Weekly Update- 12/17

Only 4 more days to go until holiday break!  We are continuing to work hard in school, but are all looking forward to our days off!

In math we have started our unit on multiplication.  The first few lessons have been spent learning how multiplication works.  In these lessons, students have been learning different strategies to figure out how to solve multiplication problems.  These strategies include drawing pictures and arrays.  We will start to learn facts next week. Be on the look out for flashcards to be coming home each  night.  Please practice facts at home with your child.

In social studies we are finishing our unit on different types of maps.  We learned about landform maps, transportation maps, grid maps, agricultural product maps, community maps, and inset maps.  The students have completed different activites for each of the maps.  We even visisted the computer lab to do some research for our activity on inset maps.  Remember to study for the quiz on Tuesday!  When we return from break we will be starting a science unit on the States of Matter.

In Fundations we began unit 6.  This unit focuses on open syllables.  An open syllable is one that ends in a vowel.  In these types of syllables, the vowel makes a long sound.  We also learned how the letter y can act as a vowel and it makes a long i sound at the end of a one syllable word (my, fly, cry), and how it makes the long e sound at the end of a two or more syllable word (party, candy, happily).

In shared reading we read a book called, The Fortune Tellers.  The lessons this week focused on story elements.  We talked about the main character, setting, problem, and solution.  We identified these elements in our guided reading groups as well.

In writing we started a new unit on creative writing.  Students are working on realistic fiction short stories.  These stories have to be fiction stories that could really happen (no aliens, space warriors, or turning into other creatures is allowed!).  This week the students read a few examples of short stories, chose an idea, developed their problem and solution, and planned the details about their main character.  When we return from break students will begin to draft their short stories.

In Spanish we are continuing our practice with numbers 1-10.   We have learned all of the lowercase letters in cursive and will begin learning the uppercase letters next week.  In our grammar lesson this week we learned about singular and plural nouns.  Next week we will continue learning about plural nouns.  We also worked on a special holiday project!

Have a great weekend!