The above photos are from the Back to School picnic two weekends ago! (3rd-5th graders) Dear Families, It looks like summer weather has arrived just in time for the start of autumn! Please help remind your student that they need sneakers for P.E. class on Monday and Wednesdays. We are looking forward to seeing everyone at Open House on Thursday, September 28 from 5:30-6:30. This is a great opportunity for your student to show you around his/her classrooms and describe all of the learning opportunities that he/she is engaged in. Ms. Foster's Literacy: Ms. Foster's Literacy Group is just finishing their read aloud The Great Treehouse War . Students have made beautiful water color projects for this book and have written about the story elements. Look for these projects on the classroom wall during Open House! This week, we will be starting our Character Unit. Each student will be part of a book group where they will read about strong characters and analyze the characters' traits and how the characters grow and change throughout the book. In addition to reading a book group book, students will have opportunities for choice reading. It is important that students are bringing their choice book to and from school each day. I have noticed that many students are reading a couple of chapters of a book and then abandoning their book. It is important for the development of high level comprehension skills that students are reading books from start to finish and taking the time to discuss and reflect on their books. Below is as graph that emphasizes the importance of students reading for a minimum of 20 minutes per night. Why Read for 20 Minutes a night? infogram.com/why-i-canand39t-skip-my-20-minutes-of-reading-tonigh-1g90n2ow3l79p4y Ms. Morrissey's Literacy: Students with Mrs. Morrissey's class are just about finished with their read aloud, Wonder by RJ Palaccio. We have discussed and written about the book in various ways. We have focused on the characters traits and students have connected the characters to their own lives. Book groups began last week and we have gotten off to a slow start due to a few schedule interruptions, including Shakespeare, which happens to be a great one! 4-5 Grade Shakespeare: Before we met for the first time on Wednesday with the actors from Town Hall Theater we began learning about William Shakespeare himself. Thus far we have learned a bit about his early life. Students were also impressed about all of the words and phrases we use today that he "invented"! When the actors arrived we played some theater-like games in order to get to know each other. They also did begin to set the stage of the story, Twelfth Night. Students are never told the story, but by acting pieces out the plot begins to unfold. The process is pretty amazing! At this point students have just been introduced to some of the characters and wondering about the problems they are facing based on their actions and feelings. The setting provides a background for students to use when exploring. It was a highly energetic hour and I imagine next week will be as well! The plan is for us to meet for about 8 weeks and then perform the play on November 17th, so be sure to mark your calendars! Third Grade Math: Third graders will be completing their first math unit this week. Unit 1 is a review of addition and subtraction facts and adding and subtracting two digit numbers. We will have a final test on Friday. Our next unit is an introduction to multiplication. Third graders will be introduced to the a variety of multiplication models and begin learning strategies for the multiplication facts. Attached is an overview of our second math unit. www.mathlearningcenter.org/sites/default/files/documents/family/PAR-BR3-U2.pdf 4th Grade Math: Fourth graders have been exploring numbers and determining whether numbers are prime or composite. We have been using the area model to multiply some larger numbers, into the teens. The students have an interesting math calendar to share with you when you visit on Thursday, so be sure to ask them about it! 5th Grade Math: Fifth graders have been investigating volume and surface area. They are also working to create and solve expressions by noticing number relationships. The math calendar is introducing students to many equivalent fractions with visual models. *Fifth grade students need to return STARBASE field trip permission forms and call buttons (designed names). Upcoming Events:
The above photos include 4th-5th graders participating in our first Shakespeare meeting! The above photos are 5th graders working during math class and during Mrs. Hornbeck's 5th grade Social Studies class. The above photos are of 4th graders continuing to learn all about each other in fun ways during Morning Meeting and working hard during math! There is even a photo of some budding musicians playing instruments during music class! Third Graders working hard on math!
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