that might arise when designing a technology on Earth that will be used to explore another planet with different atmospheric conditions. Students will  also ask questions about how parachutes work, design models, and conduct experiences involving a parachutes canopy size or suspension line length, and how it affects how quickly or slowly it falls. Like engineers, students will: ask, imagine, plan, create, and improve!

SOCIAL STUDIES: We just took the trimester 2 unit assessment. Social Studies will return in the spring!

 Dates to Know:

Somerset Auction: March 28^th

Smarter Balance Schedule: This year students will participate in the Smarter Balance test. There will be two sections that they will participate in, two days of ELA testing, and two days of Math testing. The ELA tests will be from March 23-25th. The Math test will be from June 1-3. Please visit http://www.k12.wa.us/SMARTER/default.aspx to learn more about this test. More information to come!

 

 

 

 

February Fun

READING: My students continue to impress me each day with the meaningful conversations they are having in their book clubs! I love the fact that they are all getting so into these chapter books and are independently practicing comprehension skills that we have been working on all year.  Each student has shown that they are a responsible member of their group by coming to book club prepared and ready to engage in great conversation. Along with our great work in the small group setting, students continue to complete independent daily 5 choices each day. Keyboarding is a choice that has been recently added and the class is having fun learning how to type in home row, use correct posture, and attempting words without looking at the keyboard! Typing Master can also be practiced at home. Please see the educational links tab to connect directly to the site. Thank you for your support with your child reading at home each night. I have noticed a big improvement in reading engagement from the beginning of the year until now!

WRITING:  Over the past few weeks, students have been practicing writing clear paragraphs with a strong opening sentence, supporting details, and a clear closing sentence. We wrote a 5 paragraph procedural writing piece as a class. Students chose something that they are an ‘expert at’ and wrote their own 5 paragraph procedural paper. Look for them in the hallway!

This week we will continue our practice with paragraphs, focusing on a favorite places writing piece. Students will choose a favorite place in or near the Seattle area. They will share a description of the place, details about what makes the place so wonderful, and who they recommend the place to. The audience for this writing is anyone new to our school. We will create a favorite places book to keep in our office. We will also send each students’ writing to the organization in which they write about.

MATH: You may have heard that we have started ‘math teams’ in our class! Each team represents one of our Seahawk players, and while each group meets with me every day, students also have a variety of math activities to support their learning throughout the week. We have all had fun with these. We are almost done with Unit 4. To end, we will continue to focus on addition and subtraction and their relation to one another. In our upcoming unit, students will continue to work with addition and subtraction, specifically analyzing different types of story problems. Students will solve tricky problems with too much information, multi-steps, or hidden information! Stay tuned for more information.

SOCIAL STUDIES: I am so excited about these upcoming heritage presentations! I have received great feedback from the kids, and it sounds like they are really enjoying talking with their family about their background.

In the coming weeks, students will compare and contrast their lives to students lives in countries around the world. We will also learn from one another’s heritage presentations. Last, students will take the trimester 2 assessment which covers lessons 4 (immigration), 5 (cultures), 7(diversity).

SCIENCE: The kids are excited to start our next science unit! To begin, we will explore Investigations 3 and 4 in our Foss Measurement Kit where kids will learn about measuring capacity and temperature. Students will determine the difference between a tool and a unit. After mid-winter break, students will participate in hands on STEM activities while designing and testing parachutes!

Upcoming Dates:

February 13^th: Valentine’s Day Party! 2:15-3:30

February 16-20: Mid-Winter Break-NO SCHOOL

February 26^th: Festival of Cultures