| October 10th, 2008
Dear Parents,
This week in:
Reading we began to discuss “Schema” – thinking while you read about what
you already know so that you are able to make text-to-self connections. I
explained to the students that schema is similar to files in our minds,
which hold all of the information that we already know. I had the students
open up their mental file about pumpkins and I recorded their responses on
post-its and added them to our schema chart. Throughout the week I read The
Pumpkin Book by, Gail Gibbons. As I read the book I paused periodically to
ask the students if they had added any new information to our class
pumpkin “schema file”. Towards the end of the week we reviewed the
information on our class schema chart and discussed why some of the
information was more important and useful. We then went through the chart as
a class and deleted information from our schema that we didn’t feel was
necessary.
Math we had our first Unit 1 Assessment. Prior to the assessment we reviewed
concepts and skills, went over the directions as a class and each student
filled out a self-assessment. We also began Unit 2 this week and introduced
addition number stories. We discussed parts-to-total and change-to-more
number stories and went over several examples of each as a class. Following
the group practice the students had a chance to come up with their own
Halloween number stories! Towards the end of the week we reviewed addition
problems and the various sequences they may appear as: 11=8+3, 4+5=9 etc. We
also discussed the result of adding 0 to any number and adding 1 to any
number. We did several examples as a class and then the students practiced
the skills independently in their math journals.
Writing we discussed why it is important to use clear and specific words in
our writing rather than “general” words. For example, “he came into the
room” would be general and “Nick tiptoed into the kitchen” would be clear.
Using clear and specific words helps to keep the reader engaged! Student
read through existing writing pieces and replaced “general” words for
more “specific” words. This week I also modeled the editing process for the
students. The students will have a chance to use their own editing checklist
to revise and edit an existing writing piece next week. The students also
had a chance to free write in their writing journals this week!
Science we continued on with our Rock Unit! We completed a fun experiment
that reviewed the three types of rocks: igneous, sedimentary and
metamorphic. Ask your child to tell you about the experiment and for a
challenge see if they can tell you how each type of rock is formed. Next
week we will discuss the various tools that we can use to explore rocks:
magnify glasses, balance scales and thermometers. The students will have a
chance to use these tools to explore their rocks more carefully. We will
have a brief rock assessment towards the end of next week to wrap up our
Rock Unit. All of the children have become rock geniuses and I am so
impressed with how much information they have absorbed about rocks!!
Reminders!
* Field Trip to Mt. Kearsarge – Next Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
All chaperones should be in the classroom by 8:45am so that I can introduce
you to your groups! Once again I appreciate you coming!!! It will be a very
fun day.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Miss Lannan
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