Newsletter 3/29

In Reading Workshop this week we learned how to retell what we've learned in non-fiction books.  After we read a nonfiction text, we think, "What was this book mostly about and what did I learn?" Then, we tell our partners all the important facts that we can recall. 

We also read No, David! during our Read Aloud time this week.  We discussed David's problems and possible solutions he could've used.  Then, we had a whole class conversation about the book.  We learned how to deepen our discussion by using a star system (or baseball).  See our chart on talking about books to see how your child can have a deeper discussion with you about books.

We published our All About books, and THEY ARE SO GOOD!  Look for your child's displayed in our hallway.

In our phonics lesson, we played a game with plastic eggs that had letters inside and we played "Phonics Teacher" (see photo).

We finished our unit in geometry this week.  We noticed the attributes of 3-D shapes while we tried to make them with playdoh.  We looked at the faces of 3-D shapes and found 2-D shapes!  We played a "Matching Faces" game.  We also did a math Exemplar, working on making clear diagrams to explain our reasoning and including a key.

Everyone loved exploring with Google Earth in our social studies lessons this week!  We examined our planet, noticing and wondering many things.  Then we zoomed in to our country, state, town, and finally we ended at Ox Ridge School!  The class was all cheering! 

Our outside thermometer has read a lot of "green" days in March, and we're hoping for more!  We discussed the changes in the weather and recorded March's weather in our science journals.

Ask your child about the amazing BMX assembly we had on Monday, too!

News and Notes:

• Book bags due Monday
• Friday, 4/6 is Crazy Hair day at Ox Ridge

Playing "Phonics Teacher"

A cube and a cone

Matching Faces

Google Earth fun!

Editing with Partners and using our checklist

All the shapes we know!

Collecting weather data

Newsletter 3/20

We began a new unit this week in Reading Workshop: Reading for Information.  We are focusing on learning from non-fiction texts.  Reading non-fiction is a lot like reading stories:  we point to the pictures and look closely, but we are learning new facts.  We learned that readers look at a text and ask questions: What is...?   Why does...?  Where does...?  etc.  While we're reading we mark pages that we want to wonder about with our partner with post-its, so we're prepared for a deeper discussion.

Our All About stories are coming along.  We added some new "tools" to our writing tool boxes this week.  Non-fiction writers can use BOLD to highlight important words and they can make a page to list "different kinds of__" (whatever their topic is- see photo).  We also reminded ourselves to use lower case letters and periods while writing.

We played a game in math called "Fill the Hexagon" this week and we were introduced to 3-D shapes.  Be on the lookout for "homework" (not mandatory) coming home on Monday.  We also did a problem solving activity about shapes.

We continued studying maps this week.  We learned about a key and why it's helpful.  We also compared various maps and discussed the similarities and differences.

We celebrated the beginning of spring by making wonderful wind chimes with Mrs. Clifford.

News and Notes:

• Book sleeves due Monday.
• No school next Friday
• Book Fair wish lists and geometry homework coming home on Monday

Marking places where we wonder

Different Kinds of Chicken (lemon chicken, chicken fingers, just chicken)

Newsletter 3/16

We finished our unit of "Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles" this week.  We learned that, if we're reading a storybook, characters will do one thing and then another thing, and we can use our brain and everything we know about the story to make predictions.  Sometimes readers pause and wonder what will happen next.  We practiced this alone and then we asked our partners to make predictions.  We also learned how to Super Size our Book Talk Power and Partner Power.  We already knew how to talk about our favorite parts, or parts that are hard to read, but now we can talk about more. Once we finish a story, we can talk to our partner about what the characters did, how they felt and why they felt that way.  This is a wonderful conversation to have with your young readers at home, too!

Our All About books are getting good!  This week, we learned that not only can we teach with our words, but with our pictures!  We can make diagrams and label them (see photo).  We can also help our reader understand more when we use comparisons.  For example, "A dolphin swims fast like a car".  We all tried to use comparisons in our writing this week.

In geometry, we continued to list attributes of each 2-D shape.  What's the difference between a circle and a rectangle?  We're working on expanding our mathematical vocabulary.  We also learned two new shapes: a trapezoid and hexagon.  We did pattern block puzzles to find combinations of shapes that fill an area and then we made a pattern block picture of our own.  Last, we used geoboards to construct 2-D shapes (see photo).

We began a large unit on geography in Social Studies this week.  We began by examining a map of Connecticut and discussing what we noticed and wondered (see photo).  Then we read a book about a pig named Henry that makes a map of his farm.  We made our own maps of the classroom, too!

We started doing dictations in our phonics lessons.  Students are told a word and then have to tap out the sounds and write it down.  Some words we can tap out (fin, dog, lap, etc.), but others we can't (do, we, like, etc), because they're sight words.

News and Notes:

• Book sleeves due Monday.
• Conference week is next Tuesday-Friday.  Please remember that their is NO BUYING SNACK ON HALF DAYS.  

A class diagram

What we look like when we "Stop and Think"

Dictation

Number Bingo!

Word Board Games

Making Boats

Decomposing Numbers

Spring Kites!

A Diagram in an All About Book

Building 2D Shapes on Geoboards

Making Maps of our Classroom

Newsletter 3/9

WOW!  What a week we've had!

We spent a lot of time with Goldilocks this week, reading various versions and comparing them.  There are some very funny ones out there!  We compared characters and settings throughout different texts.

We also learned how to "Super Size" our Snap Word Power!  Sometimes snap words have inflections added to them (-ed, -ing, -s, as in looked, seeing, makes, etc), and they can make the word unrecognizable, but if we look closely we can find the word we know, add the ending sound, and then it's not so hard to read!  Students will be finding more and more words like this as books get harder.  You can help by pointing out the base word.

In Writing Workshop, we learned that we can make a quick sketch to remember our writing plan for each page of our All About books.  We also learned that, as authors of All About books, we need to make sure to teach our readers EVERYTHING we know about that topic.  We can re-read each page and see if there's anything that can be added.

We began our math unit on Geometry this week.  We identified basic two dimensional shapes around the room and then turned them into pictures!  See the photos below.

We all enjoyed an assembly with Russian singers and dancers on Tuesday.

In Second Steps, we learned that compassion is empathy in action!  When we see someone who is feeling uncomfortable, we can do or say something to make our friend feel better.  Look for a corresponding worksheet sent home on Friday.

News and Notes:

• Book sleeves are due on Monday.
• Conference Week is coming (T-F March 20-23).  All students have half days.

We used a 2-D shape to make a picture!

Russian singers and dancers

Newsletter 3/2

We read A LOT of Dr. Seuss this week!  We read a non-fiction book about him and then as many of his books as we could.  Last, we voted for our favorite.  We had so much fun being silly for Seuss this week.  See photos below.

Our Just Right books are getting harder and the word patterns are falling away.  Word patterns are like training wheels, but now we have graduated!  Sometimes it can be overwhelming to read a page with a lot of non-patterned texts.  Do we give up?  No!  We "Super Size" our picture power, looking MORE carefully at what is going on.  Then we preview the text for sight words.  Finally we're ready to tackle the reading, and it's much easier than we thought!  It may be a bit bumpy at first read, but just like riding a bike, the more we read a text, the smoother it becomes.

We are writing All About books in Writing Workshop.  We are learning how an All About is different from a How To book.  It doesn't give directions step by step, but teaches all about a topic.  Writers choose a topic about which they are experts, try it on to see if it fits and plan what they may say in advance.

We played a game this week called "Perfect Partner Makes 10", which is an algebra game!  Students received a card with dots on it and had to think how many more dots (X) they needed to total ten.  Once a student figured out the missing number, s/he had to go find the friend that had it!  We had a lot of fun with this.

In phonics this week, we had a lot of fun with Dr. Seuss' rhymes.  We continued tapping out sounds in words, writing sentences with sight words, and trying to spell words with three easy sounds (cat, pig, dot, etc.).

We finished our science unit on matter with a week long study of sink vs. float.  We tested items to see which would sink and float and discussed what made the difference.  Was it size?  Was it the material from which it was made?  Did weight matter?  Ask your child about the many experiments we did.

Dr. Seuss wasn't our only social studies this week, we also got ready for March!  We changed over the calendar together and discussed what March will bring.  Will it come in like a lion and out like a lamb?  We discussed what this means and then made lion and lamb crafts.

News and Notes:

• Please check the email sent to review your March conference time
• Book sleeves due Monday
• We're taking a FIELD TRIP next Friday!  Look for an email coming home next Monday

Our Silly Socks!

Reading Seuss with friends

Twin Tuesday!  Reading with our 5th Grade Buddies

One of our experiments this week

Gathering February's weather data

Our Crazy Hats

The results of our data collection