I have no idea where January went. With the beautiful temps this week, it is hard to believe it is winter. Nonetheless, another month has passed and it has been as busy as ever in the Sun Bear class.
Highlights
We are currently finishing up our survival fiction novels and getting ready to dive into our project for this unit. The kids really enjoyed the books they read. All have been exciting, and at times challenging. Discussion in book groups has been rich and meaningful. We just finished our read aloud, The Sign of the Beaver as well. Another wonderful adventure that was enjoyed by all. This particular book also led to deep conversation about the relationship between the indians and the white settlers, friendship, respect, and survival. Today the class worked on Venn-Diagrams, comparing the two main characters (an indian boy, Attean, and a white boy, Matt) or comparing Matt from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. The comparisons they made were insightful and showed how much they learned from the novel.
Tomorrow we wil begin dioramas or 3-D creations as an end-of-unit project. Each child will choose a scene from his/her survival fiction book and will create and write about that scene. They will have one week to complete the project. Some class time will be provided but they will need to work on it at home as well. I will send home more information with your child tomorrow. This should be a fun and creative activity. The kids are excited and most already know exactly what scene they want to do.
In writing, we began our planet essays. For this non-fiction unit, we will work through the process one paragraph at a time. The kids have been researching their planets and recording their findings over the past week. We are developing strategies for putting this information in our own words and practicing extracting meaning from expository text. Tomorrow they will begin to write.
In word study, we just finished homophones and are moving into a concept sort related to our survival fiction books. The kids have shown so much growth in their spelling and vocabulary.
In math, we are well into our unit on measurement. We have been learning about customary and metric units of measure and have been using a varitey of measurement tools. Currently, we are exploring perimeter and area and applying what we learn to multi-step story problems. From here we will move into temperature and measurement related mass and capacity. On Monday, February 13th we will end our measurement unit with Measurement Olympics, an all afternoon event comprised of hands-on activities and stations.
In Social Studies, the class is learning about the early colonists and working to create a yearbook of famous Virginians (and some who are not). They are not only researching and writing about their people but creating portraits of them as well.
In Science, the class is continuing to learn about the solar system. They have been assigned flight crews, have created crew patches, and have researched their assigned planets. In addition, they performed an experiment measuring the impact of meteors on the earth's surface.
In addition to all of this, they continue to learn and do so much in Spanish, Music, Art, and P.E..
Reminders and Announcements
- We will be walking to the library on Friday. We will leave after lunch and will return by the end of the day.
- Please send your child to school every day with a water bottle.
- You can now order Arch's by the week. Please contact Kim for further information.
- Try-outs for Annie, the next theater production, are on Monday, February 6th. If your child is interested in auditioning for a specific part, sign-up sheets are in the main building outside of Kim's office. If your child wants to be in the play but is not interested in a specific part, s/he just needs to be signed up for theater. Practice is on Mondays from 3:30 - 4:30 in the MAC.
- There is a PTO meeting tomorrow, February 1, at 7:00 P.M in the MAC. Please come if you are able to do so.
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Highlights
We are currently finishing up our survival fiction novels and getting ready to dive into our project for this unit. The kids really enjoyed the books they read. All have been exciting, and at times challenging. Discussion in book groups has been rich and meaningful. We just finished our read aloud, The Sign of the Beaver as well. Another wonderful adventure that was enjoyed by all. This particular book also led to deep conversation about the relationship between the indians and the white settlers, friendship, respect, and survival. Today the class worked on Venn-Diagrams, comparing the two main characters (an indian boy, Attean, and a white boy, Matt) or comparing Matt from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. The comparisons they made were insightful and showed how much they learned from the novel.
Tomorrow we wil begin dioramas or 3-D creations as an end-of-unit project. Each child will choose a scene from his/her survival fiction book and will create and write about that scene. They will have one week to complete the project. Some class time will be provided but they will need to work on it at home as well. I will send home more information with your child tomorrow. This should be a fun and creative activity. The kids are excited and most already know exactly what scene they want to do.
In writing, we began our planet essays. For this non-fiction unit, we will work through the process one paragraph at a time. The kids have been researching their planets and recording their findings over the past week. We are developing strategies for putting this information in our own words and practicing extracting meaning from expository text. Tomorrow they will begin to write.
In word study, we just finished homophones and are moving into a concept sort related to our survival fiction books. The kids have shown so much growth in their spelling and vocabulary.
In math, we are well into our unit on measurement. We have been learning about customary and metric units of measure and have been using a varitey of measurement tools. Currently, we are exploring perimeter and area and applying what we learn to multi-step story problems. From here we will move into temperature and measurement related mass and capacity. On Monday, February 13th we will end our measurement unit with Measurement Olympics, an all afternoon event comprised of hands-on activities and stations.
In Social Studies, the class is learning about the early colonists and working to create a yearbook of famous Virginians (and some who are not). They are not only researching and writing about their people but creating portraits of them as well.
In Science, the class is continuing to learn about the solar system. They have been assigned flight crews, have created crew patches, and have researched their assigned planets. In addition, they performed an experiment measuring the impact of meteors on the earth's surface.
In addition to all of this, they continue to learn and do so much in Spanish, Music, Art, and P.E..
Reminders and Announcements
- We will be walking to the library on Friday. We will leave after lunch and will return by the end of the day.
- Please send your child to school every day with a water bottle.
- You can now order Arch's by the week. Please contact Kim for further information.
- Try-outs for Annie, the next theater production, are on Monday, February 6th. If your child is interested in auditioning for a specific part, sign-up sheets are in the main building outside of Kim's office. If your child wants to be in the play but is not interested in a specific part, s/he just needs to be signed up for theater. Practice is on Mondays from 3:30 - 4:30 in the MAC.
- There is a PTO meeting tomorrow, February 1, at 7:00 P.M in the MAC. Please come if you are able to do so.
As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Happy February!
Best,
Annelise
Best,
Annelise
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