Happy Friday Families!
There has been a lot going on in our classroom this past month, and we are looking forward to what the school year still has in store for us. Please read below to find out about all of the wonderful learning that is happening in our classroom!
Here are the concepts we are currently/planning to work on:
Reading
Over the last couple of weeks, our students have read various texts in order to determine the narrator's point of view. Much of our instruction revolved around Pale Male, a story about a red-tailed hawk living on the ledge of a building on Fifth Avenue, in the heart of New York City. Through the text, our students were able to have an understanding of different perspectives, from residents who wanted the hawk removed, to those bird lovers who wanted the red-tail hawk protected. Not only have students had to determine how the narrator's point of view influenced how the story was told, they had to do so in a written response. We've been spending a considerable amount of time practicing how to write a cohesive response that is inclusive of all of the necessary elements.
Writing
Our students wrapped up their first narrative pieces. They demonstrated great success utilizing their graphic organizers to plan and develop their stories through the use of a detailed sequence of events and effective character development. Students were also encouraged to add dialogue into their writing to enhance the reader’s understanding of their characters, setting, and events. This week, our students started to plan a second narrative piece in order to apply what we’ve learned in order to produce an even higher quality sample.
Math
Our students wrapped up Unit 1, which focused on evaluating numerical expressions with parentheses, using the correct order of operations. We are also a month into our Number Corner lessons, which have been focused around clock and money fractions and finding the volume of rectangular prisms. Yesterday, we will started Unit 2, which focuses on addition and subtraction of fractions. The introduction of clock and money fractions in Number Corner have been helping to provide a springboard for teaching our students to find common denominators before adding or subtracting fractions. The family letter which highlights the concepts being presented in our new unit on fractions has been attached this email.
Science
We are wrapping up our discussions about ecosystems. Over the last couple of weeks, we have been learning about consumers and the flow of energy through an ecosystem. We learned that consumers must eat animals in order to obtain their energy and to survive. Through various discussions, activities, and investigations, we also learned that the flow of energy starts at the sun and flows to the producers and then to consumers. Be sure to ask your child about our owl pellet investigation! Students also took home the bean plants we started in class as we learned about photosynthesis! Our classroom Venus Fly Trap plant is thriving and the kids are having a great time supplying insects to feed it! We love watching the digestion process in real time!
Upcoming Events
**Monday, September 25th - NO SCHOOL (Yom Kippur)
**Tuesday, September 26th--PTO Book Fair Begins (lasts through the 28th)
**Thursday, September 28th--PTO Ice Cream Social/Book Fair Event
**Thursday, October 5th - NO SCHOOL (Family/Educator Conferences)
**Friday, October 6th - NO SCHOOL (Family/Educator Conferences)
**Monday, October 9th - NO SCHOOL
Friendly Reminders
**Please have your child charge his or her iPad every evening. Much of what we do throughout the day revolves around our iPads.
**Please remember to send your child with a healthy snack each day. Nothing feeds the brain like a healthy snack!
**Please continue to have your child practice their multiplication facts up to 12.
Have a wonderful weekend!
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