Week of 11/23

Ahoy!

This week is going to be nice and short! There will be no homework, or spelling words this week.

Look for a fun thanksgiving project to come home tomorrow :)

Enjoy the break and time with your family!
Miss Irwin

Week of 11/16/15

Ahoy!

Can you believe that it is almost Thanksgiving! I cannot believe how fast this year is rushing by! Here is what were are working on in class.

Reading: We are in the middle of our unit on Tigers! Through learning about Tiger's students are also learning how to find the main idea of an informational text, how to find the main message of a literary text, how to ask and answer questions about the text, comparing and contrasting characters, and looking at how characters in a story change! One of the most difficult concepts for our students to master is the difference between main idea and main message.

Main idea: Informational text. The who, what, when, where, why.
Main message: Literary text. What is the author trying to teach us through this story? Often looking at the events that the character goes through is helpful. Can be a universal truth.

Writing: This week is all about figurative language. Students are learning about similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, idioms, and personification.

Math: We are continuing to work on our conceptual understanding of multiplication and how to use it. This week is focused around using facts that we know to help us solve facts we don't yet know. We are also having a strong focus on using visuals and diagrams to help the students solve word problems.

Typing:
Please have your student practice typing. Come the spring students will be participating in SBAC (state testing) this is all on the computer. It is really beneficial to the students if they are comfortable typing. We are also working on it at school.

Spelling: 
live
without
life
different
off
Earth
through
first
head
there
because
almost
always
new
too
page
got
another

Challenge Words: 
bicycle
habitat
consumer
endangered
threatened

Mystery Questions: 

1) Write down two similes and two metaphors.
2) What are three words uses as onomatopoeia in people's writing?
3) The book "The Giving Tree" is an example of (choose one): a) metaphor b)simile      c)personification
4) Name three other types of figurative language that we haven't learned in class yet.

Reminders:
Now-12/4: Stuff the Bus collection. Any non-perishable foods are accepted.
11/25-11/27: Thanksgiving Break
12/11: Game and Movie Night

Thanks for all you do!
Miss Irwin

Week of 11/9/2015

Ahoy! It has been another great week in 204!

Mrs. Blair and I are noticing that a few of our students are really tired, I don't know if this is related to the time change or what! Just a reminder that 8 and 9 year olds need 11 hours of sleep. Here are some articles related to children getting sleep.

http://nymag.com/news/features/38951/

http://www.webmd.com/children/features/good-sound-sleep-for-children

Reading: This week we are working on finding the main message of a story called "The Banza." We are looking at characters and how their actions help to move the story, and lead us to the main message. We are also working on the suffix -ing.

Math: In math we are continuing to work on multiplication. Please help your students to understand how to determine if a story problem is asking you to add, subtract, or multiply. We are working on this in class as well. Remember to underline the important information, and circle what the question is asking you to do.

Writing: We are finishing up our monster descriptions. On Thursday we will be doing our final drafts.

Spelling: 
often
use
kind
head
also
four
show
been
around
began
above
long
took
air
there
were
large
might

Mystery Questions:
1) Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?
2) Who were the first people to celebrate Thanksgiving?
3) Approximately how many pounds of turkey do Americans eat every year?
4) What is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and when did it start?
5) What is the busiest day of the year to travel on an airplane?
6) Do they celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada?

Reminders: 
11/11 No school

Thanks for all you do to support your children.
Miss Irwin

Week of 11/2/2015

Ahoy!

Happy November! Where has the last two months gone?!

Please make sure your student is reading 20 minutes every night! 

Math: We are continuing our work on multiplication this week. When working with your students ask them to explain their thinking. Often students learn more when they have to explain their thinking and teach it to someone else. Our strategies for multiplication are using a number line, loops and groups, arrays, or repeated addition. 

Reading: This week we are working on finding the main idea of an informational text. Students need to ask "Who did what when and why? We are also working on finding the important information in text as well ask asking questions while they are reading. 

Writing: This week we are finishing up our sensory paragraph. We are going to be learning about figurative language this week as well. 

Science: We are continuing our learning on sound. This week we are conducting an experiment about what are some of the different sounds that different materials make when they hit. We are also focusing on using our observation to prove or disprove our hypothesis. 

Spelling:
life
little
left
without
once
thought
another
house
took
animal
there
enough
know
something
these
find

Challenge Words:
launch
pitch
decibel
amplitude
frequency

Mystery Questions:
1) Name four things a tiger eats.
2) What is a poacher?
3) How many cubs do tigers usually have?
4) Name two big threats to tigers.
5) What are two things humans can do to help tigers?

Thanks,
Miss Irwin