* Please send permission slips and $5 for the field trip no later then Thursday, April 12th *

April 2nd-6th

The last few weeks we have been very busy learning about travel and Dr. Seuss. Last week we read various Dr. Seuss books including Oh the Places You'll Go and Horton Hears a Who. To go along with these books we wrote about  what we wanted to be when we grow up as well as practiced using  adjectives to describe a place by how it sounds. On Friday, we had the privilege of having a guest a reader from Golden Valley Memorial Hospital come and read to us for Read Across America Day. The kids enjoyed hearing the the reader share, The Book with No Pictures.

 The last few weeks we have also worked on writing opinion writing pieces. Two weeks ago after reading The Big Trip and comparing and contrasting various types of travel the students picked which way of travel was the best. They had to practice writing a topic sentence, three reasons, and a conclusion. The students continued practicing writing about their opinion by writing about which Dr. Seuss book was their favorite and why. 

 

The Moon

The past two weeks we have been learning about the moon. We have used questioning to help us extend our thinking and develop our own opinion about whether we would like to visit the moon or not. After reading several books we discovered new vocabulary words like Lunar Rover, craters, and moon rocks. These words along with others furthered our understanding of the moon and created lots of questions that drove our learning. In addition to learning about what it's like on the moon, the students were taught about the various moon phases. The students thought is was very interesting how the moon orbits earth and how its angle in relation to the sun and earth determines its phase. I was very surprised by how many kids didn't want to go the moon when they wrote their opinion writing piece. The students used moon facts they had learned earlier in the week to help them support their reason as to why they would or would not want to go to the moon. Many kids used words like gravity, craters, moon rocks, lunar rover, and space suits to help support their opinions.


In math, we finished learning about length. The students participated in centers this week where they used various units to help them measure a variety of things. In groups, the kids worked collaboratively to compare and order the lengths of items from shortest to longest and longest to shortest. They also had to apply their knowledge of using a the starting line in order to accurately compare lengths.
                                             

We also made Valentine's bags for our valentines on Wednesday and made a delicious cupcakes thanks to our Bright Futures Sponsor Mrs. Johnson. The kids got to make their own batter by mixing the ingredients together for the cupcake and then they got to ice their cupcake. 

       Last week we spent a lot of time researching and writing about animals and animal groups. On Monday, the kids used books and well as various websites to help them find facts about the animal they are studying. I demonstrated for the students how to use various online resources to help gather information about a particular topic. I chose to research insects and modeled for the students how to use the National Geographic Website as well as google to help me gather important information like where insects live and what they eat. After modeling, the kids researched their animal and found similar facts. The students used a web to help them gather their information and organize their thoughts. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we worked on using the research we gathered to create complete sentences that would help us write our informative writing piece. After finishing our informative writing piece on Thursday, we began working on our dioramas and posters to go along with our animals. The kids thoroughly enjoyed this part of our Engaging Learning Experience. I was in awe of the kids creativity and their imaginations. I loved the kids eagerness to make each of their projects unique and special. I know several students worked or are working on their projects at home. I appreciate all the time and effort the students as well as parents have put into this project. I can't wait for the students to share their writing and visual aids tomorrow. I have no doubt tomorrows presentations will be a hit!

         

In math, we finished addition and subtraction to 20 this past week. We spent a lot of time doing guided practice and small group instruction. The students participated in whiteboard practice as well as differentiated instruction through math centers. Math tests went home Friday so be sure to check your child's backpack. We will start length this week with Mrs. Tribble. This will be a short unit, but the kids will be learning how to compare, order, and measure objects using various units. 

Wright's Weekly News

Wright's Weekly News

Martin Luther King Jr.

In honor of Martin Luther King day on Monday, we learned this week more about the significance of Dr. King. At the beginning of the week we created a brochure and filled in what we already knew about Martin Luther King Jr., as well as what questions we had about him. We then read a few read aloud books about MLK and built more knowledge of the history of his life and his purpose behind fighting for civil rights. After reading about him, the kids came up with characteristics to describe the type of person he was. The students shared individually what traits they chose and evidence from the read aloud to support their reason. On Wednesday, we focused more on Dr. King's "I have a Dream Speech." The kids had the opportunity to listen to part of his speech and also read about the marches Dr. King led to end segregation and change the laws. As a class we then brainstormed dreams we had for our world. Each student wrote their own "I have a dream" sentence and shared it. We complied all our pages together to make a classroom book for our library. We ended the week by filling in what we learned after studying Martin Luther King Jr., and then we wrote an informative piece about the facts we had gathered about this historical man. Through this writing activity the kids focused on including a topic sentence with at least three facts and a closing sentence. The theme this week was really interesting for the kids and I believe they enjoyed learning more about the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

In math, we focused on addition strategies to 20. The students learned about doubles, doubles plus 1, making 10, making tens and ones, and counting on this week. We spent the majority of the week doing lots of modeling and practicing with these strategies in both whole and small group. The goal is that students are accuarate when solving addition problems, and the second goal is that they can improve on their speed as well. This week we really focused on accuracy. The speed will come, but this skill is so important for when we begin addition to 40 later on down the road.