Hello Families! I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Let’s take a look at what we have planned this week:

Spelling

Words

1. tell

2. fell

3. well

4. sell

5. spell

6. smell

7. who

8. four

9. saw

10. eat

Reading: We are revisiting nonfiction, informational books for a few weeks. It’s important that students learn how to look at text features such as:
1. Bold words
2. Indexes
3. Photos
4.s Subheadings
5. Table of Contents
6. Glossaries
7. Diagrams and pictures

Although it is important for them to be able to read most of the words in the books they read, it is possible for them learn information about a topic just by using these text features. Students should be able to “read” a book and identify the Main Topic- this tells what the book is MOSTLY about. Additionally, they should be able to retell or record at least three KEY DETAILS- these are facts or pieces of important information from the book or text. This week, we’ll also learn how to look for connections between two things (animals).

Social Studies: We are listing ways that people earn and spend money and discuss reasons why people voluntarily trade (to get what they want).

Science: We are continuing to learn about the sun and its impact on weather:
1. The sun is a star
2. It gives us heat, light, and energy
3. It appears to move in patterns across the sky
4. It is cooler in the shade than it is in the sun.
5. We have more hours of daylight during the summer than winter.

Math: We have continued work with fact families. They should be able to solve for the missing number in an equation. Additionally, they must know how to label the parts of a fact family equation. For example: 6+5=11 6 and 5 are the parts, and 11 is the whole. We are also learning how to determine whether an equation is true or false. We’ve been doing that during Math Workshop, so please look for a sorting game in their math bags. We have been learning about telling time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour, so please practice with the clocks that are in their math bags. Some children have inquired about telling time to the minute. I have introduced this, so feel free to practice this at home.

Writing: We are publishing our opinion writing and next we will work on “How To ” informational writing. We will talk about how important it is to write detailed steps when writing a “How To.”

I want to emphasize again how important it is for your children to be reading at home. All of your children have demonstrated so much growth in reading this year, and we want that to continue. Additionally, they should be completing their math homework as this teaches them to be responsible and helps reinforced concepts we’ve learned about in class. Finally, their writing notebooks are helping them to practice the mechanics of writing, express themselves creatively, and explore the reading/writing connection. Please help your child take this responsibility seriously.

Have a great weekend!!