Week of January 11

In Reading Workshop this week we started our fantasy unit. The class will be reading the book The Lightning Thief. Each student received a copy as part of their Christmas present from me. I have asked the students to not read ahead and to leave the book at school so that they can follow along as I read. We started by learning how to understand the setting of a fantasy text. We looked at the front and bak covers and read the blurb to give us clues as to what type of world our story takes place in. Fantasy stories typically are set in one of three types of worlds: a medieval world with dragons, princes and dwarves (like The Hobbit), a futuristic world with space ships, intergalactic travel and advanced technology (like Star Wars), or a normal world where magic seeps in to everyday lives (like Harry Potter). Throughout the unit we will continue to learn about the common traits found in all fantasies. This will help us to see familiar patterns and we will know what to expect. Fantasies often are complicated stories with intricate plot lines and characters, and if students can understand fantasies, in turn they will become better readers of all types of text.

In math we continued to work with multi-step word problems and we learned how to write complex equations, (17 x 3 + 16 x 2) ➗ 9 = v, that help us to solve the problems. We stepped through these problems bit by bit and discussed what question we needed to answer first, then next and last. We also studied bar graphs and pictographs and wrote algebraic equations to help us show comparisons, such as Tim walked 3 times as many miles as Evan. 3t = e . This was difficult for some when the number of miles was not given.

During Writing Workshop this week we began to use the Book Creator app on our iPads to create our Informational Text books. Students created a Table of Contents for their books and the we chose one chapter to write using a power paragraph format (topic sentence and supporting details). Students will be learning different ways to structure text to keep their readers interest. At the end of the unit students will share their books in iBooks so that the whole class can read each other’s stories. I will also send a file to parents!

This week in Science we reviewed for and took our Organisms test. These were sent home today!

In Social Studies We are kicking off with our  Black History Month study. Although Black History Month is in February we are getting a little jump start on it. We started by learning more about slavery and the underground railroad. Students will be creating a Black History Month Quilt to showcase their learning at the end of the unit.

Chocolate bars came home today with those students who are selling. Please try to sell the entire box. They bars are $2 each. $1 from each bar sold will be credited to their account for Chicago. If you wish to write a check, please make it out to Holmes Elementary. Thank you!

The MSTEP results from 3rd grade also came home today. Look for those in your child’s homework folder.

Important Dates:

Friday, January 15 – Chocolate Sales begin

Friday, January 22 -Holmes Carnival 5:00-8:00 PM

Friday, February 5 – Half Day

Monday – Tuesday, February 8-9 Mid Winter Break NO SCHOOL!

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