Pastries with Parents & Other Updates

Students are coming with a reminder from the office.  The reminder is also attached at the bottom of this email.

In Readers' Workshop, students asked and answered questions in order to help them develop insights as they read. 

In Writers' Workshop, students are learning the elements of an opinion essay.  Students have written opening paragraphs using a hook, claim and reasons.  Today we looked at the structure of body paragraphs.  Students can organize their body paragraphs using the "Claim Evidence Reasoning" (CER) structure.  With partners first, then independently, students practiced making claims i (or opening statements, topic sentences, etc.) for each of our body paragraphs. Take a look!

In Math Workshop, we used unifix cubes to break apart factors to help us solve more complex multiplication equations.  We also reviewed helper facts.  Students can use x2, x5, or x10 to help them solve equations they don't have memorized.  In class we say, "the factor we change (to a helper fact), is the number of groups". 

In Science, students took a pre-assessment to assess their ability in responding to scientific guiding questions.  Once I get this data, I'll teach students how to use the CER structure when responding to questions in Science.

In Word Study, students "leaned in" to the plot/ mental movie to help them discover the meaning of unknown words.  We then used our mental movie to act out the new words.  

Homework:

• Math homework: Unit 4 Test Review
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Recess: If the temperature is above 32F, we will try to go outside.  Please continue to send students to school with warm weather wear (winter coats, mittens, hats, etc.).  I will only take students out if our whole class is appropriately dressed.  We don't want anyone getting sick :).  Thank you for your support!
• Unit 4 Math Assessment: Tomorrow
• Book Fair Project: Due tomorrow

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

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Attention Parents, Guardians and Grandparents,

Due to the after effects of the pending snow storm, "Pastries with Parents" dates have been rescheduled.  The new scheduled dates are:

• Monday, Feb. 1:  Last Names A - J
• Tuesday, Feb. 2:  Last Names K- Z

Also, the book fair will be extended to February 3.

Homework:

• Math homework
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Unit 4 Math Assessment: Friday, January 22
• Book Fair Project: Due this week

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Math Test Friday

In Readers' Workshop, students asked questions to help think and talk about informational texts.  We use sticky notes to document these questions.

In Writers' Workshop, students tried different beginning sentences to help them "hook" their readers in their opinion essays.  The strategies they tried out today are: 5 senses, question, shocking fact, dialogue, onomatopoeia, and expert quote.  Encourage your child to practice these.  Ask them which holiday is best? Have them use one of the strategies listed above to hook their reader.

In Math Workshop, students used the break apart strategy to break factors into simpler numbers in order to help them quickly solve more complex multiplication equations. Just a reminder that students have their Unit 4 assessment on Friday.  This assessment covers multiplication and division.

In Word Study, we looked at the word "rummage" from our read aloud book, Holes.  Ask your child to show you what rummaging looks like.


Homework:

• Math homework
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Unit 4 Math Assessment: Friday, January 22
• Book Fair Project: Due this week

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

K Buddies Blogging!

After lunch, we met with our kindergarten buddies.  With our buddies, we read an informational text about Martin Luther King, Jr.. Together, we identified a color that best represents what King stood for, his beliefs, etc..  On our blogs, we wrote a claim identifying our color and used evidence from the text and our own reasoning to justify our thinking.  Ask your child what color their buddy picked and how they helped them.  

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Unit 4 Math Assessment: Friday, January 22
• No school: Monday, January 18
• Book Fair Project: Due Tuesday, Jan. 19 - Friday, Jan. 22.  A letter outlining the project will come home this Friday.

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low
• Pencils
• Pens

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Math Test Next Friday

In Science, students are conducting a controlled experiment to test and compare different bridges.  See some snapshots from yesterday below. 

Homework:

• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Unit 4 Math Assessment: Friday, January 22
• Multiplication Fact Quiz (x5): Friday, January 15
• Early Dismissal: Friday, January 15
• No school: Monday, January 18
• Book Fair Project: Due Tuesday, Jan. 19 - Friday, Jan. 22.  A letter outlining the project will come home this Friday.

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low
• Pencils
• Pens

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

SRI Scores

This morning students took the Scholastic Reading Assessment (SRI).  They are coming home with their old score (from the Fall) and new score (today's score) on a neon flashcard.  These do not need to be returned.  Students will take this assessment again in the Spring. Students are expected to grow 75-100 Lexiles per year.  By the end of third grade, we want students scoring 520-820 Lexiles or greater.

Homework:

• Math homework 
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Multiplication Fact Quiz (x5): Friday, January 15
• Early Dismissal: Friday, January 15
• No school: Monday, January 18
• Book Fair Project: Due Tuesday, Jan. 19 - Friday, Jan. 22.  A letter outlining the project will come home this Friday.

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low
• Pencils
• Pens

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill

Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap?

In Readers' Workshop, students organized their notes with boxes (main ideas) and bullets (supportive facts) to help them think about and understand informational texts.

In Writers' Workshop, we read like writers, noticing characteristics of strong opinion writing.  Students looked for claims, reasons, shocking facts, questions, expert quotes,etc. in an article entitled "Drinking Water: Bottled or From the Tap?".  Below are some snapshots from our mini-lesson.  You'll see students identifying/ marking up the article.

In Word Study, students learned the verb "cite".  They identified examples and non-examples of citing and then generated their own examples.  Ask your child to cite an illustration from Voices in the Park to prove the claim, Smudge is optimistic. 

In Math Workshop, we used multiplication diagrams to help us solve multiplication word problems.

Homework:

• Math homework 
• Multiplication Facts: Practice 0-2 and 5  
• Read 20 minutes 

Reminders:

• Multiplication Fact Quiz (x5): Friday, January 15
• Early Dismissal: Friday, January 15
• No school: Monday, January 18
• Book Fair Project: Due Tuesday, Jan. 19 - Friday, Jan. 22.  A letter outlining the project will come home this Friday.

Classroom Supplies:

• Sticky Notes: Very low
• Pencils
• Pens

Kidblog Link:  

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

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill