A Week in Review - September 28th

Hello Families,

We are getting settled into room 17.  We have found a great routine, gotten

to know each other and are ready to dig into learning.  This group of children work so well together! 

Homework Connection - Goes Home Friday

This week we will begin our homework routine.  On Friday, I will meet with your child, help them set a goal for learning, and they will choose their homework activities.  Next Friday, they will bring their evidence of learning back to school.  We will talk about their learning, set new goals, and the process will begin again.  For this year, homework will go home on FRIDAY and will be due the following Friday.  A homework note will ALWAYS go home on Friday.  So be sure to look for it in your child's backpack.  I will also make the homework note available in Google Classroom, just in case it gets lost.


Science - Transfer of Energy
We Have been working with electrical systems in science.  Your children have learned about how to open and close a circuit.  They have learned about the differences between series and parallel circuits.  It has been quite fun to learn how energy is transferred within a system.  This week we will be working on a new force - magnetism.

Math - Making Sense of Subtraction

In Math we have been working really hard to make sense of subtraction.  Your children have been

 learning about how the "traditional algorithm" works.  We have also learned how to use other strategies, like the number line to show the DIFFERENCE between two numbers!

Often the children will work in small groups to make sense of a mathematical idea and then post their groups thinking in the room.  We will have a "gallery walk" to see how others thought about the same idea.  As a class, we will discuss similarities and differences and then make conclusions about the big idea.  Your children work so hard to make sense of mathematics.  It is really a joy to work with them.

Literacy - 

In writers' workshop we are beginning to write realistic fiction stories. Last week we learned to think about the story bit by bit and the characters feelings in each part.  This week we will transfer those ideas into a story mountain and add even more details to the stories.

      In readers' workshop we are learning to think about the clues that the author leaves us to help us understand the stories better.  These clues are called SIGNPOSTS, and can be found in ANY book - even the ones you read..   So far we have learned about 2 signposts - Aha Moments and Memory Moments.  Aha moments are when a character realizes something important about themselves.  When we notice this - we ask ourselves "How might this change things for the character?"  Memory Moments are flashbacks to an early time.  When we notice a memory moment, we ask ourselves "How might this memory be important to the story?"  Both of these signposts will really help your child think deeply about the books that they are reading and the life lessons that the book has to offer.

Family Skate Night - Thursday is our first Family Skate Night of the year at Bonaventure from 6-8:30pm.  I look forward to seeing some of you there.  My girls love family skate night.