NICE WEEK

Last week was a productive week with a few celebrations.  We had a couple birthdays, time with preschool buddies, and a successful Grandparent's Day.  Also, our field trip to Capen Park Thursday went very well. This was our last planned community field trip for the season.  This week, the most notable date is Early Release Day on Wednesday.  School dismisses at 12:45 this Wednesday.

Book Shares:
Readers should have at least 1 book share completed already this year.  I will be conferencing with all students this week in book clubs and I will also have them make a book share plan.  Students are expected to make a book report for 10 award winning books by April 30.  I have published a link to the right for book shares with links to many possible books to read.  Students have a reading log to record their books and also a sheet with book share choices.  There are many examples in our classroom also.  I will email a copy of these sheets home.  Students may use read aloud books and book club books for their book shares too.

Here is current focus for this week:

READING: Native American book clubs start this week and so do weekly literature journal assignments.  Students have a weekly reading assignment due on Friday for the next month.  Each book club has a Native American theme to support our social studies learning.

WRITING/SS:  Students are learning about Native American culture using our textbook, other books, and websites.  Students are researching a NA minitopic to help introduce each region to the class.  We will be focusing on nonfiction writing strategies as students do research on NA topics and being to create their museum exhibits.  There will be a packet sent home this week with due dates and information on this Powwow Theme.

SCIENCE:  This week we are sharing our inspirations from our community experiences through Wordles we made based on our observations.  Each student will present and share an idea for our community science project.  This work will guide our science focus throughout the year.

MATH: Division Division Division!  We will be expanding our division application for a while now.  We will look at a variety of efficient strategies as we practice up to 3 digit divided by 2 digit division.  Students will also be bringing home their multiplication test Monday.  Some students can benefit a lot from practicing their facts at home to be more efficient.  My experience is many students need support with homework during our division topics.