Finding Fiction, Paws, Personal Narratives, Multiplication and More

Our days sure have been filled with learning!

In Reading, we launched Reader's Workshop and searched our classroom library for "just right" books. We are working to build our fluency so that when we read, it sounds as though we are talking. We use post-its to track thinkmarks when we discover an unfamiliar word, have a question about the text, learn new information, recognize a character trait... The list goes on!

During Reader's Workshop we also practice our oral reading with weekly poems, read current event articles on our iPad minis, and enjoy word work practicing our spelling words. 

 

While our first unit focused on fiction, characters, setting, and plot, this week we launched our second unit with a focus on informational texts. 

 

Ask us about this week's read aloud--a literary nonfiction text. 

Students who continue to be role models and show expected behavior that is safe, respectful, and responsible have earned themselves valuable Paws which can be turned in for $100 BBQ bucks! Teachers and staff are always on the lookout for that Paws-itive behavior--both in and out of the classroom. 

In Writer's Workshop students chose a "seed" idea from a larger "watermelon" idea for their first personal narrative. These student accounts range from family vacations to the birth of siblings to adventures in a haunted house! Students focused on choosing an entertaining beginning to hook their reader. Following their detailed main event using dialogue, sound words, and varied sentence starters, writers closed with an extended ending reflecting on the story's main event.

This week, students met with their writing partners to peer edit their pieces before teacher conferences.

In math, we dove right into multiplication and division. We connected multiplication to repeated addition of equal groups. For example 4 x 6 = 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 = 24. We have learned our 2s, 5s, 9s, and 10s table. Below, Andrew is using his nines finger tricks. We worked with building arrays, and this week we explored the Distributive Property which taught us to break apart large arrays into two smaller arrays. 

 

 

Practice with problem solving has continued using Exemplar word problems. It is important that we show all of our thinking and use math terms in our explanation.