Thursday, February 20, 2014

Classroom Snapshot

Dear Families,

What a crazy winter! I hope last night storms didn't keep too many families up last night. Despite the weather, we had  another week full of fun! Here is a look at some of things we have been up to this week.




  • In Shared Reading, we have been reading a variety of non-fiction books about two great historical figures, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. We have continued to focus on Main Idea, Details, Facts, Opinions, and Author's Purpose as we share and learn about the lives of two of our great presidents.
  • In Writing, we  continued to be researchers and have begun researching information about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Students received the opportunity to choose one of the two Presidents  to further research, and had time to work on the computers to find three interesting facts to include in their informational paragraph about their selected president. Students have had a blast with the computers!
  • In Handwriting, we continued to practice our cursive stroke and have learned three additional lower case letters, d.q.and,g. Please, ensure that your child is practicing all their lower case letter cursive formation as we learn them because students will be tested at the end of the year on their cursive handwriting.
  • In  Math, we have begun working on understanding how to add three digit numbers with here digit numbers. Students will learn how to model such problems using manipulatives, pictures, etc. Additionally, we will begin teaching both traditional and non-traditional methods of adding with and without regrouping. Please continue to practice at home basic math addition and subtraction facts.
  • In Science, we just began our unit on living and non-living things. We have already learned and discussed what living things require, such as, water, air, food, etc. Students have done an excellent job differentiating the difference between both living and non-living things, and explaining how they know an object is living or non-living. We also, took advantage of our slightly warmer weather Wednesday and went on a nature scavenger hunt where we observed living and non-living things in our environment.
  • In Word Study, we have learned all of our third quarter words this quarter already; therefore, we will begin reviewing words from previous quarters until the end of the quarter.
  • Field Trip: If you have not already turned in your field trip money please remember to do so this week!
  • Spring Conferences: Conference notes went home last week. Please return them as soon as possible in order to get the time that best fits your schedule. Conferences will be held the week of March 17th. If you did not receive a conference form or need another please email me using the contact me link to the right. If you have scheduled a conference, you will receive your scheduled time this Friday, so be on the look out.
  • Third Quarter: Third quarter has been extended due to the many extreme weather days. Our new end of the quarter date is March 14th, which in turn means report cards will now  go home on the 18th of March.
  • Supplies: At this time of the year supplies tend to run very low. Please ask your child about supplies they are needing. In most cases, students have run out of pencils, white board markers, glue, crayons and markers. Thank you!
  • Events:
    • Fun Fair - February 22nd
    • Shedd Aquarium Field Trip- March 6th

  • A huge thank you to our wonderful Valentine's Party volunteers and the families who were able to donate. It was greatly appreciated by all.
  • Thank you for the wonderful Valentine's cards, etc. They were greatly appreciated.


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