Week in Review--Plants!

Writing:

-We dove deeper into learning about opinion writing this week. We talked about how we can change “easy” words into “fancy” words by using the book Fancy Nancy’s Favorite Fancy Words. We also began talking about how you can write a letter to someone asking them or persuading them to like or do something with or for you. We read the story Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type where the cows write letters to the farmer asking for electric blankets because they are too cold in the barn at night. After several letters and giving him reasons why, they finally convinced him to give them some! We then took that idea and wrote a letter to Mrs. Cauble asking when our classroom iPads would be arriving and gave her reasons why we would want them in our classroom. She wrote us back and we were excited to read her letter! The class then had a chance to practice writing letters on their own!

Reading:

-We had TWO sight words this week-- “little, that”.

-The CAFÉ strategy we worked on this week was the strategy.

“Monitor and Fix-Up”

Good readers often stop to think about if what they are reading makes sense. They make sure they understand what is happening in the story or what the selection they are reading is about. If meaning breaks down during a story, good readers have strategies to go back and fix the problem. Some strategies a reader may use to assist in making sense of a story include: summarize text, go back and adjust the reading rate, reread text while thinking carefully, skim and scan the selection to gain meaning, or ask for help. Readers who monitor their own reading know and use these specific strategies when meaning breaks down and fix their reading to improve their comprehension.

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?

·         When reading with your child, stop periodically and ask your child, “Does this make sense?” If not, ask your child what he/she could do to help gain understanding of what is being read.

·         Read to your child and model what it sounds like when you stop to monitor your reading. Let him/her hear the process you go through. Ask yourself the following questions: Who is this story about? What is happening in the story? What is the author trying to tell me? Let your child hear you answer the questions and go through the process of monitoring your comprehension.

·         Ask your child to create a list of his/her favorite fix up strategies. Remind your child to use these strategies when meaning breaks down. The goal is to coach your child to monitor comprehension and use the strategies until they become a habit.

Math:

-This week we practiced several of our previously learned strategies using different apps on our iPad. We practiced ways to make ten, subtraction, addition and even counting! We will continue to review all standards from the entire year these last few weeks of school. Report card testing is coming up next week! Be sure to look at your child’s previous report card to see what standards he/she will be retested on and what new ones will be tested for this fourth nine weeks.

Content:
     This week we focused on plants, different types of plants, how plants grow, what they need in order to grow and the parts of plants. We completed a flip and feel book by gluing in the seed, roots, stem and leaves of a plant. Students can flip through the book and feel items that are similar to the real parts of plants. We also labeled a flower by naming the various parts of the flower. One other plant activity we completed was putting a bean seed with a wet paper towel and are watching it every day to see when it will sprout roots, a stem and hopefully leaves!

We also watched this video and did motions to it before we labeled our parts of a flower!