February 11 - 15

So glad it's starting to warm up outside. But due to the cold weather this past week we were only able to skate one day. I apologize for not having any pictures from skating on Monday. I was planning to take more pictures later in the week, but unfortunately that didn't happen.

But the kids still had a fun week with our Valentine's Day Party on Thursday.

The students enjoyed exchanging Valentine's Day cards with their classmates.

A party isn't complete without playing some games. The students loved a new version of 7-up called "Who stole my heart?"

Minute to Win It - Cinnamon Heart Suck Up was a blast.

Minute to Win It - Conversation Heart Stacking is harder than it looks!

Thank you so much to Group 3 for providing the treats for our party!

Star Student

We had a great time celebrating our Star Student this week. 

We loved our parent visit and learning more about our Star Student.

Birthdays

Two of our friends share the same birthday. We loved singing them happy birthday and sharing their special day with them.

Curriculum Update for the Week:

Reading Workshop

This week I read Crazy Hair Day by Barney Saltzberg. This story is about Stanley and the Crazy Hair Day. Stanley is so excited for this day, he can't wait to get to school so everyone can see his crazy hair. Unfortunately for Stanley he got Crazy Hair Day and Class Picture Day mixed up, so now he has crazy hair for his class picture. Stanley is so upset and embarrassed he runs to the bathroom and won't come out. It is finally class picture time and his best friend talks him into coming to class for the picture. To his delight the class has a surprise for Stanley...you will have to read the book to find out what it is. 

The reading strategy I focused on for this book was cause and effect. Understanding cause and effect relationships is a basic thinking skill. It is a strategy used by readers to understand why things happen the way they do in the text. I am teaching the students to look for clue words that will assist them in determining the cause and effect of the events in the text. It is a strategy that is not only used in reading, but it is experienced in day to day life. Readers who recognize cause and effect relationships understand that in text events happen (effects), along with the reason why they happen (causes). When students recognize this relationship, comprehension is increased. 

The students always love having the opportunity to read with a buddy.

Writing Workshop

Friendship Mini Unit

This week the students wrote their own poems based on the pattern from Jessica Crum's "Friends" poem. 

First, I discussed how good writers take the time to think of many ideas for their writing before they begin drafting. The students were given a graphic organizer to brainstorm the many activities they like to do with a friend. I asked the students to put a red checkmark on their four favourite ideas. 

Next, the students were given a second graphic organizer called a brace map. They were asked to write the four favourite activities they checkmarked the day before and then brainstorm the items they need for each activity. Then they were asked to highlight the two they wanted to include in their poem. For example if they like to go swimming, they would need to bring a swimming suit and a towel. 

Then the students were asked to draft their own version of the poem using the ideas from the brace map. After the drafting, the students reread their writing doing the crosscheck. This means they read to be sure it "looks right, sounds right and makes sense."

After writing their draft, the students were given the task of revising their poems. They were asked to look for "tired words" and revise their poem to replace any overused words.

The final stage of writing was the editing, or the clean up stage. We talked about how we write for an audience. We want them to be able to read our good ideas so we must use correct spelling and punctuation correctly. Then they read their drafts with a friend and fixed any mistakes that made their writing hard to read.

The students published their poems by typing them up on the chrome books. They also inserted a picture of themselves with a friend at the bottom of the page. I am so proud of how great the students' poems turned out. They are now on display in our classroom.

Word Study

This week we focused on the Spell-a-thon word lists. We spent time each day looking at "rule breaker" words and completing activities to practice these words. Some of these activities included:

Partner Spelling

Rainbow Sentences

Spelling City

Handwriting

This week the students learned how to form the letter J in handwriting.

Math

This week we began our multiplication unit. We learned that we can represent repeated addition sentences as multiplication sentences. In addition to using repeated addition to calculate the total number of dots below (3+3+3+3+3), we can use multiplication. We can use multiplication when attempting to add "equal" groups. The following can be thought of in terms of:

5 groups of 3 or 5 x 3 = 15

 

Math Facts

You may have noticed that your child hasn't been bringing home any mad minute sheets lately. I have decided to go paperless and use a program called XtraMath to practice their math facts. XtraMath is a free web program that teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts which are critical to success in mathematics. Using this program, students get immediate feedback and the problems are tailored to their specific needs. After a simple placement exam, fluency goals are achieved through timed practices where students are given 3 seconds to correctly answer each individual math fact. So the students work through the various math facts at their own pace.

Science

We completed the next Survivor Building Challenge this week.

Challenge 5 - Great job building a sturdy table for our shelter! We've been on the island for a few days now. All that we've eaten are some bananas and a few berries. Morgan and Gabby decide that they would like to look for more food, while the others work on a plan to get off the island. They need a way to carry the food back to our shelter. Titus suggests that they make some sort of a backpack. Gabby finds some tree bark and leaves that they could use to make the bags. We aren't sure which material will work best to hold the food. We will need to test the two materials to determine which one will support more mass.

The testable question is:  Will different stocks of paper support different mass?

Conclusion: Card stock paper supports more mass because it is thicker.

Art

To go along with our "Friend" poems, we created a collaborative art piece for our bulletin board display. Each student had a friend trace their hand. They were asked to use their markers to create a pattern on their hand. The hands were placed together on the bulletin board in the shape of a flower to represent the beauty of friendship.

Student of the Week

Congratulations to our Student of the Week!

Have a wonderful Family Day everyone!