What's Happening in Room 34...

Things You Should Know...

• If you have not reviewed, signed and returned your child's Mid-Quarter Report, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you!

• We will be going on our field trip on Thursday to Grant's Home.  Please make sure your child is at school on time because we will be leaving by 9:15.

• We will have an author visit on Thursday!  Here is more information about the author, Ryan Nusbickel, and his books.

• Looking for new ways to practice multiplication facts?  Click on the "FUN MATH SITES" above and scroll through to find multiplication games.

Dates to Remember... 
            Wednesday:  Library 
            Thursday:  Field Trip - a.m. 
                             Author visit at 1:15
            Friday: Math Test 
     
What's Going on in Our Classroom...

Shout-Outs!

• Ollie completed 18 topics on ALEKS last week!
• Cullen & Claire each completed 11 topics! 
• AND Isaac completed 10 topics!!

Keep up for hard work and determination!  I can't wait to see who our ALEKS topic leaders are this week!

Reader's Workshop:

• Your child should show you his/her completed Reading Log (the back of the Week in Review yellow sheet) for the week.  Please review, sign and return on Monday.

• As we continue reading Tiger Rising, we will focus on character change.  We will take a close look at the main characters and talk about how they are changing in the book.  We will also be reading a couple picture books, Chrysanthemum, Enemy Pie, and Recess Queen whose main character changes from the beginning of the story to the end.

Writer's Workshop:

• The students will begin publishing their personal narrative this week as they learn how to punctuate dialogue, learn when to start a new paragraph and edit for spelling and punctuation errors.  We will have our 1st Writing Celebration on Friday, October 12th at 9:10 - 9:45. We hope you can make it! Invitations will be coming home soon!

Math:

• We will continue working with multiplication this week as the students prepare to learn the process and steps to multiplying large numbers in the next chapter.  This week, the students will learn the properties of multiplication, how to find the factors and multiples of any given number, know how to identify a prime or composite number and work through word problems using multiplication.  The students will be prepared to take a test over this material on Friday.

• During math stations, the students are working on ALEKS, reviewing place value, addition and subtraction and mastering their facts.

• Many students will begin working with 5's this week as they master their multiplication facts.  If your child needs to be re-assessed on the 8's, 9's or 3's, or 6's, they will retake the test on Wednesday.  

Social Studies:

• We will continue to learn about the natural resources, climate, major landforms and landmarks of the West region. 

We had a fun time at the kickball game.....

Our Superstar of the Week!

What's Happening in Room 34...

Things You Should Know...

•  Mid-Quarter Reports will be coming home on Tuesday.  Please review, sign and return as soon as possible.

• The students will be assigned to complete at least 3 topics on ALEKS at home this week.  They will record the completed topics on a form that will be due on Thursday.  If your child needs assistance with a topic, please support him/her by assisting him/her with the examples rather than the actual problems or help him/her choose a different topic he/she is ready to learn.  If he/she advances to the next topic without full understanding, it will hinder his/her progress. The students will need to complete ALL Knowledge Checks at school.  If your child is on a Knowledge Check, he/she has been asked to tell me so I can make sure he/she have time at school to complete it.

• Looking for new ways to practice multiplication facts?  Click on the "FUN MATH SITES" above and scroll through to find multiplication games.

Dates to Remember... 
            Tuesday:  Mid-Quarter Reports coming home! 
                            Library Day
            Wednesday: Picture Day! 
            Friday: NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Learning Day
     
What's Going on in Our Classroom...

Reader's Workshop:

• Your child should show you his/her completed Reading Log (the back of the Week in Review yellow sheet) for the week.  Please review, sign and return on Monday.

• We will continue to read Tiger Rising as we study the characters.  We are learning a lot about the characters by what they say and do.  We are learning to put ourselves in the "shoes of the character" as we read.  The students are learning to identify character traits of the characters by looking closely at their actions, thinking, dialogue and feelings.

Writer's Workshop:

• Wow!  The students are doing a wonderful job with their personal narratives.  This past week, the students included creative leads, transitions and "show not tell".  They are having fun showing the reader how they feel in their story without telling them.  (ie:  A tear fell from my eye and my heart started to beat like a drum as I left my friend for the summer. instead of:  I was sad when I left my friend.)
• This week, we will focus on IADD.  We will be adding inner thoughts, action words, description and dialogue to our story to help it come alive.  Be ready for some great stories to read soon!

Math:

• The students did a wonderful job on your math test on Friday.  After reviewing and making corrections, the students will bring them home to share with you on Monday.

• We will begin multiplication this week!  We begin this unit by understanding the relationship between multiplication and division and practicing division by repeated subtraction.

• Many students will begin working with 6's this week as they master their multiplication facts.  If your child needs to be re-assessed on the 8's, 9's or 3's, they will retake the test on Wednesday. 

Science:

• We had a lot of fun with our earthquake STEAM activity.  Take a few minutes to look through the pictures posted on this blog.

• We will take a break from Science and begin Social Studies this week!  Our first unit will be learning about the United States regions.  

Our Latest STEAM Project.....

The students were challenged to design and create a 3-story building that can withstand a 15-second "earthquake" using marshmallows, toothpicks and cardboard.

They began by researching to find out what type of structure will work best in an earthquake.

Next, the students worked together to design their building.

Now the FUN begins... creating their design and running into a lot of challenges...

This group's design completely stayed intact during the earthquake!

Chandler created a challenging problem and taught the class today!

Mapping coordinates of volcanoes along the Ring of Fire