These last couple of months of school are just flying by! Ms. Na is in the middle of her "total teach", and only has 2 more weeks with us after this week. Her last day will be Friday May 3 and I and the students will miss her!
In math, we finished our unit on measurement and are moving onto 2 digit multiplication. Students will learn how to multiply a 2 digit by 1 digit number using a few different strategies. We do eventually teach the standard algorithm, but we also learn other strategies such as breaking apart. Here is an example of the breaking apart strategy:
24 X 3 can be thought of as 20 X 3 plus 4 X 3
60 + 12 = 72
In science, we wrapped up a unit on food chains and environments, and are now learning about structures that plants and animals have, and the functions of those structures that help them thrive in their environment.
In language arts students have been hard at work on writing two different personal narratives. Next week, they will choose their favorite to take through the rest of the writing process of revising and editing. For reading, students are participating in book clubs reading different novels as we review all of our reading skills such as summarizing, making connections, and studying character development. This is always a fun way to do some final review for the STAAR reading test in May.
As a reminder, there is no school this Friday, and I hope everyone enjoys the three day weekend!
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Monday, April 1, 2019
Week in Review: March 25-29
We had a great first week back after spring break! Here is recap of last week, as well as a look ahead to this week.
Language Arts: We wrapped up our research on our PBL last week and this week students will be working on their independent projects. They have a choice to create a Google Slideshow, a Google Drawing, a newspaper article, or a poster to show what they have learned from their research. Ask your child what they chose to do for their project!
Math: Last week we learned about perimeter, and reviewed area. This week we are moving on to time. We will start with a quick review of telling time to the minute, and then move onto more challenging problems involving elapsed time.
Science: We enjoyed our field trip last Friday to West Cave Preserve where we say firsthand the physical characteristics of particular environments. We will continue to observe and describe these characteristics from in different environments, as well as learn about how each environment support the plants and animals that live within it.
Social Studies: We are learning about important individuals in history who made significant contributions to our state and country, such as Christopher Columbus and Sam Houston.
Language Arts: We wrapped up our research on our PBL last week and this week students will be working on their independent projects. They have a choice to create a Google Slideshow, a Google Drawing, a newspaper article, or a poster to show what they have learned from their research. Ask your child what they chose to do for their project!
Math: Last week we learned about perimeter, and reviewed area. This week we are moving on to time. We will start with a quick review of telling time to the minute, and then move onto more challenging problems involving elapsed time.
Science: We enjoyed our field trip last Friday to West Cave Preserve where we say firsthand the physical characteristics of particular environments. We will continue to observe and describe these characteristics from in different environments, as well as learn about how each environment support the plants and animals that live within it.
Social Studies: We are learning about important individuals in history who made significant contributions to our state and country, such as Christopher Columbus and Sam Houston.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Three Weeks in Review
Wow - only two days left until spring break! These last three weeks before spring break have flown by, and I apologize for not updating the blog more regularly. Here is a quick look at what we have done, and what is to come after spring break:
Math - Students have done a great job on this latest unit on fractions, which focused on comparing fractions and equivalent fractions. After spring break, we will move on to different forms of measurement, which includes time, weight, volume, and perimeter. It covers a wide variety of skills and really helps to prepare them for the STAAR test in May.
Science - We are completing our unit on outer space, where students learned about the different planets, and most importantly, about the relationship between the earth, moon and sun. Our next unit is environments and food chains. This study of environments will tie in nicely as we do our PBL research on either ocean or forest habitats.
Social studies - We wrapped up our economics unit with the Economics Fair on Tuesday the 12th. Students had a blast selling their creative and unique products, and learned a lot about running a business in the process.
Reading / Writing - We are in the middle of researching for our PBL on conservation, and will continue that after spring break. After completing their research, students will decide how they want to present the information they have learned to our class.
Upcoming reminders:
Spring Break - no school March 18-22
Ocean Adventures Assembly, arranged by the PTA - Monday March 25
Field trip to West Cave Preserve - Friday March 29
Good Friday - no school April 19
Ms. Na's last day as a student teacher - Friday May 3
STAAR Testing - May 13 and 14
Math - Students have done a great job on this latest unit on fractions, which focused on comparing fractions and equivalent fractions. After spring break, we will move on to different forms of measurement, which includes time, weight, volume, and perimeter. It covers a wide variety of skills and really helps to prepare them for the STAAR test in May.
Science - We are completing our unit on outer space, where students learned about the different planets, and most importantly, about the relationship between the earth, moon and sun. Our next unit is environments and food chains. This study of environments will tie in nicely as we do our PBL research on either ocean or forest habitats.
Social studies - We wrapped up our economics unit with the Economics Fair on Tuesday the 12th. Students had a blast selling their creative and unique products, and learned a lot about running a business in the process.
Reading / Writing - We are in the middle of researching for our PBL on conservation, and will continue that after spring break. After completing their research, students will decide how they want to present the information they have learned to our class.
Upcoming reminders:
Spring Break - no school March 18-22
Ocean Adventures Assembly, arranged by the PTA - Monday March 25
Field trip to West Cave Preserve - Friday March 29
Good Friday - no school April 19
Ms. Na's last day as a student teacher - Friday May 3
STAAR Testing - May 13 and 14
Friday, February 22, 2019
Two Weeks in Review: February 11-22
We've had a busy two weeks, and its so hard to believe that we only have 3 weeks of school until spring break! The year is just flying by!
In language arts, we spent a few days on a district-wide assessment where students had to write a personal narrative. These will be compared to their writing from the beginning of the year, so that we can see areas of growth, or areas where we still need to focus our instruction. We have spent a lot of time watching videos, reading books, and doing some online research in reading as we learn about our PBL project on conservation. Most students are choosing to focus on endangered animals so I am sure you will be hearing about that a lot in the coming weeks! During the project, we will be focusing on non-fiction reading and writing skills such as using text features, note-taking, cause and effect, using context clues to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words, and expository writing.
In math, we have continued our unit on multiplication and division, with a focus on the 6s and 9s facts. Please have your students practice these at home! We teach them strategies such as building up from the 5s to the 6s, or building down from the 10s to the 9s, but the more they practice this, they more fluent they will become in the facts. Next week we will discuss multiplicative comparisons (three times as many for example), and then end the week with a unit assessment. I will send home a review early in the week that they can work on at home to prepare for the test.
In science, we have continued our unit on weather and will have a test on Monday that will cover weather tools and how to read charts that show weather data. Students are well prepared, and we will of course review just before the test with a Kahoot game. Our next unit is outer space, which is always a fun one!
Ms. Na has been teaching social studies and we have been learning about spending, savings, and advertising. We will continue studying advertising over the next 2 weeks, so that students will be prepared to design their own advertisements for the Economics Fair. They are all looking forward to the Economics Fair on Tuesday March 12, and are hopefully working on their products at home.
In language arts, we spent a few days on a district-wide assessment where students had to write a personal narrative. These will be compared to their writing from the beginning of the year, so that we can see areas of growth, or areas where we still need to focus our instruction. We have spent a lot of time watching videos, reading books, and doing some online research in reading as we learn about our PBL project on conservation. Most students are choosing to focus on endangered animals so I am sure you will be hearing about that a lot in the coming weeks! During the project, we will be focusing on non-fiction reading and writing skills such as using text features, note-taking, cause and effect, using context clues to determine the meanings of unfamiliar words, and expository writing.
In math, we have continued our unit on multiplication and division, with a focus on the 6s and 9s facts. Please have your students practice these at home! We teach them strategies such as building up from the 5s to the 6s, or building down from the 10s to the 9s, but the more they practice this, they more fluent they will become in the facts. Next week we will discuss multiplicative comparisons (three times as many for example), and then end the week with a unit assessment. I will send home a review early in the week that they can work on at home to prepare for the test.
In science, we have continued our unit on weather and will have a test on Monday that will cover weather tools and how to read charts that show weather data. Students are well prepared, and we will of course review just before the test with a Kahoot game. Our next unit is outer space, which is always a fun one!
Ms. Na has been teaching social studies and we have been learning about spending, savings, and advertising. We will continue studying advertising over the next 2 weeks, so that students will be prepared to design their own advertisements for the Economics Fair. They are all looking forward to the Economics Fair on Tuesday March 12, and are hopefully working on their products at home.
Friday, February 8, 2019
Week in Review: February 4-8
This week in language arts, we finished up our imaginative stories, publishing and illustrating our final copies. We also ended our reading unit over traditional literature by performing Reader's Theater plays of folktales. The students really enjoyed this activity!
We started the week in math with a quiz over geometry, you can see how well your child did by checking grades in Home Access Center. Then we moved onto a unit of multiplication and division, beginning with the easier 0s and 1s facts, then jumping right into the 9s facts! We learned how to use our 10s facts to help us recall the 9s. Here is an example of what I mean:
5 X 9 ....think that 5 X 10 is 50, so 5 X 9 must be one group of 5 less than 50. So 50 - 5 is 45.
In science, we began the week with a test over soil and natural resources. The students have been really excited to learn about our next unit, weather. We've been tracking forecasts in Austin and El Paso, and they are especially interested in the big weather changes we've had today! We will continue our weather unit for the next two weeks.
In social studies, our student teacher, Ms.Na, has taken over the economics unit as students learn about supply and demand. The kids are looking forward to the economics fair on March 12 to culminate our unit!
We started the week in math with a quiz over geometry, you can see how well your child did by checking grades in Home Access Center. Then we moved onto a unit of multiplication and division, beginning with the easier 0s and 1s facts, then jumping right into the 9s facts! We learned how to use our 10s facts to help us recall the 9s. Here is an example of what I mean:
5 X 9 ....think that 5 X 10 is 50, so 5 X 9 must be one group of 5 less than 50. So 50 - 5 is 45.
In science, we began the week with a test over soil and natural resources. The students have been really excited to learn about our next unit, weather. We've been tracking forecasts in Austin and El Paso, and they are especially interested in the big weather changes we've had today! We will continue our weather unit for the next two weeks.
In social studies, our student teacher, Ms.Na, has taken over the economics unit as students learn about supply and demand. The kids are looking forward to the economics fair on March 12 to culminate our unit!
Friday, February 1, 2019
Week in Review: January 28 - February 1
This week we wrapped up our language arts unit on traditional literature. Students did two STAAR practice passages, and those were sent home on Thursday. You may want to take some time to look over those with your child and ask them about the strategies they are SUPPOSED to be using! :) If they did not do as well as you would hope, please encourage them to follow the steps they have been taught in class:
1. Preview the passage and the questions.
2. Read the passage, and while reading, stop and jot a quick summary of each paragraph.
3. Answer each question, finding proof in the passage to support each answer.
Students are still in the process of writing their imaginative stories. Ms. Na and I were able to hold a mini-conference with each student this week, so they will be ready to write their final copies next week. We will begin our next unit over non-fiction and research skills in reading on Monday.
In math, we wrapped up our study of area, and spent a few days on reviewing 3-dimensional shapes. Students learned the differences between pyramids and prisms, as well as what a polyhedron is. We move back into another unit of multiplication and division next week.
We finished our unit on natural resources in science, and will move onto weather on Monday. We had a great introduction to weather on Tuesday morning, when we had a meteorologist visit and talk to the students about her work and the kinds of tools that she uses. Hopefully, you got a chance to see our grade level on the 6 o'clock news!
And finally, we are still in the middle of our economics unit in social studies. Don't forget, your child should be working on their Economics Fair products in their spare time. They shouldn't wait until the last minute...the fair is on March 12.
1. Preview the passage and the questions.
2. Read the passage, and while reading, stop and jot a quick summary of each paragraph.
3. Answer each question, finding proof in the passage to support each answer.
Students are still in the process of writing their imaginative stories. Ms. Na and I were able to hold a mini-conference with each student this week, so they will be ready to write their final copies next week. We will begin our next unit over non-fiction and research skills in reading on Monday.
In math, we wrapped up our study of area, and spent a few days on reviewing 3-dimensional shapes. Students learned the differences between pyramids and prisms, as well as what a polyhedron is. We move back into another unit of multiplication and division next week.
We finished our unit on natural resources in science, and will move onto weather on Monday. We had a great introduction to weather on Tuesday morning, when we had a meteorologist visit and talk to the students about her work and the kinds of tools that she uses. Hopefully, you got a chance to see our grade level on the 6 o'clock news!
And finally, we are still in the middle of our economics unit in social studies. Don't forget, your child should be working on their Economics Fair products in their spare time. They shouldn't wait until the last minute...the fair is on March 12.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Week in Review: January 22-25
This week in language arts, we continued our study of traditional literature by reading some myths and legends. Students also began planning a legend of their own, and next week, they will take one of their fictional stories through the writing process to create a final draft. We will begin a new spelling list of homophones on Monday as well, so look for those to come home!
In science, we began learning about natural resources, conservation and composting. We will continue this unit for the next one and a half to two weeks.
In math, we are learning about area, including how to find the area of a rectangle by multiplying the length of two adjoining sides, as well as how to find the area of composite shapes by breaking them down into rectangles. Next, we will move onto 3 dimensional shapes.
Economics is of course our main focus for social studies, as students prepare for the Economics Fair. Students are excited about their ideas, and I can't wait to see the end results! Mark your calendars for March 12 if you want to check it out!
This week was extra special because our student teacher, Ms. Na, joined us. I am excited to have her in class, as she is a great help to me. She has been spending the week getting to know the kids, and helping them one-on-one or in small groups as needed.
In science, we began learning about natural resources, conservation and composting. We will continue this unit for the next one and a half to two weeks.
In math, we are learning about area, including how to find the area of a rectangle by multiplying the length of two adjoining sides, as well as how to find the area of composite shapes by breaking them down into rectangles. Next, we will move onto 3 dimensional shapes.
Economics is of course our main focus for social studies, as students prepare for the Economics Fair. Students are excited about their ideas, and I can't wait to see the end results! Mark your calendars for March 12 if you want to check it out!
This week was extra special because our student teacher, Ms. Na, joined us. I am excited to have her in class, as she is a great help to me. She has been spending the week getting to know the kids, and helping them one-on-one or in small groups as needed.
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