Hi everyone! Happy Fall! I can't believe we are already into October! Below you will find important dates and curriculum updates. Don't forget to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences!
Important Dates:
- October 12-18: Scholastic Book Fair!
- October 17-18: Parent/Teacher Conferences - Please bring your student with you to conferences (if possible)
- October 19: NO SCHOOL
- October 20: NO SCHOOL
- October 23: Butter Braid Fundraiser Begins
- October 24: Picture Retake Day
- October 28: Behind the Scenes Tap House Spirit Night
- October 31: Halloween Party 1:20-2:00 Parade 2:05-2:30
Curriculum Updates:
- Reading: We have started our 3rd Module in our Reading curriculum. This module's essential question is, "How do historic places, documents, and symbols represent our nation?" We are reading non-fiction texts focused on the US Constitution, our flag, the Statue of Liberty, the 4th of July, and monuments. The reading skills we are focusing on include Central Idea, Synthesizing, Text and Graphic Features, and Text Structure. The kids have LOVED Ms. Gilbert "nerding out" over history - I hope they are sharing how much they are enjoying reading! In small groups we have started working on syllabication (decoding any word using syllable patterns and types) and spelling rules.
- Writing: We have published personal narratives and letters so far this year. Mrs. Fransen and I have decided to take a step back to focus on parts of speech and expanding sentences. The kids hvae been "dressing up sentences" in order to make more complex, compound, and interesting sentences. We will take this work with sentence structure and connect it to paragraph writing. I am excited to see what amazing writing these kiddos will create soon!
- Math: We are moving and groving in Math! We are in our second unit which focuses on area and multiplication. First, we began exploring area using square tiles. Next, we moved to working with grids. Now we are exploring area without a grid or tiles. The kids are gaining an understanding of how to solve for area when only given 2 side lengths. They are doing AMAZING! Don't forget to work on the Math Menu! It is Due October 17! I have some cool prizes the kiddos are excited for!
- Social Studies: We finally finished The Capitol Ghost Mystery! The kids were absolutely enthralled throughout the story and learned so much about Colorado's history. We are continuing our historical learning through reading this unit. I am still waiting to hear a date for the Colorado Capitol Field Trip. We are also working to see if we can get the author of The Capitol Ghost Mystery to come visit our class and share her writing strategies. Please be patient while we figure all of this out! :)
- Science: We have started our first science unit! This unit is all about forces and interactions. To begin, the kids explored why boats float. They created boats out of tinfoil and collected data on how many pennies each boat could hold before it sank. The kids had an absolute blast with this experiement (pictures coming soon)! Our next exploration involves learning about the forces that are acting on boats. The kids will get an opportunity to build new and improved boats after we explore these forces!
- Second Step: We are wrapping up our social/emotional unit on growth mindset. The kids have been learning about how our brains create networks when we learn a new skill. They have also learned that practice, making mistakes, asking for help, and trying different things are all ways to help us make a strong network! Ask them what skill they're learning to create a network for - they can tell you their plan to get better!
