May 16 - 19th

Language Arts

During our read aloud time this week, I continued to use "Wonder" as a mentor text.  We focused on using our comprehension strategies to make connections to the book.  Students make personal 

connections with the text by using their schema (background knowledge). We specifically discussed how Text-to-Self (T-S) connections are made between the text and the reader's personal experience.  I used the following journal prompt on Monday to have the students make T-S connections with the book Wonder:

Have you ever felt different?

Describe a time when you felt different.  How did people treat you?  Describe your feelings.  Were they good or bad?

I enjoyed reading the student's journal entries and hearing how they were able to relate in some way to what our main character in Wonder may be feeling.

Math

We continued covering concepts in division this week. The main focus of the week was to learn the division symbol through repeated addition and skip counting.

The students enjoyed playing "Race to the Moon" to reinforce the division strategies learned.

Science

Animal Life Cycles

Diary of an Animal

The students began typing their animal diary entries using the "Storyboard That" program. Its is a powerful online storyboard and graphic organizer program that the students are really enjoying. Once their stories are typed and the graphics are complete, the students will be presenting them to the class.

Here a few samples of the students' work so far:

Diary of a Monarch Butterfly

Diary of a Bighorn Sheep

Social Studies

The students continued to work on their Ukraine slideshows. They will be presenting these to the class next week.

Art

The pointillism butterflies are now up in the hallway for your enjoyment!