Pumpkin Towers

The students worked together to make Pumpkin and Toothpick Towers. Each group had 26 candy pumpkins and 100 toothpicks and they were challenged to build the tallest tower. First, they talked about a plan. Then it was time to build.....

One tried the square design and they found it kept falling over. Then they tried a triangle design and they were able to build a 5 inch tower. 

Check out their hard work!

Flat Stanley Project

The students enjoyed the Flat Stanley book today. Then they colored their "Stanleys" and they're planning to send him on a little vacation. As we learn about states, countries and continents it will be fun to see the different places that Flat Stanley will visit in the upcoming weeks. 

Social Studies

We've started Unit 2 called Places Near and Far. Our first lesson is on "Your Address". The students filled out a worksheet with the contact information. This is a great time to check if your child knows his/her address and a phone number to reach a parent. They're also learning about states, countries and continents.

Reading Nonfiction

Many of the reading groups are reading nonfiction books. The students love learning new things! We're working on questioning before, during, and after reading. The students are doing great as they're learning to write questions about the books were reading and then asking others to answer their questions. Some students have read about The Everglades. Other students have been reading about butterflies and moths and how they're alike and different. Others have read interesting things about bats. Another group learned about origami. It was a bit tricky to read the directions and make a newspaper hat, but they figured it out! Of course, they shared their their origami skills and other students made hats too!

Monsters and Adjectives

The students worked hard to create monsters. Then they begin writing sentences using adjectives to describe their monsters. Of course, the students were very creative. Be sure to stop and see their monsters stories in the hall!

Science Review

We reviewed Chapter 4 on Growing and Changing today and we'll review again in class tomorrow. We've learned about the life cycle of a butterfly, frog, mouse and plant. We talked about how living things are like their parents. I sent home the science books for your child to review at home. Students should return their books on Friday. The test will be on Friday, October 23rd. 

Math News

The students are working hard as they learn to add two digit numbers with regrouping. They have been using unifix cubes to help them understand the concept. All the students can solve the problems with the cubes. Tomorrow we're going to try adding without the cubes. 

Fun with Adjectives

The students are learning about adjectives and how they describe nouns. After a little practice describing the inside and outside of a pumpkin, the students were excited to write some sentences with adjectives. They were able to choose some stickers and then write sentences with adjectives. This was fun way to practice writing complete sentences with capital letters and end marks. Some students were very creative and made little stories or poems to describe their stickers. 

A Trip to The Butterfly House

The students enjoyed their trip to The Butterfly House. They sure learned a lot of new and interesting things about butterflies. They observed butterfly behavior and learned more about animal life cycles. This week the students worked on a personal narrative about their trip to The Butterfly House. Here's a few pictures:

Butterfly Fun

We've been learning a lot of animal life cycles. The students loved watching our caterpillars grow and make a chrysalis. Then when arrived at school on Monday morning we had butterflies! We observed them all week and let them go on Thursday afternoon. Here's a few pictures:

Math Review

Chapter 2 was all about number patterns. The students practiced skip counting by 2, 5,and 10. The students also learned about repeated addition and arrays. They loved that because it's really multiplication! Most students are great at odd and even numbers and making equal groups. Our chapter test is tomorrow-Thursday.  Here's a few pictures showing equal groups and figuring our odd and even numbers.

Our Writing Celebration

Wednesday was an exciting day as we celebrated all of the authors in our class! We started our celebration by sitting in a circle and each student shared one thing they were proud of as a writer.  Then we cheered for each student. Ask your child what they shared yesterday. After sharing our accomplishments, the students shared their writing with their friends. They loved using their flashlights! We also had time to share with the students in Mr. Jobst's class. 

Fact Fluency

The students are working hard to improve their fact fluency! Some students are using flash cards at home and at school. Other students are using Xtramath at home. During math stations students have time use Xtramath about twice a week. We've switched to subtraction facts on our Friday timed tests. The great news is that 18 students have 95% or higher on the addition timed test and 14 students have 95% or higher on the subtraction timed tests. The students are graphing their results each week and they're very excited to see improvement each week! A few students have completed the 6 second addition program in Xtramath and they're now working on 6 second subtraction. I'm so proud of all of my students as they set goals and work towards them each week!!

Visualizing in Reading

We've been working on visualizing in reading. That's the running movie in their mind as they listen to stories or when reading chapter books. The students have been practicing as I read to them. It's great to see their mental images. The first few samples are after listening to the poem called "Relatives" and the last two samples are from the poem "Baby Brother".

Science Update!

On Tuesday, the students learned about fossils. We learned how fossils are formed and what scientists learn from fossils. Then we made fossils using Play-Doh and sea shells. Yesterday we reviewed for the science test on Friday and we review again today with Go Noodle! The students brought home their science books so they can review at home. The test is on Friday, October 2nd.