November News
Language Arts
Students have been engaged in a unit which centers on nonfiction. First students learned about the various nonfiction features. They distinguished between visual and text features in nonfiction pieces. The students discussed the importance of these features when reading informational text and how it helps them understand what they are reading.
Some examples of visual features are the following:
Some examples of text features are shown below:
Once students developed a firm understanding of these nonfiction features, students have started to discuss how to find the main idea in a paragraph. They have learned main idea can be explicit and implicit and they must use all the details in a paragraph to determine the main idea.
Mathematics
In math students have just completed the Grocery Stamp unit which introduces multiplication as repeated addition. Students used groupings of stamps to determine the total. They could skip count, used repeated addition or use multiplication to find their answer.
Below are samples of strategies that students used.
In addition to this, students used an open number line to determine the products of numbers on the number line by using doubling and tripling.
Social Studies
In social studies, students have learned a plethora of information about the Wampanoag Native Americans. Students have engaged in role playing which has enlightened them to understand the way of living of these people. They wrote stories about their Native American characters depicting their character's traits, their family, and their job in the family. The class also participated in discussing the pros and cons of Squanto helping the Pilgrims. They weighed their reasons and determined they should help the Pilgrims.
