PJ Day on Friday!!!

Our students did such a great job earning money for our school! The entire school is celebrating this Friday, November 1 by wearing pajamas, having a read-a-thon, and seeing a movie!  The date is perfect since it is the day after Halloween. Mrs. Reinke will even come to our class in her pajamas and read us a book. Be sure to wear your pjś this Friday!

Bring books from home on this day!

Harvest Party and Parade...

Be sure to join us for our party and parade. All family members are welcomed. It is Thursday, October 31. The party in the classroom starts at 1:40. The parade starts at 2:30. The kids wear their costumes that day to school. You can sign your child out on the classroom sign out sheet and take him or her home after the parade. Buses do run like normal. See you there!

Writing Workshop...Bend 4

The final bend in this unit of study is called Fixing and Fancying Up Our Best Work.  That is exactly what we will be doing! The sessions in this portion of Small Moments include:

Using all we know to revise
Students learn that writers fix up and publish pieces that they especially love.

Editing with a checklist
Students learn that writers reread their writing using an editing checklist, to remind themselves of all the ways they know how to make their writing easy to read for their readers.

Making books ready for the library
In this session, students learn that writers get their books ready to publish by including a tile, detailed pictures, and a cover.

 A celebration
Children learn that writers celebrate the work they have done by sharing their writing with an audience.  We plan to do just that!

Parent-Teacher Conference

Conferences start on Thursday evening, October 24, after school. There is no school on Friday, October 25.  This is a day set aside for conferences. The final conferences are on Wednesday evening, October 30. I look forward to discussing your childś academic progress with you and getting your insight to help me plan! Be sure to check out the conference sign up link if you have forgotten the time you scheduled. Thank you!

Force and Motion Stations..

We had so much fun working in teams for our Force and Motion stations that Ms. Anzer created for us! Check it out! 

Addition Strategies...

Our next chapter in math is all about using strategies to add numbers.  They will bring home a card with the strategy (like plus 0, plus 1, etc) and math flashcards that go with that strategy. This is a great time to practice and really learn how to use these strategies. Look for the cards to come home during the week of conferences and practice, practice, practice!

Here are the strategy cards. Be sure that your child can name and explain each strategy.

The flashcards will look like this! 

     

    

     

      

Go Math...Letter Home...Chapter 3

This chapter concentrates on addition strategies. Want to know more about the objectives your child will be focusing on during this chapter? Take a look at the I can statements. I Can:
Understand and apply the Commutative Property of Addition for sums within 20 (13 + 2 = 2 + 13). Realizing that you can turn the addends around helps to learn the basic addition facts.
Use the following strategies to find sums for facts to 20:

•             count on 1, 2, or 3   (7 + 2 = ?, I can count on and say 7,8, 9)
•             doubles     (2 + 2  = 4, 3 + 3 = 6, 4 + 4 = 8, etc)
•             doubles plus 1 and doubles minus 1       (4 + 4 = 8, so 4 + 5 = 9)
•             make ten        (0 + 10 = 10, 1 + 9 = 10, 2 + 8 = 10, etc)

This might help count on. I added counting back, but that will be
focusing that in the next unit. 

This might help doubles plus one and doubles minus one.

• Use doubles to create equivalent but easier sums (When solving 4 + 5 = ? I can think of the doubles 4 + 4 = 8 so 4 + 5 = 9).
• Use a ten frame to add 10 and an addend less than 10 (10 + 4 is a whole tens frame plus four more which is 14)
• Understand and apply the Associative Property of Addition to add 3 addends.  The order in which the operations are performed does not matter, such as (2 + 3) + 4  or 2 + (3 + 4). Students can add 2 and 3 first or 3 and 4 first...whatever is easiest to find the answer to 2 + 3 + 4 = ?
• Understand and apply the Commutative Property of Addition to add three addends. You can add 2 + 1 + 3 or 3 + 2 + 1 and still get the same answer.
• Solve adding to and putting together situations using the strategy draw a picture.

Want to support your child's work at home? Check out the videos that will help to start a discussion about the concepts. You can check in with your child to make sure they understand the vocabulary and strategies. Try the activities above, too.

Fall Conferences....

Our fall conferences are coming up. Please click on the above "Sign Up!" icon link to sign up for a conference.

This year our fall conferences are on Thursday, October 24 in the evening. The next day, Friday, October 25,  there is no school for students, so teachers can hold conferences during the day. Finally, there are conferences on Wednesday, October 30th in the evening. This is the day before Halloween.

If you don't see a time that will work for you, email me and we will see if we can come up with a time that will work! Thank you!

Click the below image to sign up or change your time! 

STEM BUS.... LEGO challenge...

We headed out to the bus to step up to another challenge. We made LEGO monsters first. Then we used legos to create a structure or a house for the monster that would not break if dropped from our waist.  We made it, tested it, thought, and made it, tested it, and thought again!