October Updates

        I'm not going to lie - this month has been hectic!  Between Grandpals' Day and Parent/Teacher conferences, there has been a lot going on!  I really enjoyed getting to meet with each of you last week and am looking forward to a strong teacher/student/parent partnership for the rest of this school year.  I feel truly proud of how much progress many of the students have made already this year.  

     Here are some happenings since last time I updated:

-  Grandpals' Day happened!  Students created "When I'm Sixty-Four" writing, 100 Ways to Live to Be 100, and a couple of other activities
-  Science:  We continued our Forces and Interactions Unit.  Students have found out how mass affects motion, designed vehicles with sails, and moved cars using rubberband energy.
-  Math:  We are in full force with multiplication.  So far students have learned their 0,1,2,4,5, and 10 multiplication facts.  We will progress through the following this way:  3's, 6's, 7's, 8's, and 9's.  
-  Writing:  We are about to finish a personal narrative writing in which students learned about introductions, conclusions, body paragraphs, revising, editing, and publishing.  Next up is Expository Writing.
-  Reading:  Students have been working hard on several skills, including nonfiction text features, nonfiction context clues, main idea and detail, and visualizing.  
- Spelling:  We have learned how to divide syllables into open and closed syllables using the VCV and VCCV decoding strategies.  This will help with both spelling and decoding within reading.
-  Miscellaneous:  The school cheered on students participating in the Special Olympics.  We created posters and lined the hallways to cheer on our friends!