Planetarium Tomorrow

In Readers' Workshop, students are learning strategies to help them think about and identify themes in texts.  Specifically, students will use the process outlined below.  Today, we started with the first step (1).  At home, when your child is reading, ask them to name some problems in the story they're reading.  Readers can use this process today and everyday, when trying to identify themes, life lessons, etc..  

1. Name the problems in the story
2. Put the problem in a word or phrase
3. Reflect: What is the story teaching about the problem.

In Writers' Workshop, students learned to "grab and go"; grabbing an idea from their pre-writing maps, and applying everything we've learned this year to write fast and furiously. 

In Read Aloud/ Word Study, if you haven't heard yet, we finished Out of My Mind! Because effective readers don't just finish a book-- especially a really powerful book-- and move on, we're letting Out of My Mind "linger in our hearts".  To do this, students analyzed the text (characters, conflict, theme, etc.) to create meaningful color portraits of Melody; paying special attention to color choice and space to capture the essence of the story/ Melody. 

In Math Workshop, students used benchmarks to compare fractions.  We also added a "Dollar Word" station to our workshop-- it's challenging and fun! Ask your child about it!  See if you can come up with any dollar words!

In Social Studies, we used our experience in our bookmark assembly lines to explain pros and cons of specialization and interdependence. 

Homework:

• Math homework
• Practice multiplication facts
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Planetarium:  Tomorrow (4/7), 9:15 AM
• Permission slip due.  If I don't have your child's permission slip by tomorrow morning, unfortunately, your child won't be able to visit the planetarium with our class. 

Classroom Supplies:  Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to families who continue to keep our classroom stocked with supplies so we can focus on learning.  Your generosity is so appreciated.  Thank you!

• Hand sanitzer 

Kidblog Link:  

• https://kidblog.org/class/RES11/login

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill