Walking for a Good Cause

This week we participated in our annual JDRF walk.  It was a cold, brisk day but that didn't deter us from our cause.  Our small school was able to raise over $1,600.  That's amazing! We also earned enough money in the jars for the much anticipated teacher dances.  I am sure you will be hearing all about them next week.

This week in reading our essential question was, "What are features of different animal habitats?"  We read a story about the coral reef.  Did you know it takes an entire year for the coral reef to grow one inch?  We also read a story about a sea turtle's life and how one of the biggest predators to them are people.

In math, we started practicing subtraction facts and discussed different strategies to help with subtraction.  These basic math skills are going to be essential for the students because soon they will begin adding and subtracting two and three digit numbers.

The students had a fun time this week in writing.  We discussed what a "How-To" story looks like and what should be included in a how-to.  Their topic this week was "How To Help a Turkey Escape from Thanksgiving Dinner."  There were some interesting ideas how to help the turkey including disguising the turkey, distracting the family and even using a baseball bat on the family. OUCH!! Then the students made their turkey running from dinner.

In science, we watched a Bill Nye science video about motion.  We continued to learn about land features in social studies.  We created a poster with the different land features we have learned.

Finally, this week was parent visitation day.  Thank you to the parents who were able to attend.  I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Have a nice weekend!

Fables...

This week in reading our essential question was "What can animals in stories teach us?"  We read several fables and learned some valuable lessons from these stories.  We read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and the Chinese version "Wolf! Wolf!"  Some of the lessons we learned this week were: don't be greedy, don't lie because no one will believe you when you tell the truth, and sometimes a plan is easier said than done.

In math our focus has been on math facts.  We discussed several strategies to help with learning math facts.  We practiced our doubles facts and learned a double +1 and double -1 strategy to help.  Keep in mind you can always practice facts at home with flashcards or even interactive games that can be found on the internet.  

In writing this week, we wrote about a fun topic.  What would happen if you woke up one day and you were a turkey?  I started the lesson by writing my own story.  In my story, I still decided to come to school and teach as a turkey.  This was a fun assignment and the students were very creative with their writing. 

We are winding down to the end of our balance and motion unit in science so we did some review activities.  We reviewed balance and even watched a video of the recent tightrope walk in Chicago by Nic Wallenda.  We reviewed force and push and pull.

In social studies, we finished up our unit on maps and began a unit on geography and landforms.  We will continue to talk about land features such as lakes, oceans, deserts, etc. next week.  

Please remember that conferences are scheduled for Thursday and Friday of next week and Monday and Tuesday of the following week.  Therefore, we will be half days for students.

Also, keep sending in change for our JDRF fundraiser,  We have a couple exciting dances planned if we can raise $300 in the change jars.  

Have a nice weekend.