Last Week

What a busy week we had last week!  We were so busy I forgot to tell everyone about it!

In math, we talked more about multiplication and began our EnVision (Pearson) topics regarding it.  We talked about multiples of 2, 5, 9, and 10! We looked at patterns and worked on new vocabulary (factor, product, and multiple).  We will be wrapping up this topic this coming Friday!

In reading we continued talking about comprehension strategies (checking for meaning, predicting, and retelling) as well as worked on sticking with a book.  We've previously talked about picking a just right book (and how to find it), but we came back to the idea that we might abandon books for reasons other than comprehension. It's possible not to like a book!  However, some students reported that they are abandoning a lot of books, so we discussed how to stick with a book for a while to get to know the characters for a while before abandoning the book.  We also took a "reading grit assessment" where students analyzed their own reading habits and gave themselves points to those habits.  In the end, they were able to see if they need to improve their habits in some areas and everyone set a reading goal for themselves. Some goals included: reading different genres, reading books at their level (instead of picking easy books), reading with more stamina, or simply finding books that they will love instead of just tolerating.  I will be meeting with students over the coming weeks to check their progress in these goals.

In writing we wrapped up drafting our narrative stories and began revising and editing.  We learned how much of a process it is to properly revise and edit! They also learned to "read the story backwards" to find run-on sentences.  They read each sentence in isolation which helped them to find those errors and ultimately fix them.  This week we will be putting those stories online (stay tuned for more information about that)!

In Fundations we've continued talking about 1-1-1 words (i.e. thin, chop, run, swim, and pop) and adding suffixes.  We learned that adding a consonant suffix doesn't change the baseword, but when a vowel suffix is added (i.e. -able, -ive, -ing, -er, etc.) then the last consonant in the baseword is doubled (i.e. pop --> popped).

In Science, we wrapped up talking about the solar system.  We reviewed tough concepts such as eclipses, why we have seasons, and the phases of the moon.  We acted it out, we watched videos, and we even learned how to study using different techniques such as websites, flashcards, and songs.  Speaking of songs, we sung our last "Moon Phases" song on Thursday and we were all pretty sad about it.  The good news is, there are multiplication songs on the horizon so be on the look out for those! Our solar system test is on Thursday!