January 26th Update...

Hi Parents,

It felt  so good to have an ENTIRE week with the children!  We were busy, busy, busy. Remember to be on the lookout for our next chapter book, The Magician's Elephant. We'll be finishing up Because of Winn-Dixie in about a week and a half.  The kids are looking forward to the kick-ball party with Mr. Pritz on Friday at 1:30.  They set a goal to get the most points in the school and they achieved that goal!  They were so excited to find out they won.  Thank you to Mrs. Curry for also keeping the other 50% of the class who voted for DONUTS!  Check out below to see what else has been going on in Room 315...

Grammar/Spelling: This week, we continued our study of adjectives. We focused on irregular comparative and superlative adjectives.  We watched two silent films that I wrote a BORING story about with no adjectives. Then the students worked with a partner to change that story into a wonderfully descriptive piece by adding adjectives.

Reading:  We read several chapters in our chapter book. We began looking at the secondary characters in the story and how they relate to Opal.  We discussed the types of roles secondary characters can take on; an advisor, a challenger, or a sidekick.  We wrote another character analysis on a secondary character, looking closely at character traits that person displayed and providing text evidence to support our ideas.  In small groups, we worked on challenging passages and exercised the practice of reading the selection multiple times to find deeper meaning.  We paid close attention to when authors' use symbolism in their books and discussed the meaning of these symbols.

Writing: This week in writing, we focused on responding to literature. We combined our reading and writing time.

Math:  We began comparing fractions with like and unlike denominators. We used models and number lines to discuss fractions and how we can order them.  We also began talking about equivalent fractions.  We played several games to practice this new skill, we worked on laptops to complete the fraction Conceptua lessons, and we worked in small group on multi-step word problems.

Science:  We read two books on Georgia Habitats; The Mountain and The Piedmont.  We learned a fun song to help us remember the five regions and the animals and plants that inhabit those regions.

Class News and Announcements...

Thank you Mrs. Curry for the donut donation!  Now all 22 kiddos are happy!

Thank you Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Morling for signing up for Reading Helper!  There are still plenty of spaces available and I would love to have someone here on each day to help.  If you can, sign up!

Winter  Dance is tonight at Hillgrove High School.  Pre-purchased tickets are coming home today.

We will have a class Valentine Exchange.  I will be sending a class list in an email. Please make sure your child addresses each valentine. Also, your child may bring in a "carrier" of some sort to collect of of his or her valentines.