Dear Families,
Hello and Happy New Year!!!
The students transitioned well back into school after our long break. It was great to be back together!! As part of our transition, students reflected on their year so far and their goals for the remainder of the year. We also reflected on our Unit 2 math tests, and did a 3-2-1-2-3 reflection thinking about hopes for 2016 (you can find these on your child's See Saw Post).
With the new year comes new units!! We have started Unit 3 in math which focuses on Place Value and Decimals. We'll be using money to help us think about decimals, but also base 10 pieces as models. Students were excited on Friday to learn about Exponents for the first time!! We'll explore them and exponential notation as we work through this unit. A parent newsletter that gives more info about the unit was posted to See Saw last week. Also, if you did not talk to your child about their Unit 2 (fractions) math test, please do. Some students chose to show that they could do better by retaking part (or all!) of the test. Part of my reflection after that test was that some students still need to memorize their multiplication facts, otherwise finding common multiples as common denominators becomes very tricky!! Additionally, it is evident some students just need more practice with the strategies. It was for this reason that we have created a math menu for HW in the coming weeks. Your child should choose the option that makes sense for them based on their needs.
We spent our literacy time reigniting our reading stamina and learning about Cultural Geography!! So far we've primarily used 2 texts to think about how people live differently around the world: Beatrice's Goat and Material World. (We also just started exploring the TIME webpage "What the World Eats") . We've focused on how the Geography of places impact how people might live, but also how differently people live in underdeveloped, developing and developed countries. Many students posted something about this on their See Saw accounts this week. I hope you've had a chance to talk about it at home. Cultural Geography studies will continue through January.
This week we'll start a new unit in reading and writing. We'll be using Narrative fiction to work on strategies for close reading. The strategies we'll be using are called Notice and Note Signposts. We'll also start a narrative writing unit.
Okay, that's enough for now!! As always, don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. And Thank you again for all of your thoughtful holiday gifts!!!
Cara
Hello and Happy New Year!!!
The students transitioned well back into school after our long break. It was great to be back together!! As part of our transition, students reflected on their year so far and their goals for the remainder of the year. We also reflected on our Unit 2 math tests, and did a 3-2-1-2-3 reflection thinking about hopes for 2016 (you can find these on your child's See Saw Post).
With the new year comes new units!! We have started Unit 3 in math which focuses on Place Value and Decimals. We'll be using money to help us think about decimals, but also base 10 pieces as models. Students were excited on Friday to learn about Exponents for the first time!! We'll explore them and exponential notation as we work through this unit. A parent newsletter that gives more info about the unit was posted to See Saw last week. Also, if you did not talk to your child about their Unit 2 (fractions) math test, please do. Some students chose to show that they could do better by retaking part (or all!) of the test. Part of my reflection after that test was that some students still need to memorize their multiplication facts, otherwise finding common multiples as common denominators becomes very tricky!! Additionally, it is evident some students just need more practice with the strategies. It was for this reason that we have created a math menu for HW in the coming weeks. Your child should choose the option that makes sense for them based on their needs.
We spent our literacy time reigniting our reading stamina and learning about Cultural Geography!! So far we've primarily used 2 texts to think about how people live differently around the world: Beatrice's Goat and Material World. (We also just started exploring the TIME webpage "What the World Eats") . We've focused on how the Geography of places impact how people might live, but also how differently people live in underdeveloped, developing and developed countries. Many students posted something about this on their See Saw accounts this week. I hope you've had a chance to talk about it at home. Cultural Geography studies will continue through January.
This week we'll start a new unit in reading and writing. We'll be using Narrative fiction to work on strategies for close reading. The strategies we'll be using are called Notice and Note Signposts. We'll also start a narrative writing unit.
Okay, that's enough for now!! As always, don't hesitate to contact me with questions or concerns. And Thank you again for all of your thoughtful holiday gifts!!!
Cara
