In language arts we did a spelling and word study unit that has us working with "Short E" words.  In this unit students had to use words to complete sentences and write a synonym and antonym for words.  I told the kids about old school texting on a phone (remember having to hit the key multiple times to get the letter 😅) and the kids then did an activity using the phone keypad to write the words.  We learned about past and present tense verbs, including irregular verbs like sleep=slept.

This week our math unit was: Use a schedule and calendar to answer questions.

Next week our math unit will be: Read, write, and draw fractions (1/2, 1/3, 1/4).

In social studies the kids finished making a Pilgrim man and a woman dressed in the most familiar type of clothing of the 1600s.  We learned a little about what school was like for the children during colonial times and practiced handwriting with calligraphy pens to mimic what it would be like to write with a quill and ink. Next week we will finish learning about Colonial America by talking about the jobs that they had and start learning about the American Revolution.   

We finished learning about deserts then started to learn about the different types of forests.  Next week we will learn about tropical rainforests and will discuss the different layers of the canopy.  We will write about each layer and put them in order to display.    

In language arts we read Who Would Win Tarantula vs Scorpion by Jerry Pallotta.  We started out by making a guess who we thought would win if these to invertebrates were to fight.  Then we read some facts about both animals and found out the winner.  Ask your child who won!  We also did an independent reading activity on the computes.  The majority of what we do is as a group that I wanted to give them a chance to work on their own, while having them practice doing an assignment entirely on their computer, like it would be if we have a remote learning day.

This week we worked on our iReady math diagnostic.  The kids did a great job working on this.  

We played addition & subtraction bingo today to have a little fun and close out this short week.  

Next week our math unit will be: Use a schedule and calendar to answer questions.

In social studies we started to talk about what daily life was like for the colonists.  The kids are currently making a Pilgrim man and a woman dressed in the most familiar type of clothing of the 1600s.  Next week we will finish learning about the daily life Colonial America and talk about what school was like during that time.  

We learned about our first habitat this week, desserts.  We did a  water storage investigation that helps to show students the way that some cacti soak up and store water in the dry desert habitat.  As a group we used clues and need to match the clue to the desert plant being described.   We will finish up deserts on Monday and start learning about forests next.  

In language arts we worked on our iReady reading diagnostic all week.  When the kids finished their individual test they worked on iReady reading lessons.  Today the students who were done went to the library for a bit with Mr. Wood then played some games.  The students who still needed to work on their diagnostic came and sat in my office with me to have a nice quiet space to work.  

Monday, with the delay, we did another fun math fact puzzle.  All the kids did the same one that was adding three double digit numbers to make a sea turtle.

Our math unit this week was: 

• Tell time to the minute, identify the time of day, and find elapsed time.  This unit took us all week to complete..  Next week we will be doing the iReady math diagnostic..  Please talk to your child about putting forth their best effort on this assessment.  

⭐1/16-1/18: iReady Math Winter Diagnostic 

In social studies we learned more about colonial villages by looking at a typical southern plantation.  The kids did a great job using clues to label their map.  We started to talk about what daily life was like for the colonists and will continue to learn about this topic next week.    

In science we finished talking about invertebrates by learning that:  

• Invertebrates movements are adapted to the animals needs

• Invertebrates have developed many forms of self-defense 

• Some Invertebrates build homes

We are all done learning about invertebrates and started talking about habitats!  In our first unit on habitats we learned that here are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water.  We will begin learning about deserts next week.  

In language arts we did a spelling and word study unit that focused on short i words.  We did activities that required us to complete sentences, practice synonyms and antonyms, review sentence types and complete analogies.   Then took our first spelling test in a while.  Next week we will be taking the winter iReady reading diagnostic.   I am very excited to see the progress the kids have made so far! 

⭐1/8-1/10: iReady Reading Winter Diagnostic

Our math unit this week was: 

• Tell time to the nearest half hour and relate time to events.  

We also started a unit called:  

• Tell time to the minute, identify the time of day, and find elapsed time.  We had some fun today timing each other to see how many hops and toe touches we could don in one minute!  We will finish this unit next week.  

⭐1/16-1/18: iReady Math Winter Diagnostic 

In social studies we are talking about homes and villages in Colonial America.  We learned that early New England homes consisted of one room that served as the living room, kitchen, and bedroom for the whole family.  The kids "experienced" that cramped space when they made a colonial home with sparse furnishings.   We are currently making a map of a typical colonial village.  Next week we will finish talking about colonial villages by looking at a typical southern plantation.  Then we will talk about what daily life was like for the colonists.  

In science we talked about:  

• How most kinds of invertebrates live in the ocean.  

• That there are several types of invertebrate life cycles.  

• How invertebrates have different ways of acquiring food. 

Next week we will wrap up invertebrates and start our next topic habitats.