Weekly Update 9/16

We have finished our first full week of school!  This week in math we continued to learn about place value.  In addition, we also learned how to compare and order numbers.  Next week, we will do a problem solving lesson on how to make an organized list.  We will be taking the practice test in class on Tuesday and our Topic 1 test will be on Wednesday.

In reading we read a nonfiction book called, Zebras.  We learned about zebra's stripes, diet, family, and migration patterns.  The students found it interesting that zebras are known to graze and get water alongside wildebeests and ostriches.  Each of these animals has a strong sense (hearing, sight, smell) and they warn each other if predators are near.  While reading about zebras, the students came up with some great questions that weren't answered in the book.  They have been working on using the Netbooks in the classroom to research and find the answers to their questions.  Some of their questions included; "Are zebras black with white stripes, or white with black stripes?", "How old are baby zebras when they leave their mother?", and "How tall/ long do zebras grow?"  In reading, the students also finished the book, Freckle Juice.

In Fundations we are reviewing closed syllable words (words like cat that have one vowel closed in on the end by one or more consonants).  The students also learned when to use a -k or a -ck at the end of a word as well as when to use -tch or -ch in a word.

In writing we talked about ways to be respectful listeners when other students are sharing their work.  We also talked about ways to give critiques of others' writing.  The students were each given their writing folder and we discussed how it will be used during the writing process.  As a fun writing activity, the students paired up and began a Classmate Interview.  We will be working on this again next week.  We also started to review printing in our handwriting books.  The students did a great job writing neatly!

In social studies we are completing our unit on communities and map skills.  Today we learned about the three types of communities; rural, suburban, and urban.  We will be doing different activities related to these communities next week.  We will also be reviewing for our first quiz, which will be on Friday.

Today we took a trip to the computer lab and began making a PowerPoint.  The students worked on their first slide which included their name and a picture of themselves.  They practiced changing the font, size, and color of their name and the students learned how to insert a picture into their presentation.  This is a project that we will be adding to throughout the year.

Since the class did such a great job with following directions and working together, they earned their Friday reward.  At the very end of the day we used our iPad!  Since we have been learning about communities in social studies, we used an app called BigCity NY.   In this app, we traveled through different parts of New York City (an urban community) and completed tasks and brain teasers along the way.  We started in Times Square and made our way to Little Italy.  We used a projector to project the app onto the SMARTBoard and the students worked together to complete these levels.