Week of 5/22/2017

Ahoy!

I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful sunshine. Here is what we are learning in our classroom!

Reading: This week we are transitioning to a new unit learning all about Native Americans. Yesterday we engaged in a conversation about what we already know about Native Americans, today we started to learn about the Northeastern Woodland Native Americans. This will continue through the next few weeks!

Writing: Students are working on finishing up their fictional pieces. They will continue through the writing process for the next week.

Math: This week we are working on finding the area and perimeter of various shapes. We will be focusing on a comprehensive review towards the end of the week in order to feel prepared for state testing next week!

Spelling:
there
several
animals
family
often
upon
it's
up on
most
move
along
a long
work
once
turn
its
sure
water
later
another

Homework Journal:
If you could learn to speak another language, what would it be and why?

Mystery Questions:
1) Name three tribes in the Southwest Native American region.
2) Name four tribes in the Northwest Coastal Native American region.
3) What does "nomadic tribe" mean?

Dates to Know:
5/29- No School
5/31- Kindergarten Orientation
5/31-6/2- Math SBAC Testing
6/2- Family Game Night @ 5:00

Thanks for all your help teaching your kiddos this year!
Miss Irwin

Week of 5/15/2017

Ahoy!

I hope you are all have a great week! We are back to normalcy here in room 204 and 205! I am so proud of how hard my students worked during SBAC testing last week! We will be doing it all over again in 2 weeks for our MATH testing. Here is what we are working on this week!

Reading: This week we are focusing on finding the central message of a test and using the illustrations as text evidence. I am so impressed with how far our students have come in the last few months! We are also looking at how the same story can be told from different points of view. Please be reading with your child 20 minutes each night. This will help your child's fluency, which is an important part of them becoming a strong reader!

Writing: This week the students are working on writing a fictional piece using dialogue! We are currently in the pre-write and drafting stages.

Math: This week we are beginning our unit on geometry. We will be talking about what attributes different shapes have and how to classify the shapes based off of their attributes. Please be working with your child on memorizing their multiplication facts. This will be a great help to them come SBAC testing and 4th grade.

Spelling:
I'm
because
said
car
morning
right
didn't
made
body
several
soon
thought
best
himself
usually
people
something
try
others
their

Mystery Questions:
What birthstone represents the month of May?
What happens the first Saturday in May?
What is the most popular ice cream flavor?
When did Washington become a state?

Dates to Remember:
5/20- Family Fun Run 3-5 @ Cardon Field
5/30-6/2 Math SBAC Testing

Thanks,
Miss Irwin

Week of 5/1/2017

Ahoy!

I can't believe how fast the weeks are starting to go by! We have another busy week this week with 'mustache day' tomorrow and our field trip on Thursday. Here is what we are learning in room 204!

Reading: This week we are working on reviewing all of our reading strategies. Our main focus has been on making sure that our students feel as ready as possible to go into testing next week!

Writing: Again this week has mainly been focused on making sure that our students are ready for testing. They have been reviewing the 3 different types of writing that they have learned this year. Our big hope is that they will remember the formats that go with writing a narrative, informational piece, or opinion piece.

Math: This week we are working on division, area and perimeter. I am impressed with how quickly the kids are grasping the concept of division as the opposite of multiplication. We will be finishing this unit quickly and moving on to geometry.

Spelling Words: Will be posted in the morning.

Mystery Questions:
Have your student fill out a multiplication chart like the one below.

Field Trip Information: 

Thursday we head to LALOOSKA! This field trip is a blast and I am so excited to kick off our Native American studies with it. We will be leaving right at 9:00 on Thursday morning. If possible your child needs to be at school by 8:45. I will open my classroom door at 8:45 so that students have a chance to use the restroom and get their things put away before we line up to go on the bus. The weather is supposed to be very interesting on Thursday. I would send your child in lose clothing, with a light jacket because they are calling for rain and we are eating lunch outside. But, it is also supposed to be 84 degrees. Where we are going will be dusty so please wear tennis shoes. Students will need to bring their lunch. It needs to be in a paper bag with their name on it. If you have any questions please ask! 

SBAC Information: 

Next week we begin SBAC testing. This can often be a stressful time for the students, no matter how light we try to make it. Please make sure that students are getting a good nights sleep and are eating a healthy breakfast. We will begin testing on Tuesday with a reading test, and continue on Thursday with reading and writing. We are constantly reminding the kids that all we want is them to do their best and put their best effort in! 

Thanks for all you do to support your child! 

Miss Irwin