Homework / Tarea

• Homework will be provided on Friday's and can be returned on the next Friday.  Homework will be optional for students to take, so if you would like your child to be doing it, please encourage them to grab homework on Friday's. 

• Va haber tarea los viernes y podrán entregarse el proximo lunes. Las tareas serán opcionales, así que si desean que su hijo las hagan, anímenlos a agarar tarea los viernes.

What We’re Learning in Paired Literacy: Personal Narratives

In our first literacy unit of the year, students will dive into personal narratives — true stories written in the first person about real experiences. Over the next several weeks, your child will explore what makes a strong personal narrative and even write one of their own!

During this unit, students will:

• Read and analyze personal stories written by different authors to understand how writers describe real events, use dialogue, and include rich details and emotions.
  
  

• Practice writing their own personal narrative, focusing on organizing events clearly, using descriptive and sensory language, and showing character through dialogue.
  
  

• Work collaboratively in whole-group, small-group, and partner activities to share ideas and build confidence as readers and writers.
  
  

• Build reading skills using strategies like “Think While You Read,” which helps students make inferences and connect more deeply with the text.
  
  

This unit gives students a strong foundation for the reading and writing work they’ll do throughout the year. By the end, they’ll not only understand what makes a good story—they’ll be able to tell their own in a meaningful and creative way!

🌙 What We’re Learning in Science! 🌟

In our current science unit, students are exploring how people have observed the Moon, stars, and other objects in the sky for thousands of years! Acting as “young astronomers,” students are helping a team of archaeologists solve the mystery of a thousand-year-old artifact that shows patterns of the stars and Moon.

Through hands-on activities, physical models, digital simulations, and reading, students are discovering how Earth’s spin and orbit cause us to see different stars at different times of day and throughout the year. They’re also learning about the scale and distance of objects in space and how people long ago used the sky to track time and understand their world.

In addition to their science investigations, students are also writing essays to explain their discoveries—using evidence from their observations and models to support their ideas. This helps them strengthen both their scientific reasoning and writing skills as they communicate what they’ve learned about the patterns of the sky.

By the end of the unit, students will use what they’ve learned about Earth’s movement and the patterns of the sky to explain what the ancient artifact shows—and even predict what might be on its missing piece!

This engaging unit builds curiosity, critical thinking, writing skills, and a deeper understanding of how humans have studied the sky throughout history.