A Busy Few Weeks

Hello Everyone,
 Thank you for your patience in waiting for a new post. Many exciting things have been going on. I will first give you an academic update and then a classroom update, enjoy!

 Academic Update

Reading
In reading we have been working on using our minds while we read. Here are the strategies we have been working on in class:

• Using our schema to make connections - This means figuring out how you relate to the book, either from your own experience, from another book you have read, or by something that is going on in the world.

• Creating mental images - We have been talking a lot about the "movie" in our heads while we read. A great way to practice this at home is by reading to your child, and then having them draw what they see in their heads.

• Inferring -  When students infer they are saying how they think a character feels, or what a character is thinking based on what has happened to them in their own lives and what to book is saying. A great question to ask at home is: How do you think _____ feels. They should answer you: I think ______ feels ______ because in my life _____ and because the story says ________.

Writing
In writing we are working on fiction stories. We have been working hard planning our stories, creating a hook, making sure our story has a beginning middle and end, and adding details. We will be having an authors celebration in a few weeks where parents will be invited to come at the end of the day so we can share our stories with you. Stay tuned for that announcement.

Math
Math has been very exciting and very busy. In the last few weeks we finished our fraction unit, did a unit on geometry, and are now back working with numbers. We have mastered adding 2 digit numbers to 2 digit numbers with out regrouping and with regrouping (carrying a 10 to the tens place). We are now working on subtracting with and without regrouping. At home it would be great to work on building problems by drawing them in a place value chart and then showing what you do when you subtract the ones. It is really important that students understand what is happening with the numbers so that when we get to the way you and I learned how to subtract (which we will, I promise) that they understand why they start with the number on top, and what it means to borrow from the tens or hundreds place.

Classroom News

Our class is very fortunate. A few weeks ago we had a Smart board installed in our room. A smart board is an interactive whiteboard, or basically a GIANT touch pad that students use to interact with the activities that are being projected onto it. The only other area in our school that has a Smart board is the library. This tool has been amazing to use. We use it daily and especially in math. If you would like to see how it works, you are more than welcome to come watch during the day or stop by after school and I will show you how it works. Please make sure to email or call me before so I can make sure that we are not taking a test or anything of that nature. 

Donor's Choose: Our class is in the process of putting up a project on Donor's choose. If you do not know what this is, it is a website where I can post for materials for our classroom. Our project is for 4 Kindle Fires. We will use these during math centers, reading centers, and for many other things. The project should go live by Tuesday. Here is the link to my page. Once it is up and running, feel free to share the link with family and friends. Every dollar will get us closer to our goal!

Stay tuned for pictures from the Zoo, our performance at the PAC and the smart board in action.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Our class loves to read the comments, so don't forget to leave one!