What have we been doing?

We took part in the Hour of Code, along with thousands of other students around the world. The students learned the basics of coding to program a character to move specific directions and accomplish tasks. Students may continue coding at www.hourofcode.com  (photos below).

We are learning to read narrative nonfiction this week with the introduction of biographies. Students are learning how narrative nonfiction is read as a story (characters, setting, problem, solution) rather than our previous expository or how-to nonfiction.

In writing, we have selected a thesis statement, drafted 3 reasons, and drafted an introduction to our persuasive/opinion essays. This has been tough work–we are writing more than ever! We have many speeches/essays on appreciating bus drivers, mail carriers, Watch Dogs, and more!

In math, we are wrapping up Topic 5 next week. We will have our 5th math test completed just before winter break! You child should keep memorizing those multiplication facts. We have now covered all facts 0-11 and have many strategies to find the answer. Now we need to memorize!

In science, we are finishing our unit on Force and Motion. The final assessment is the Book Creator project (letter was sent home earlier this week). It is due on Tuesday the 20th. We have had some time to work on this in class too.

Remember, next week there is no school on Friday, December 23rd. We return this year on Tuesday, January 3rd.

December already! It was a great week back after Thanksgiving break! We had our Santa’s Workshop, vision testing, and our trip to Holmes to see a presentation on early Michigan mining (photos below). We also managed to set new reading goals, focusing on reading a number of books per week based on “just right” books. We are graphing books completed for 4 weeks to see if we can reach our goals. In reading, we also practiced the reading strategy of “synthesizing” information across two different texts. For spelling, we explored the Post-it app to create Post-its of our spelling words and to practice sorting them into their sound categories.

During writing, we generated ideas of people, places, and things that are beautiful, or right in this world. For example, “We should appreciate mail carriers for all they do”. We then fast drafted in our notebooks using stems to talk to our audience (You may be thinking . . . Did you realize . . . etc.).

Friction, mass, and gravity were concepts we explored this week by pulling blocks of wood on different surfaces. We then changed the variable of mass by adding a cup of stones to the wood to determine the difference in force needed.

We wrapped up Topic 4 in math this week. Monday we will review our assessments before beginning Topic 5: Multiplying and Dividing Numbers within 100. Mastering our multiplication facts to memorization (25 problems in 2 minutes) continues to be our goal. A few students are almost ready to move to division timed tests! Keep on studying!

Next week, we have a full, regular week of school. We will be busy stretching our minds! 🙂