The Weekly Update #10

Dear Families,

Thank you so much to PTO and all families for your support bringing Nature Educators to our children! They had a great time seeing all the animals. We had a Woodhouse toad, ball python, bull snake, tarantula, and a burrowing owl visit us. Students learned about animal habitats and adaptations. It was a great way to kick start this quarter.

Homework:

Reading: Packets are given every Friday and due the following Friday.

Independent Reading: Students should read at least 10-20 minutes an evening or 60 minutes a week. Student reading logs are due every Friday.

Math: Please practice multiplication with your child. They can practice using Thatquiz.org or just using flash cards are great ways to gain mastery.

Students will also continue to have math practice 3-4 nights a week.

Here is a brief look at our learning targets and what we did this past week:

Learning Targets:

I can read fluently and comprehend fiction and nonfiction texts.

I can recognize the main idea and key details from a text.

I can write an argumentative essay and cite text to support my thinking.

I can write in complete sentences consistently.

I can accurately multiply and use area models.

I can learn and understand about ancient people in Colorado.

I can learn and understand about the internal and external parts of plants and animals.

I can learn and understand how plants and animals adapt to survive in their environment.

Social Skills: Students learned about the value of mistakes, the power of yet, and their role in their families and communities. Please see the family letter attached below about our Wayfinder curriculum.

Reading: Students continued work in their leveled reading book groups on building knowledge of literary elements, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

Students worked on their Wonders readings about animal adaptations and reviewed nonfiction text features. We also worked on recognizing the main idea and key details of a text. We will continue to work on these skills more with some iReady lessons next week.

Writing: This week we learned more about writing argumentative essays. Students read three articles about building in flood zones. Students selected a side, for or against, building in a flood zone and then used text from the articles to support their opinions. The kids did a great job!

Next week we will begin our Colorado animal research projects.

Math: Students started unit four on multiple digit multiplication. They learned about applying partial products to an area model to solve two digit by two digit problems. They also learned the standard algorithm for solving two digit by two digit multiplication. We will continue this work next week too.

Social Studies:

Students learned how to take two column notes from a textbook. Then they worked in groups to take notes and gather information about the ancient people of Colorado. The groups are creating informative posters and presenting them to the class.

Science: Students learned about the internal and external parts of plants. We had a plant lab to compare the vascular activity of celery compared with carnations. Students hypothesized which plant would show more vascular activity using food coloring. We learned about xylem and phloem and how they work in vascular plants. The kids wrote up their observations and dissected the celery and carnations. They loved doing this! Some of them brought the parts home to show you. So be aware there might be a bag of plant parts in your child's backpack.

Reminders:

October 30 - Halloween Parade And Class Parties

• Time: Parade starts at approximately 9:40 AM. Our class party will be right after the parade.

• Spectator Area: Around the inner and outer edge of the playground track.

• Student Parade Route: One full circle around the track.

• Reminder: Please keep the track clear so classes can move easily. No blood, gore, scary imagery or weapons please.

Nov 1: Daylight Saving: Fall back 1 hour

Nov 6: No school for students: PD for teachers

Nov 11: Veteran's Breakfast 7:30

Nov 23-27: Thanksgiving Break: No School

Best wishes,

Hope Crawley