writing
Students have been working on writing their "How to" passages. Each student chose an activity that they felt comfortable explaining to others. Some examples of their activities include: how to clean the house, how to draw flowers, how to play football, how to cook a hotdog and how to decorate the house for a party!! Next they spent time thinking and writing about the steps of their activities using transitional words (first, next, second, lastly, finally). The class also learned about writing a simple introduction and ending for their passages. Everyone had "published" their piece by Friday, Dec. 18!! You might want to ask your student what they wrote about.
reading comprehension
In Reading Success, our comprehension strategies/tools program, we have been practicing how to use several techniques to help build understanding and memory of reading selections. These strategies have included: a) Designing questions that can be answered by the passage being read. For example, when we read about woodwind instruments, students asked questions like~What are woodwinds made of? What are two examples of woodwind instruments? What does the word "wind" mean? b) Recognizing details in the readings. As students read, they are asked to think about what particular words help describe what is happening. By using these details, students can paint a more complete picture in their minds that will help them to understand and remember the main ideas more easily. c) Recognizing what a passage is "mostly about." When reading about percussion instruments, students identified words and phrases that described and explained percussion instruments. On Thursday and Friday we had the opportunity to practice these skills while reading The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. You could ask your child to tell you the story.
In Reading Success, our comprehension strategies/tools program, we have been practicing how to use several techniques to help build understanding and memory of reading selections. These strategies have included: a) Designing questions that can be answered by the passage being read. For example, when we read about woodwind instruments, students asked questions like~What are woodwinds made of? What are two examples of woodwind instruments? What does the word "wind" mean? b) Recognizing details in the readings. As students read, they are asked to think about what particular words help describe what is happening. By using these details, students can paint a more complete picture in their minds that will help them to understand and remember the main ideas more easily. c) Recognizing what a passage is "mostly about." When reading about percussion instruments, students identified words and phrases that described and explained percussion instruments. On Thursday and Friday we had the opportunity to practice these skills while reading The Wild Christmas Reindeer by Jan Brett. You could ask your child to tell you the story.
math
We finished up Topics 5 and 6. These chapters had students exploring different pieces of multiplication. We spent time looking at multiplication as repeated addition, multiplication facts for zero through ten, and strategies for multiplying. We also worked on many word problems. The class took a test on Thursday and we reviewed challenging areas on Friday.
