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

Week of 10/27/15

Ahoy!

Remember this week is all short days! Release at 1:10!

Reading: We starting our next unit on endangered animals! This week we are learning what endangered means, what animals are endangered, and vocabulary that goes along with our unit! We are also continuing to work on our reading chants. Attached is a video that your students need to have memorized to receive 50 Blair-win bucks tomorrow.

Writing: This week we are working on writing our fall walk paragraph. Students are instructed to use a hamburger paragraph. This is all about the 5 senses.

Math: We are well on our way to understand that multiplication is groups of something! This unit is all about having a conceptual understanding of what multiplication is. Continue to work on your basic addition facts and basic multiplication facts!

No spelling this week! 

Mystery Questions:

1) In what continent do you find the most tigers?
2) How long have tigers been on the planet?
3) How many subspecies of tigers are there?
4) Which subspecies has become extinct?

***Mystery questions must be turned in the very next day on a piece of paper with name on it. It won't be accepted any day after***


Here are some great pictures from our fall walk!

Thanks for all you do!
Miss Irwin

Week of 10/19/2015

Ahoy!

This has been a great week already! The students are working so hard.

Reading:
We are working on finding the main idea of non fiction texts. On Thursday and Friday we are taking our Unit 1 assessment. Today we learned all about Little Free Libraries where children and adults can take a book or give a book.

Writing:
We are working on adding sensory details to our writing. We will be going on a fall walk around school on Thursday, recording our 5 senses, then turning our observations into a paragraph next week.

Math:
This week is the beginning of Unit 2. We are working on the beginning concepts of multiplication. Students need to know that multiplication is repeated addition. Please start working on multiplication facts with your students, they will need to have those concrete by the end of the year!

Science:
We are currently learning about sound waves. We did an experiment yesterday where they observed how sound waves transfer through water.

Spelling:
large
form
land
from
side
its
feet
without
home
different
boys
their
around
too
could
been

Challenge Words:
neither
furniture
subject
inside
you've

Mystery Questions:
1) How does a wind instrument (like a flute or clarinet) make sound?
2) What are the three bones in the ear called?
3) How do string instruments (like a violin) make sound?
4) How fast is the speed of sound?

Other Reminders:
10/24 4:00-6:00 Harvest Carnival
10/26-10/30: Early Release Half Days for Conferences
10/27- Book orders due.

Thanks,
Miss Irwin

Week of 10/12/15

Ahoy!
Things are off to a great start this week! It has been a blast getting to know your kids and see them grow! They have already learned a lot! Here are some of the things that will be happening this week in 204...

Reading: This week we are starting our informational reading and work on main idea. We are learning about how student around the world gain access to books. The book we are reading is called "My Librarian is a Camel".

Writing: This week we are finishing our final drafts of our personal narratives.These are due on THURSDAY! We have asked that anyone with a paper longer than 5 pages takes it home to finish it. Remember we are looking for:
Focus: Topic clearly stated and the whole story stays on topic.
Organization: The story is organized with sequence words and transitions.
Elaboration: Supporting the main topic with details and explanation.
Language and Vocab: Expresses ideas with interesting & diverse vocabulary.
Convention: Correct punctuation, capitalization, spells most high frequency words correctly, & sentences are complete.

Math: Tuesday and Wednesday will be the last two day's of our Unit 1 for math. Starting next week our students will be working on Unit 2! Unit 2 focuses on the beginning concepts of multiplication.

Social Studies: We are continuing to work on learning all about maps.

Spelling Words:
what
asked
always
want
world
help
school
each
going
show
right
important
around
there
write
another

Mystery Questions:
Where does sound come from?
What is the scientific study of sound called?
Can sound travel underwater?
Is there sound on the moon?
How is sound measured?

Here are some fun pictures from the Human Car Wash last week!

Dates to remember: 

October 24: Harvest Carnival

October 27: Book Orders Due

Thanks, 

Miss Irwin 

Week of 10/5/15

Special guest: A librarian from Camas library came to visit to talk about books and literacy. Your children asked super intelligent questions. We were proud of them! We're hoping everyone scurries off to get a library card.


Spelling Please ask your child to study spelling words this week and  for our test on Thursday:they, what, their, said, many, over, our, think, also, those, large, often, together, asked, house, don't


Math: Homework coming home tonight– due Thursday (b/c no school Friday). Double digit addition is all this week…going well!

Social Studies: Thank you for making the "Continent Song" a great success! Your children did great. We learned our cardinal directions today. I told them to ask you which way was north in your home. Check it with a compass on your phone (that's what I always do!) 


Reading: We're continuing to work on the message of a story. This involves determining what's important in the text. I used my purse as an analogy—we pulled out only the items I would need to go on a hypothetical walk outside. They did so well! I believe they understood the comparison with reading (and only highlighting text that is important). We venture into the land of nonfiction next week and learn how to find the main idea and supporting details.


Writing: We began the initial process of using "Mrs. Blair's amazing, awesome final draft paper" for their published pieces.The four categories we use for grading writing are:

Focus:              Topic clearly stated and the whole story stays on this topic.

Organization:   The story is organized with   sequence words and transitions.

Elaboration:     Supporting the main topic with details and explanation.

Language & Vocab:           Expresses ideas with interesting & diverse vocabulary.

Convention:     Correct punctuation, capitalization,spells most high frequency words correctly, & sentences are complete.

Extra reminders:
Title Reading night is Wednesday if your student is involved with Mrs. Woodson's amazing program.
Mystery Question:

1) What state is south of Indiana?

2) What state is north of Colorado?

3) Which ocean is west of California?

4) Name the 7 continents!

Have a great night!

Miss Irwin