*Check
our class calendar for important dates.
Believe it or not, Fall conferences are just around the corner!
Sign up here to schedule a time for us to meet. Looking forward to being able to get to know you a little better!
See some things we have been doing in class
here, collecting data, building roller coasters to learn more about energy, ask your child to tell you about them!
Reading-We are working on the main idea and supporting details in a text. We have gotten two great resources to use for teaching reading skills. One is a site by Scholastic called Core Clicks that we have already used whole group, but the kids can also use it on their level, independently. We also get a magazine called Story Works. We will be using it starting next week. Last year was the first year we ordered it, and the kids loved it. I have also signed the kids up for Razz Kids and shown them how to use it. If you are concerned about your child's reading level, this is a GREAT one for you to use at home with your child, or they can use it independently. They have a whole virtual library of books on their shelf at their level. They should complete one book before moving on to another. They need to listen to the book, then read it, and last after they are SURE that they understood, then take a quiz.
Writing-We are learning about characters and character traits and how giving traits makes your character come alive. We have a virtual journal where we write about our weekend at the beginning of each week. And we have also been writing beginning of the year sample narrative, informational and opinion pieces so that we can see how much we grow in writing at the end of the year.
Math-We have just begun our study of multiplication and division. The kids have compiled lists of things in real life that come in arrays and we are talking about how we can easily count those things by using multiplication. If you would like to keep up with the multiplication and division strategies that we are developmentally ready for during the year,
click here and let me know if you have any questions. (The subtraction links died, I'm working on making new ones soon.) We have also learned how to find all of the factors of a number by using cubes and making all of the arrays possible with a given number. We are very new at it, but we will continue to practice. Please remind the kids to circle their answers, show their thinking, and for word problems, answer in words. We have talked about this lots and I've told them that I will start taking off points for unclear work.
Content-We started building roller coasters today, ask your child if he/she can explain to you where roller coasters get their energy after the first hill!
Technology-We have learned how to use a digital notebook for science, make a chart with data using Google Sheets, and tomorrow our tech coach is coming to guide us in a team "breakout" using our laptops and the theme of digital citizenship. We are also using Google Sheets to keep up with the "multiplication facts I know and am working on". For our last multiplication 6 and 7 quiz, the kids took it online, took a screen shot, and it should be saved in their google drives, they were supposed to show it to you Tuesday night, so ask them about it if they forgot. Remember red means they got the answer incorrect, yellow, they got it correct but it took TOO long, and green means "a ok" and they can highlight those "a ok" facts green on their "Facts I Know" chart. Please continue to stress the importance of digital citizenship and online safety, seriously, like until they are 23. :) Besides that, we have just been learning about the sites we will use frequently this year. Here is a copy of our
usernames and passwords sheet. Please remember, because of various reasons, some of these could change, I always ask your child to write it on their hard copy if a username and/or password changes.
Sites:
Our Class Web Site
Lab Lessons-Where we go to practice skills we are working on. The kids are welcome to use this from home. I also assign projects for early finishers or those that just "want more". These are not required but just for those who get done with everything in class and still eager to learn, they can work on it if they get finished with class work, during free time in class (Friday Fun Time), or at home. Our current project is an internet scavenger hunt about the Olympics. I have shown the kids where it is on Google Classroom (First Post in Content CyberKids).
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