September 18 - 22

We had a very busy week in our classroom. The students are settled in and working really hard. Way to go 3A!

VIP

Congratulations to 3A's first VIP! We enjoyed getting to know you better this week!

Reading Workshop

During our Reading Workshop mini lessons this week we continued to focus on Comprehension.  We discussed that "Reading is Thinking."  Research has shown that simply having students read more is not enough to improve reading skills.  Students need to be engaged in thinking about their reading.  I modelled how to ask questions throughout the reading process while reading the book "Fly Away Home" by Eve Bunting.  Learning to ask questions during the reading process is an important strategy because it teaches a reader to think aloud.

We also read the story "My Mouth is a Volcano" written by Julia Cook. This a a great read aloud that teaches students about how to have self control and not interrupt or "erupt" when others are talking.

After reading the book we discussed the importance of not interrupting others and then we brainstormed strategies to help keep us from "erupting."

This week I continued to conference with individual students during Read to Self.

Writing Workshop

We began our week with responding to the journal prompt "One of my personal strengths is......"

During the week we continued to focus on proper sentence structure. We have been discussing:
- A sentence includes a NAMING and a TELLING part.
- Naming part - WHO or WHAT the sentence is about.
- Telling part - the ACTION or WHAT IS HAPPENING in the sentence.
- Must have a capital to begin the sentence and a proper end mark (. ? !)

The students worked through some activities where they had to circle the naming part and underline the telling part.

We also started our Word Study spelling program this week. The students participated in various activities throughout the week to practice their spelling list.

We also worked on the letters "D" and "G" in handwriting.

Math

We covered the following goals in math this week:

PA3-3 Counting Backwards
Goals: Students will find differences between numbers by counting backwards and by counting up. Students will use number lines to help with counting backwards
PA3-4 Number Patterns Made by Subtracting
Goals: Students will find a number that is less than another number by a given difference. Students will extend number patterns made by subtracting a constant difference. Students will solve word problems involving number patterns made by subtracting.

In addition to working through our Patterning Unit in Math, we are also focusing on mastery of basic facts. The ability to recall math facts fluently, and with automaticity, provides a foundation for math success. Learning specific strategies helps students commit these math facts to memory, resulting in the ability to perform critical mental math tasks.

The students were taught two domino games this week to practice their math fact strategies.

Science

The students are working very hard to finish up their lap books. They have really enjoyed putting the information about rocks and minerals together in such a fun way. This week we focused on learning about the rock cycle, layers of the earth and we reviewed various rocks and minerals vocabulary.

Pet Rocks!

The students were so excited to paint and decorate their pet rocks this week. Next week they will write descriptive paragraphs about their rocks.

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!