April 8 - 11th

The weather is warming up and the days are getting longer....some sure signs that we are well into Spring. The kids are loving that we can get outside for PE sometimes to enjoy the beautiful weather.



Following is the Curricular Update for the week:

Writing Workshop

Easter Bunny's Assistant - Persuasive Writing Activity

This week started a super fun Easter writing activity that the students are LOVING! We are writing persuasive letters to the Easter Bunny in order to apply for assistant positions.

I started by reading a mentor text that incorporates persuasion called "Click Clack, Moo Cows That Type" by Doreen Cronin. After reading we discussed what the animals wanted and what techniques they used to achieve their goals. Then we co-created an anchor chart to review the purpose of persuasive texts and the criteria.

Next I read "The Easter Bunny’s Assistant" by Jan Thomas. In the story skunk is the assistant but every time he is excited he sprays. So is not much help. This leads to the writing activity – the Easter Bunny needs more help.

 The students were shown job postings for six different positions that included chocolate tasting assistant, egg design assistant, spring garden assistant, egg hiding assistant, spring animal assistant, and egg security assistant. 

After going over the application process the students were asked to select what job they wanted to apply for. I emphasized to the students that they must have skills that are relevant to the job and will need to prove that they are qualified. Next the students begin filling out the application page.

After students filled out the application they completed the graphic organizer with job criteria and evidence. They were asked to highlight 4 of the job criteria they will be using to write their letter to the Easter Bunny. 

 We used the evidence to write an opening statement to the Easter Bunny and two strong arguments as to why the he should hire them.

 Next week we will write 2 more arguments and a closing statement. All of this writing will be compiled into a persuasive letter to the Easter Bunny next week.

Reading Workshop

We started reading the Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary as a class novel study.

When the ever-curious Ralph spots Keith's red toy motorcycle, he vows to ride it. So when Keith leaves the bike unattended in his room one day, Ralph makes his move. But with all this freedom (and speed!) come a lot of obstacles. Whether dodging a rowdy terrier or keeping his nosy cousins away from his new wheels, Ralph has a lot going on! And with a pal like Keith always looking out for him, there's nothing this little mouse can't handle.

The students will be participating in activities after each chapter to focus on the application of comprehension skills and strategies to promote higher order thinking.

Chapter One - After reading the first chapter the students completed an activity where they had to describe the setting and one of the main characters - Mrs. Gridley. They were also asked to use evidence from the text to support their opinion about whether Mrs. Gridley is happy about the motel they are staying in.

Chapter Two - The students brainstormed and wrote down adjectives to describe the motorcycle in the story.

Handwriting

We finally finished all of our handwriting letters this week. Next week we will begin our Spring Handwriting Joke Book.

Word Study

This we completed our Language Notebook page on verbs this week.

Math

We continued to work through our Division Unit in math this week.

Following are the objectives covered:

- represent a division sentence as repeated addition in which the divisor is added repeatedly until the total is equal to the dividend.



- writing two division sentences for each multiplication sentence.

The students are really enjoying our Yogurt Parfait challenge. They are working hard on memorizing their multiplication facts and excited about earning scoops and toppings for the parfait party.

Social Studies

This week in Social Studies we looked at Services, as well as, Communities Working Together in Ukraine. The students continue to enjoy taking "sketch notes" to remember the main ideas discussed in class.

Art

We completed our Optical Illusion Kites in art. The students' spring poems are attached and they are now on display in our classroom. The kites look absolutely great!

PE

We continued to work on our striking skills in PE this week.