Fabulous February

                                                                                              February 2, 2015

Dear Parents,

I can't believe I just changed the calendar pieces from January to February!!  How can we be done with the first calendar month of the year???

Math 
Students finished up with the measurement unit this week and we moved on to fractions.  On Tuesday students spent some time just exploring colored paper plates that had been cut into halves and quarters.  It was very interesting to watch and listen as students manipulated the pieces.

2/4 and 1/2

4 quarters make a whole

2 halves make a whole

Students also spent time partitioning squares into fourths.  The mathematicians of Room 5 discovered that a square can partitioned several ways.

Partitioning squares into quarters

How many ways can a square be divided into fourths?

Finally students folded strips of paper into halves, thirds, and fourths.  Students practiced writing fractions using numbers (1/2, 1/3, 1/4) and words (one half, one third, one fourth).  Through this exercise, students also compared halves, thirds, and fourths.

Mark your calendar,  Oasis Academy will be hosted a Math Night on February 26th from 6:00-8:00 pm.  More details to come!!!

Homework
Mon.--   IXL U.4 Which Shape Illustrates the Fraction?
Tues.--  Workbook pgs. 105-106
Wed.--   IXL U.7 Compare Fractions Using Models
Thurs.-- IXL U.9 Fraction Models Equivalent to Whole Numbers.


Writing
In writing students finished writing their narratives focused on the idea trait.  I got to conference with more students on their narratives.  It's exciting to see how students make revisions through the conference conversations.  I love seeing students add rich details to their ideas.  They are making their writing come alive!!

Students were also introduced to the trait of organization.  This will be our focus for the next week.  Bold beginnings, mighty middles, and excellent endings will be what students will be practicing.
Language
In language we reviewed and tested on adverbs.  Our work with adverbs and all the other parts of speech we have studied this year will continue as we go through and identify the parts of speech within sentences every week.

Projects
Changing matter has been the focus of our projects.  We have be exploring reversible and irreversible changes in matter.  We are looking at the changes that happen when matter in heated or cooled.  Students have been practicing using a lab report template on their Chrome Books.  This lab report will be what students will be using when they write up the report on the solid they choose to test.

Guess we don’t have to wait for the Groundhog to let us know if spring will be early (although my east coast family and friends would beg to differ).  It seems we are in the middle of experiencing an early spring.  Hopefully you will be able to enjoy some of these unseasonably warm temperatures this week.

Sincerely,

Anne Bloomfield

Here's the reading information from Mrs. Jackson...

Superbowl Sunday!  (or not so super for some of us)

Sorry that this blog is coming to you a bit later than usual.  I got carried away with the Super Bowl.

This week we will really delve into the various strategies that  enable us to find out the meanings of unknown words. (We can use picture cues, look for smaller familiar words within more complex words, continue reading for more information, reread a passage and/or use context clues.)  We will be finding some more complex words this week in a variety of different books related to Groundhog’s Day.  It is always so fun to pull out theme related books once a year.

We did discuss ways to find the meaning of unknown vocabulary words a bit last week in our Guided Reading groups, but we spent most of our time examining diagrams.  Last Thursday, we completed a small assessment on our diagram studies; this week on Thursday we will complete another small assessment on finding the meaning of unknown words. These weekly assessments are touching upon various standards that will be covered on this quarter’s progress reports.  

We will also be finishing our work with Prefixes and Suffixes each creating a “Prefix Pet” and studying the “ink” word family.  Our “Prefix Pets” should be posted outside our room later this week if you happen to be in the building.

I appreciate the flexibility of Mrs. Dodge and Mrs. Goings who are able to continue volunteering  even with our schedule change as well as the addition of our new volunteer, Mrs. Henning. Thank you!

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kristen Jackson