Ms. Harris ’ Class Happenings Edition 14: 1/9/14

1. Ms. Harris’ Class Happenings Edition 14: 1/9/14 Happy New Year!!  I hope you all had a restful and enjoyable break! First things first, WE HAVE A SMART BOARD! Thank you PTA! What an exciting and busy start to the year we have had. Such a cold, blustery and crazy week to start the year for sure. As always, your children took things in stride and we continued plugging away as much as we could here in room 113. Take a peak at what went on (in spite of two hour delays) this week!  Literacy We are continuing our study of non-fiction. This week our main focus was on using context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words. Students used strategies such as reading on, re-reading, looking at the pictures, thinking of synonyms/antonyms and using their background knowledge to help them determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. This is a difficult skill for students yet one of the MOST essential skills to practice. Each night, encourage your child to find or two new and unfamiliar words to determine the meaning of. The bigger and better their vocabulary, the stronger readers they will be! Science We continued with our unit on force and motion . Our focus this week was on the force of gravity and how it pulls objects to the center of the earth. Students were fascinated to learn that in reality, a penny and a feather fall to the earth at the same time when in an airless vacuum. Students learned that gravity pulls equally on all objects regardless of weight. Social Studies We have continued with our study of different cultures this week. Students took some time to learn about art in different cultures. We discussed ways that cultures use art to express their values and beliefs. Students will be creating their own “art” tomorrow to express their own values. Math We continued our study of multiplication this week with a specific focus on arrays. Our focus was on how we can use arrays to create an organized picture to solve multiplication problems. We discussed how arrays are used in everyday life to make things easier. We also discussed how we can use arrays to help us break apart numbers and solve higher level multiplication problems . Check out Bryce’s awesome Math Work!

2. Happening Next Week…. Science We will begin our unit on energy. Our focus will mainly be on light energy and energy we get from the sun. Social Studies We will continue with our study of culture discussing different traditions celebrated by cultures. Literacy We will continue with our non fiction unit. This week we will focus on comparing non fiction texts to determine if the information is the same and/or accurate. We will also focus on determining the author’s purpose (To inform, to explain, to teach or to persuade) for writing the articles. Math We will continue our unit on multiplication and division. We will continue with a focus on arrays and then move into division. We will focus heavily on how to know when to multiply or divide in a word problem. Please continue working on facts at home! 2nd Quarter Notebook Collection I will be collecting math and science/social studies notebooks next Tuesday in order to grade them for the second half of 2nd quarter. Please go through these notebooks with your child over the next 4 days to ensure they are completed in a quality way. Math Notebooks: I will be checking the second quarter section starting at page 50. I will be checking for completion, not necessarily that it is all correct! Science/Social Studies: I will be checking pages 51-64. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! • Dates to know… • 1/14: Notebook Collection • 1/20 : No School, MLK Day • 1/21: No School, Teacher Workday • 1/22: End of Second Quarter • 2/5 Report Cards go home Important Information and Reminders Dreambox Math We have started using Dreambox in the classroom this week. By the end of the week all students will have had the chance to get on during math workshop. Please ensure your child is spending between 45 minutes and an hour on Dreambox at home each week! It will only be a successful tool if it used both IN school and at Home! https://play.dreambox.com/login/dspq/irwinac • Wish List • Oh no! We are completely out of TISSUES!!!! • Sticky Notes • Black Expo Markers • Paper Towels Donor’s Choose Grant Thanks to all of your support and a great donation from my Dad who most of you got to meet, our project has been fully funded!!!! Hooray! Lots of Non Fiction books are coming our way!!! 