Week of November 22nd

We sure had a fun week leading up to Thanksgiving break. Not only did we celebrate Children's Book Week with a host of fun and engaging activities, we also went to the North Shore Theater for the Performing Arts on Thursday and attended a stage production of 'Innovation Nation'. It was a great extension to our SS curriculum and I want to thank the PTA and Ignite for their support. The kids really enjoyed the show and we had the chance to learn about some amazing innovators.

We continued our study of non-fiction reading by taking a deep dive into text structure. Most non-fiction is written in a specific structure and, as readers, if we are able to identify the structure it makes it easier to comprehend the underlying material. We also talked about, and practiced, elaboration as it pertains to our writing. I have been showing the kids 'Wordles' this week with the express purpose of practicing identifying the main idea of a set of words. They have enjoyed the challenge and it certainly helps them to think about main idea.

We focused our study of geometry on the properties of squares and rectangles. We also gave the kids a pre-test for our next unit as we decided it would be advantageous to mix the kids up for our unit on area and perimeter. We will begin that unit immediately after Outdoor Ed. Speaking of which, I looked at the long term forecast for Oregon, IL and it looks like we are in for some chilly weather. PLEASE make sure that your child has everything on the packing list and plenty of layers and then we should all be fairly comfortable out at Lorado Taft.

I'd like to wish all of you a wonderful, family-filled holiday. Safe travels if you are hitting the road and if not, have a wonderful staycation. I hope you are all able to recharge your batteries in some fashion over break while having great fun with your kids!!!