HAPPY LABOR DAY!

I hope everyone enjoyed their 3 day weekend.  Thank you to those who made it to the Potluck/Back to School Night. Classroom C All-Stars were creative and productive this week.  Below, there is a current update on all our work.  I also updated photos from our field experiences on the CPBL page.

Reading: This week we had discussions about genre and book shares.  Readers are recording a variety of thinking already.  We will use their reading responses in their journals to begin our reading comprehension work.  First, I am completing the DRA, District Reading Assessment.  This means I will hear all readers read out loud and they will also respond to questions about their reading.  Overall, this assessment gives me more information about a reader's comprehension and fluency.

Writing: We have 2 writing projects developing currently.  First, we are taking steps to draft and complete our I AM poems.  This poetry will focus on expressing student's lives and using descriptive phrases.  We also began our Gazetteers for our islands.  This alphabetical description of places on student islands is due Wednesday, September 14.  Many students are typing this work in a Google Doc which they can access from home.  Students are also welcome to craft a hand made Gazetteer.  And the Island Maps are Awesome!  So creative.  I'll post a few tomorrow.

Math: This week students went over their graded math test.  We started a unit on rounding, adding, and subtracting, with a focus on decimals.  This gives us a chance to review mental math addition and subtraction.  It will also give students more experience with decimals, which we will work with all year.

Social Studies:  The maps look fantastic!  We spent a lot of time finishing the maps this week.  We had time to look at pictures of real land forms around the world during ss and math.  We also discussed using inspirations from our field experiences on their islands.  Now we are describing or islands in writing through making a Gazetteer, a glossary of places on a map.

Science:  Students had time to make final copies of their field experience observation sheets.  Our gov't walk was cancelled today due to the rain.  We will make it up some nice morning in the next two weeks.  Next week, is our big trip to the urban farm at CCUA. Please consider donating to their Planting for Pantry program.  We are accepting donations through next Tuesday.  This trip includes science classes and great observation opportunities.  Kids are doing a great job in the field as learners. All of our community experiences become the foundation for our community science project this year.

TOTALLY AWESOME MAPS!!!! CHECK EM OUT!!!!