Classroom Happenings 11-18-13

Reading-We are finishing up our "lit circles". The class broke into groups of 4 or 5 and each group read and discussed a different book. Each day the group members had different jobs after reading their selection for the day. Ask your child about the book he/she read and these jobs, some of the jobs were: discussion director, word wizard, passage picker. and connector. The kids posted their jobs on Edmodo and then other group members commented on their posta.  Writing-We are beginning a unit on personal and persuasive essays. The kids are learning to pick their thesis statement, choose 3 points to argue or defend, and then develop their essay from there.  Math-We are nearing the end of a unit called How Many Packages, How Many Groups, which focuses on the concept of multiplication and division of bigger numbers. I will be sending home practice tests for this unit if you would like to go over them with your child. Content-We have finished studying the 13 Colonies before the American Revolution and now we are beginning the causes of the Revolution. This will be an exciting unit as the children actually feel how the colonists felt as pressure was being put on them by the British government. More will come home about this in an email, it will be a secret, at least for a while, from the kids! Technology-If you have a keyboard computer at home, let your child work on Typing Club from home, We are doing this in the lab as well, but from what I understand, our state testing will be on the computer this year and the better we are at typing, the more it will help us on the state tests. ! *Check our calendar for other important dates. And, don't forget to sign up on this link, if you are interested, to chaperone our upcoming field trip to the Children's Theatre. permission forms went home today.