September Newsletter
In our first few weeks together, we've been diving into place value! Students are learning how each digit’s value changes depending on its position—whether it's 10 times greater or one-tenth smaller than its neighbor. We've explored different ways to represent numbers, including standard form, word form, and expanded form. Now, we're moving into comparing and rounding multi-digit numbers, building strong number sense and confidence along the way!
Below you’ll find a brief overview of other math topics we may explore this month, depending on pacing and student readiness. Stay tuned for more hands-on learning and exciting challenges ahead!
Topic 1: Place Value Students deepen their understanding of large numbers, compare and order them, and practice rounding using place value relationships.
Topic 2: Multiplication and Division—Meanings and Facts Students explore the relationship between multiplication and division, learn strategies for fact fluency, and use visual models to represent operations.
Topic 3: Generate and Analyze Patterns Focuses on identifying number patterns, creating tables, and writing rules to describe relationships—laying the groundwork for algebraic thinking.
We’ve kicked off the year by learning how to research topics and use the internet to find reliable sources—a skill that’s already coming in handy! Our next big adventure is an informational writing project all about U.S. national parks. Each student will choose a park to explore and write a five-paragraph essay that includes an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Their writing will cover the park’s plants and animals, historical background, and safety tips for visitors.
To bring their research to life, students will also create a colorful pamphlet showcasing their park. These will be displayed in our classroom to celebrate their hard work and share their discoveries with others!
Students will use nonfiction text features such as:
Headings and subheadings
Captions and diagrams
Maps and bolded vocabulary
This unit blends research, structure, and creativity as students learn to inform and engage their readers with real-world topics.
We began the year by diving into nonfiction texts about insects and animals—perfect for sparking curiosity and building background knowledge! Students explored informational writing, learning how these texts are designed to teach us about a topic using facts and clear structure. We also read personal narratives about nature, which helped us compare how point of view (POV) changes depending on the type of writing. Whether we’re reading to learn or reading to connect with someone’s experience, we’re becoming thoughtful readers who notice the author’s purpose and perspective.
Students dive into engaging nonfiction texts focused on animals and their behaviors, habitats, and adaptations. Through close reading and discussion, they’ll practice:
Identifying main ideas and supporting details
Using text features to locate and understand information
Making inferences and asking questions
Comparing and contrasting animal traits and survival strategies
This unit builds background knowledge while strengthening comprehension and vocabulary skills.
Students investigate how living things survive and thrive in their environments. Topics include:
Physical and behavioral adaptations
How traits help organisms meet basic needs
Examples from desert, arctic, rainforest, and aquatic ecosystems
Hands-on activities and inquiry-based discussions will help students connect science to the natural world around them.
We’ve been deep in the world of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban—and we’re already halfway through! The students have absolutely loved hearing the story come to life through character voices and interactive moments. It’s been a joyful, imaginative experience that’s sparked so many giggles and thoughtful questions.
To celebrate Return to Hogwarts Day on September 2nd, we took a magical detour and discovered our Hogwarts houses through a personality quiz! 🧙♂️🦁🐍🦅🦡 This activity helped students reflect on their own traits and learn that each house has its own strengths—not everything is as black and white as it seems. It was a fun way to build community and kick off the month with a little enchantment.
Next Month, we’ll begin our next read aloud: The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman—just in time for Halloween! 🍂🦊
This beautifully eerie tale follows Clare, a silver-tailed fox who lives in a forest where the leaves are always falling and nothing is quite alive or dead. After a tragic accident, Clare becomes an Usher of wandering souls, guiding animals to their final resting places. But when a curious badger named Gingersnipes arrives and refuses to move on, Clare must embark on a mysterious journey to uncover the truth—and possibly change his own fate. With themes of grief, friendship, and courage, this story is both spooky and heartwarming—a perfect blend for fall reading.
