So long 2011

We have had a great week.

Room 16 before our Meeting of the Eagles

In Math...
We reviewed previously taught concepts for Unit 4, and completed our Unit 4 test yesterday. Today we will be making gingerbread gliphs! Look for them in your child's take-home folder. We will be starting Unit 5 on Geometric Shapes when we return from vacation.

In Reading...
It was a review week, so after reviewing previously taught concepts from the past 5 weeks, we took our Reading Unit 2 test.

In Grammar...
We made Synonym Snowflakes!! They look great and are currently falling from the ceiling of Room 16. Be sure to look for them next time you visit!

In Social Studies...
We wrapped up our unit on basic map concepts(parts of a map). We will begin to learn about continents and oceans when we return from vacation.

In Writing...
Our Personal Narrative book is officially published and sitting in our Writing Center in our classroom! I have a feeling it is going to be the most popular book in the library when I announce it to the students today. We also wrote New Year's resolutions. They were awesome! I was really surprised at your children's ability to generate an idea of something that they truly and genuinely wanted to improve on in the New Year.

Lastly...
Thank you to Mrs. Beck, Mrs. Sward, Mrs. Krattenmaker, Mrs. Weatherhead, Mrs. Davies, Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Hutchins, and Mrs. Dion for coming in and helping during our Winter Celebration yesterday! And, thank you to Mrs. Weatherhead for the yummy treats. The students of Room 16 are so fortunate to have such awesome parents! :o)

Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year!! See you in 2012. :o)

Last Week of 2011

I cannot believe we only have four school days before the New Year! This week will fly by and we have lots to accomplish.

This is a review week for our Reading unit, so all of our spelling words are words that follow a spelling rule we've been tested on over the course of the past 5 weeks. We will also be reviewing grammatical skills such as: contractions, possessive nouns, plural nouns, and proper nouns. Applying commas to a list or series is another skill we will be reviewing.

We will also be taking our Unit 4 Math exam this week. Your children  have been doing a great job with partial sums, both on their homework and in their in class assignments. We have learned fun games such as "Addition Spin" which help to reinforce the concept of partial sums. Be sure to ask your child how to play!

Project Just Because
If you would like to donate any warm clothes for children, please send them in by Thursday, December 22nd. I appreciate any donation you can give!

Below you will find recent pictures of your fantastic children. From singing "Happy Birthday" (opera style, of course!),  to playing games with partners,to practicing for plays, we are always having fun in  Room 16!

Pictures, pictures, pictures!

I've been having some difficulty with my camera, but tonight I was finally able to upload pictures from Thanksgiving! (Better later than never, right?) Below you will find pictures of our awesomely disguished turkeys, as well as a few pictures of the students after their "Tony Chestnut" performance at Meeting of the Eagles.

Partial Sums

We began partial sums this week. I sent home sheet explaining this method on Curriculum Night, but your children should also be coming home with examples of the "Partial Sums" addition method today to show you what we've been doing in class. It is very different from how we learned addition, but the students do benefit from solving multiple digit addition problems using this strategy.

Below is a Everyday Math video on how to solve addition problems using partial sums. The only difference is that in the video, they added the hundreds first, then the tens, then the ones. We do partial sums by adding the ones, then the tens, then the hundreds, and then adding the numbers all together.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. Happy adding! :o)
Partial Sums Addition

December News

We have been SO busy here in Room 16!

In Reading, we have been working on making inferences. An inference is when we use clues from the author, as well as what we know from our own experience, to figure out something that is not explicitly stated in the text. We have been using pictures, as well as quotes and actions from/of characters to practice making our inferences. So far, we are doing a GREAT job!

In Grammar, we have been practicing applying proper nouns, plural nouns, and now possessive nouns to our school work. It is hard for the students to distinguish when to make a noun plural, and when to make it possessive, but we will continue to work on and develop this skill.

In Math, we have been talking about ballpark estimates. A ball park estimate is when we are adding two numbers together, but instead of adding them together exactly, we round them both and then add them. We know that we might use ballpark estimates while shopping in a store. Our next step in math will be partial sums, which is the way the students are expected to add 2 and 3 digit numbers together. Stay tuned for more information on partial sums!

In Writing, we have wrapped up our unit on "personal narratives." We each selected our favorite story in our Writer's Notebook, or the story that is most important to us, and we worked on developing our writing into a final piece. Our stories will be publish in a book that we will keep in our classroom library. The students should be so proud of their hard work.

Lastly, in Social Studies we have been learning about Maps and Globes. Most recently, we learned about the compass rose and the four cardinal directions. We even learned a neat saying to help us remember the directions, be sure to ask your child about it! :o)