7-Sept.30-Oct. 4, 2019

Reading: We are learning to ask and answer questions about key details in the text as well as retell what has happened. This week's stories are about pets both fiction and non-fiction. We are also doing Read to Someone and learning about responding about the text.

Writing: Students do writing in response to our Wonders Textbooks as well as have a chance to do their own Choice writing. They are very excited and focused at this time. It is fun to listen to their excitement when sharing from their journals and even books that they have written. We continue to work on capitalization, spacing, word order and periods in their statement sentences. If they don't know how to spell a word, that is OK. We talk about writing the sounds they hear and I also encourage them to underline words they question the spelling on.

Phonics/Sight Words: We continue to practice when we use upper and lowercase letters and identify rhyming words as well as the number of syllables in a word. We also listen for changes to beginning, middle, and end sounds of a word and stretch the word out when we say it.

Spelling, Challenge, Sight Words: Our phonics pattern for spelling is blending the first 2 letters using l as the 2nd. Example "clip, clap " Please remember to check the Homework and Weekly Spelling tab in this website to find out all the words.

Grammar: inflections, -s at the end (plural)

Mathematics: Students wrapped up their unit 1 math regarding numbers, patterns, partners and switched partners. Their also identifying odds and evens. They took their first unit test.

Social Studies: We'll connect what we've learned about the Anishinaabe and Voyageurs to making choices for needs and wants and what happens if there is a scarcity of something. We'll learn about beads and how important they were as wants of Ojibwe people.

Science: We are learning about living and non-living things. We're introducing deciduous and conifer trees as well as rocks and beginning to look at fall changes around us.

Science Vocabulary(oral): living, non-living, leaf, needle, conifer, deciduous

Hartley Field Trip and Geology: We had a fantastic field trip that covered much of what we'll be learning about in geology. Students learned about rock uses and identifying rocks by their properties, understanding the ingredients in rocks and how quickly or slowly they cool will determine crystal structure. They drew rocks zoomed out and zoomed in before learning about components in our soil and dirt. I will be loading photos soon from this field trip.

Other: SNACKS. I ask that students bring 1 healthy snack to school (the fresher the better- We've been able to collect a lot of garden produce and are taste testing garden harvested food similar to what we have grown/harvested in the Congdon garden ). Please pack it in their backpack pouch not their lunch box. This helps with time efficiency and also not eating extra food. I request 1 snack that fits in their mailbox.

Communication: Please remember to sign up for a conference slot. I will send another email with the link.