Hi,
We had a wonderful visit on Friday with our pen pals. We went to the science lab and examined a gourd in depth. We measured, described, drew, touched, and weighed the gourd using the triple beam balance. We also determined if the gourd would sink or float. Then we interviewed our pen pals about their childhoods and Halloween, played Halloween Bingo, played with playdough, and worked on some tricky Halloween crossword puzzles and word searches. We will be meeting with our pen pals again on December 6 and will have more holiday fun.
Dates to remember:
Monday, October 14-No school for students
Tuesday, October 15-Reading/Math logs due, homework packets due
Tuesday, October 15-Friday, October 18-Book Fair in the library 7:30-4:30-late hours on Friday
Friday, October 18-Movie Night, The Croods, at 7:30-bring canned food
Tuesday, October 22-Picture Day
Friday, October 25-Visit with author, Phil Bildner
Read about our week:
Reading-We finished our book club books! Each child is writing a letter to me telling me all about the book and its story elements as well as the favorite and least favorite parts. They are also creating story mountains to show the story elements. We also read non-fiction or expository text and are writing responses to them which include our connections, questions, predictions, thoughts and feelings about the topic. We will continue with more non-fiction this week.
Writing-We read the poem, Dreams, by Langston Hughes and discussed the metaphors and the deeper meaning that dreams, goals, and hopes for the future help make our lives meaningful and help direct us. Then the children wrote poems, stories, plays, essays, etc… that exemplified the theme, Dream, Believe, Inspire for the Reflections contest. We also used photos of special places to write descriptive paragraphs and help add specific details to our writing.
Math-Patterns and algebraic equations has been our focus this week. We are looking for repeating patterns in rows of shapes and determining a formula or algebraic equation to figure out the 10th, 20th, or 100th repeat in the pattern without drawing the pattern 100 times. It can be tricky but they are getting it! We are also using input/output charts and determining the rule. For example, if the CD cost $4 , how would you figure out the cost of 1,2,5,10, 25, etc… CD’s. Putting the data on an input/output chart helps us to see the patterns and figure out those higher numbers.
Science-We are working with matter and states of matter and also how increasing or decreasing heat changes the state of matter. We are working on writing an essay to explain the information about matter and this week will be working with solutions and mixtures.
Social Studies-The Native Tribes of Texas was our topic of discussion this week. We were in groups and researched a tribe and made a chart showing that information. We determined if the tribe was nomadic or non-nomadic, if they farmed or hunted, the region where they lived, and how that region affected their lives. We shared the charts and will learning more about Native Groups this week.
Thank you for your support and flexibility with the changes to conferences. I appreciate your understanding.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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