Happy Thanksgiving!

Language Arts

Students are learning to identify main idea and supporting details in a paragraph.  First the class focused on finding the main idea in a set of pictures. Then they learned that the main idea may be in the beginning or end of a paragraph. The next step is to transfer this learning to finding the main idea in an article.

Students published their personal narratives and are displayed outside the classroom.  Below are examples of the hard work students put forth to write and illustrate their stories.

Since this story is not readable from the photograph. Here is the story the student wrote describing her personal narrative.

Have you ever been scared to do something? I know I have! My first time skiing was really scary. I was so nervous! What if I fall or mess up? I knew I couldn’t do it! I wanted to go home. I wanted to leave Mt. Southington, CT. My mom got my skiing gear, but I didn’t put it on. I was worried. I was getting even more scared every second I was there. My mom got my skiing shoes and my helmet. I wanted to ski, but I could get hurt! My mom encouraged me. I still didn’t want to risk skiing down that steep hill. I didn’t know what to do! I finally tired of standing around and being afraid. I would ski down that hill, and nobody could stop me! I was going to get over my fear and stop worrying! I could to do it! But should I? Time was running out! Mount Southington was going to close soon, and I couldn’t make up my mind! I had to decide! Should I risk skiing and get over my fear, or should I give up and regret it my whole life? I didn’t want to get hurt, but I felt like I should do it! I thought and thought. Finally, I made my decision. I was going to do it. I got on my skiing gear and my skiing shoes, and I went up the ski lift. I got to the top of the snowy hill and I froze. The mountain was so high! It was at least 20 feet off of the ground! I couldn’t do it! It was too late to turn back though! So I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I felt a cool breeze on my face and I opened my eyes. I pushed my cold feet, and the next thing I knew, I was skiing! I felt so excited that I got over my fear! I got to the bottom of the mountain and I slowed down. Then I went to see my mom. We took all of my gear off and my mom gave me a big hug. I could tell she was proud of me. I was elated that I asked my mom for ice cream in the lunch room at Mount Southington. I was proud and happy. I never forgot the day I skied down a hill at Mount Southington. 

Social Studies/Writing

Students used their knowledge of the Wampanoag Native Americans in social studies to write from the perspective of a member of the tribe. Here are samples of the student work related to this endeavor.

Math

In math students are undertaking the concept of multiplication through the process of looking at groups of objects and expressing their thinking as repeated addition, skip counting, groups of 2, 4, 5, etc., doubling, and or multiplication. Students started this unit by taking a trip to the grocery store and viewing items such as a bag of apples, or groups of oranges, bottled water and representing this in mathematical terms. This week students will view groups of stamps and assign a value for the stamps.  Then students will figure out the total value of the stamps by the aforementioned methods. This is a hands-on unit where student thinking is emphasized and working with partners is critical to learning the concept of multiplication.

              
   

 

                    
Here is an interesting video about context for learning. 

                                         

 

Veterans Day - Week of November 11

                                           

Students are discovering nonfiction text features and their purposes in nonfiction books.  Some examples include table of contents, labels, photographs, captions, comparisons, types of print, cutaways, maps, tables, close ups, index, and glossary.  Student will have the opportunity to explore nonfiction texts to locate these nonfiction features. Most students are familiar with some of these features but have they ever thought about its purpose?


                                          


                                                





                              


Students are continuing to write about their Native American characters. Each student has chosen a Native American name and is writing from the persona of that character. Students are incorporating the knowledge gained from their study of the Wampanoag tribe to undertake this project. Below is a YouTube video which demonstrates the information students will be conveying through their stories.

                                                       



In math students will be focusing on understanding different types of subtractions problems. These subtraction problems involve comparison of quantities. Students will be able to use cubes, pictures and number lines to visualize this math concept.


            

Please make sure your child reads nightly.

                                          

Welcome November!

                                             
         

Reading in Room 17

In preparation for reading nonfiction texts, the class will focus on the following reading strategies to help improve their comprehension skills. The students will be learning metacognitive strategies to keep track of their inner conversation as they read.  Students will be made aware that a proficient reader uses fix-up strategies when meaning breaks down as they read.

                           


Stop, Ask, Fix: Student Checklist
Students should use these strategies and keep them in mind when reading.
❑ I periodically stop and ask, “Does this make sense?”
❑ I express the difference between my own knowledge and beliefs and ideas expressed in text.
❑ I express awareness or lack of awareness of what the content means.
❑ I express doubt about understanding when I am unsure or when meaning is unclear.
❑ I ask “Where did I lose track?”
❑ I identify the place where I began to lose comprehension.
❑ I use fix-up strategies when I experience problems.
❑ I reread.
❑ I read on and try to clear up the confusion.
❑ I substitute words I know (and that fit the context) to replace words I don’t understand to see if
that works.
❑ I make mind pictures to “see” in my head what the text means.
❑ I connect what I am reading to what I have read previously in this text

                                                   


In math this week students will use the base ten number system to understand the equivalent of one group and the discrete units that comprise it.  Students will participate in solving subtraction problems which involve finding a missing part. They will use strategies to visualize the problem through the use of a number line, sheets, strips and stickers, number grids as well as understanding the relationship between addition and subtraction.

For example this equation can be solved using the following strategies:

36 + _____ = 79

In social studies students have been brainstorming the roles and jobs of the men, women and children of the Wampanoag tribe by reading various nonfiction texts about this tribe.  This will provide the background knowledge to start undertaking the writing assignment. Students will write a story about the life of their Native American character from that character's point of view.

The food the people ate and cultivated.                               

The ways these Native Americans caught their food.





These people were gatherers.

They used everything in their environment to survive.

 

Please feel free to engage in a conversation with your child about what they are learning in school.