April 23-27

Hi Families,

It looks like spring will finally be coming with this weekend and the next week! I'm looking forward to warmer days and not seeing white outside. :)

As we were researching this week, we had a chance to talk about sources and making sure that we are reading credible sources if we are researching online. Students have a hard time believing that something they read online could actually be not true, so we talked about how we can determine if it is a good source to use (like databases, nonfiction books recommended by our librarian, websites like culturegrams that are approved by teachers, etc.) As students are growing up in this technology world, it's important that they think before they believe everything they read!

Reminders/Updates

• I sent home a blank envelope and piece of paper for you (or someone from your child's life) to write them a surprise letter of encouragement to keep pushing through all of these end of year tests! 
• Please return them next week, by April 27th
• Some students were wondering what the envelopes with their names on it are for, so I told them it just is a form I need for their lunch account. Hopefully this will prevent them from ripping open the envelopes before they turn them in :) 
• We finished ALL the Wisconsin Forward tests! To celebrate our class's hard work and effort, we'll be having an ice cream party! 
• The date of the party will be Friday, May 11th.
• If you are interested in bringing a topping, you can sign up here
• If you haven't yet, please return your child's portfolio from conferences!

Upcoming Events

April 26: Movie Star Day Wear
May 8: Reading MAP test
May 10: Math MAP test
May 11: Ice Cream Party Celebration

Curriculum Update

Math: This week we dived right into Geometry! Some students seem to be enjoying this unit as it is a little bit of a change of pace. We came up with definitions for quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rectangles, squares, rhombuses, and trapezoids and worked to label shapes with as many words as possible. Challenge your child to find different shapes at home (is the window a quadrilateral? rectangle? square? How do you know?) Next week, we'll be classifying shapes into categories and will start the second half of this unit, which is on measurement. We'll first go over customary (cup, pint, quart, gallon) and metric units (liter, milliliter) of liquid volume. 

Writing: Writers have been excited to write a book with their group! We began planning and drafting the chapters to the books. Each student is writing two chapters for their group's animal book. Next week, students will be writing another all-about book as a club, this time about the second animal they are studying in reading. The goal is for students to be writing this book with more independence and elaborating on their facts and ideas.

Word Study:  We've been practicing writing words and syllables with ER, IR, and UR. This can be tricky as they all make the same sound; students are encouraged to write the word with each r-controlled sound, choosing the one that looks right. If we can't decide, then that is when we can look to a dictionary. Our Unit 9 test will be next week - the trick words this week are mother, brother and father. The new Unit 10 Word Study packet will be sent home towards the end of the week. Unit 10 is a two week unit, so the packet will be due May 4th. If If your child needs more time to finish it, that is fine.  

Reading: This week research clubs were given another animal to research. They are doing this with much more independence and also doing their research quicker! Ask them what they are learning about their animal. This next week we will dive into different text structures that authors use to organize their writing. We already know about main idea/details and sequential, but we will learn about compare/contrast, cause/effect, and problem/solution. Since we are doing a lot of nonfiction work during school, please make sure your child is reading at least 25 minutes each night. This means about 20-25 pages out of their books. If your child is bringing home too easy of books please let me know and I will make sure they are bringing home something more appropriate.

Content: This week we will begin a new science program called Mystery Science. Students will get to investigate mysteries or questions that they have relating to animals. Miss Kabara and I went through the unit together and we're excited to try this our with our classes! The first unit is called “Animals Through Time.” In our first Mystery we will explore the idea that the rock under our feet sometimes contains fossils. Those fossils reveal how habitats have changed through time. For example, fossil shark teeth and fossil starfish found in the center of North America are evidence that what is grassland today must have been an ocean in the ancient past. You can help support your child’s learning by striking up a conversation about an exotic habitat you might have visited on vacation. If possible, consider visiting the nearest science museum and/or quarry to see any local fossils that have been found in our region.

Know that you can always contact me with any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Jenny