Our Week This Week

I want to thank all of you for coming to parent/teacher conferences last week. It was nice to get the chance to talk to tell you all of the wonderful things your children are doing in our classroom. I know everyone's schedule is busy, so I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to come chat with me.

I wanted to let you know that Mrs. Whitten will be teaching in our classroom for the next few weeks. She has planned some very fun activities with the students, so be sure to ask your children what they are doing in each subject area.

In MATH, we have fully implemented our leveled math groups. I spoke with each of you about this at conferences. The students really seem to be enjoying these groups. I think it's helping them feel better about math and giving them more confidence in the area of math. We are all still working on chapter 3 with multiplication and division. Some groups are moving much faster than others and will continue to do so. Some groups are starting division in chapter 3 and others are still working on multiplication. Please continue working on the basic multiplication facts with your children, as this is the biggest problem we are seeing when solving these problems. They can practice any way they choose, as long as it's basic multiplication fact practice. There are several websites with games if they get tired of doing flashcards. The more they practice, the more comfortable and confident they will be in math.

In READING, Mrs. Whitten began a novel study with the class. There are three different novels she will be working on with three different reading groups. The students have been put into groups and will read from a novel and learn the skills needed. This also means that students will not have a comprehension test for a few weeks while we are reading these novels. They do have vocabulary words they are responsible for knowing, but they will not be tested on these yet.

The novels will be at the students reading level and they are encouraged to take these novels home to read in order to stay up to date on their assignments. Feel free to read along with your student and enjoy these novels along with us!

In SCIENCE, we are continuing to work on our Earth Materials unit. The students have learned about different types of rocks and minerals including limestone, basalt, quartz, gypsum, and marble. We have looked for evidence of calcite in each of these rocks by soaking them in an acid (vinegar). The students have really enjoyed working with these minerals. This week, we will discuss and investigate the hardness of different rocks and minerals.

Students will have a new SPELLING list this week. This is a 'fun' list of spooky words, so hopefully this will give everyone a chance to get a wonderful grade on their test.

We will be having our Fall Party this Wednesday, October 31 at 2:30pm. Feel free to join us if you are able.

Have a great week!