11/1/07
Dear Parents,
Happy November! It is amazing how fast this year is going and the growth I have seen with each student in the classroom. I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween. The students and I enjoyed our day yesterday sharing in special treats while reading out Halloween stories.
Before I discuss this month’s long term projects I want to quickly bullet some items we have been studying in each subject matter:
• Science: Invertebrates – Students are exploring animals with out a backbone, learning to classify animals, list characteristics, and work effectively with a science/non-fiction text.
• Math: Decimals and Whole numbers – Students are working with the Commutative, Associative and Distributive properties while multiplying zero patterns and decimals together.
• Reading: Guided and Independent – Students are finishing up their reading group books. We have focused on character detail and development. Students have learned the strategy of Mind Joggers. This allows students to take short notes listing words they didn’t understand, questions they have while reading and a brief summary at the end.
• Writing: Courage stories – Students are putting final touches on their final drafts for our month long theme. Students this month focused on “tell me more questions,” which allowed them to add detail and voice to their story. As well as working extensively with editing and proofreading strategies.
• Social Studies: The Voyages of Columbus – Students have continued to work with note taking and vocabulary building. Students took part in a note finding activity to explore important facts presented in the chapter further. Students also participated in mini presentations on 4 explorers: Magellan, Vespucci, Columbus, and Balboa.
As we move into a very short November I am sending out with this newsletter our long-term projects for the month. For November’s projects I have created a rubric for students to work with. High importance should be placed on these projects because of the amount of time students have to complete them. Please remind your students to apply quality effort and time. Time and effort will affect student grades.
Our monthly project will center on Thanksgiving. Each student will receive a packet, which should be completed in detail by November 28th. This gives students 3 ½ weeks to complete the project. Homework in class will be lighter due to the project. Please emphasize with your students that this means their project will weigh heavily on their grade.
One last note regarding our book buddies. I am sure all of you have heard by now that we partner with Ms. Rosato’s class 20 minutes a week. For the month of October the students in here completed a Halloween number book with kindergarten students. We helped demonstrate complete sentences, details, and voice while writing and illustrating our book. For November we will do a Thanksgiving breakfast on the 20th. Please look in the coming weeks for more details regarding this wonderful project.
I look forward to seeing you all soon for parent teacher conferences. You have bright, capable and energetic students. All of which I enjoy teaching!
Happy Learning,
Mrs. McBreairty