October 18-22

We are back to a full week! It's been great meeting with you all and getting to know you. As I said to all of you, I thoroughly enjoy this class. They are the sweetest. Makes my job easy. 

Here's the weekly news. 

Math

We are wrapping up place value. We will have an end of unit test on Tuesday. I will spend some time reviewing place value tomorrow.  After looking at the test, the kids should do fairy well. I want the kids to get practice with test taking skills. Wednesday the kids will have a PSA (Priority Standards Assessment) on the computer. This is new to me so we will do the best we can. The PSA is over place value so it should go well. Just need to learn how to navigate the computer tools. We will then start addition on Thursday.  

Reading

This week for non fiction, we will look at keywords and how we can gather facts on the same topic from a variety of books. I will continue to discuss text features and the characteristics of non fiction. The kids will also have new book clubs this week. 

Snap word test on Friday

Writing

My focus this week will be on leads and editing. My goal is for the kids to start working on their second non fiction piece. 

Social Studies

We are moving on to explorers. We will learn about Christopher Columbus, Lewis and Clark, Marco Polo, etc. 

October 4-8th

This week is a short week. Don't forget we have Friday and Monday of next week off. Enjoy your four day weekend! 

Math

This week in math we are putting numbers (up to 1,200) on a number line, comparing numbers, and placing numbers in order. We will spend more time working in their Think Up math workbook. This is where the reading gets tricky. The kids are spending more time thinking about what the question is asking them. 

Students have been working on the IXL diagnostic test in math stations. I love this test because it tells me what TEKS the kids need to work on and what grade level. I've noticed some kids are ready for multiplication, place value up in the millions, etc. I will work on these skills in small group. My goal is to always challenge the kids and believe me.... they love a challenge. 

Reading

We are continuing with non fiction. So far we have worked on the following lessons....

This week we will focus on text features and key words. If you're reading non fiction together at home,  have the kiddos point out the text features and their purpose. 

Writing

We discussed how non fiction writers write about topics they are an expert on. The kids brainstormed topics they're own topics. My focus for this writing unit is for the kids to write multiple books and then choose one to edit. 

Social Studies

We had some fun exploring times lines. The kids spent time researching past decades. Please see our timeline posted outside our classroom next time we have Rock N' Roll.