Weekly Updates SY 2024-2025

It has been a fabulous first week. I am so excited for this school year! We are going to have so much fun learning and growing this year!

What did we do this week?

This week we got right back into the swing of things! Throughout the week we worked on different procedures and routines such as classroom agreements, hallway expectations, carpet time, how to respect materials and we reviewed the Decatur Values: Be Present, Take Care of Each Other, and Endure Challenges. 

This week in Math: students practiced using different math manipulatives such as base-ten blocks, counters, cubes, and shapes.

This week in Reading: students completed activities based on read alouds, our read alouds included: Our Class is a Family, Meisha Makes a Friend, and When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left.

This week in Writing: Students created a book about their first week in school!

This week in Science: Students learned about Aquatic animals.

This week in Social Studies: Students created school promises.

Things to Note

Students received a blue “Take Home” folder where assignments, work, or other important information will be sent home. Please send this folder back with your child each day to establish the routine.

Friendly Reminders!

Snack:

Students can bring a healthy snack from home to eat during a designated time in the morning.  This healthy snack should be something that they can eat while doing work to help keep energy up during learning.  Please do not send students with candy or food that requires utensils.  

**Due to allergies in the classroom and school, snacks MUST be nut-free

Attendance: 

If your child is absent, please email me, your homeroom teacher and our clerk Ms. Beard and 

complete the absence form on the website found HERE. 

Change of Clothes:

Your child is bringing a ziploc bag home in their backpack today. Please send a change of clothes (underwear, pants, shirt, socks, etc.) in the bag. We will be keeping these in the classroom in case of any spills/accidents. 

Entry & Dismissal Procedures:  

Please complete this DISMISSAL FORM for your child’s regular dismissal schedule.

Morning Entry: 

• School entry will begin at 7:30 a.m. 

• All Students Door 4 | The Link Entrance

Afternoon Dismissal

• Dismissal is at 2:45 p.m

• K-2nd Grade | Door 4 (Link Entrance)

• K - 2nd Grade Siblings  | Door 1 (Main Entrance)

• Please park legally in the neighborhood for pick-up, parking lot is for staff only. 

Breakfast and Lunch

• Students should bring a water bottle to refill throughout the day. Please make sure it is LABELED with your child’s FIRST and LAST name. 

• Breakfast is free and will be served until 7:55 a.m. daily in the classroom

• Lunch will be served in the cafeteria

• Students can have free school lunch and/or bring lunch from home

• If your child is eating lunch provided by the school, it will be helpful to review the lunch menu with them. They get to choose a main dish, a vegetable and a fruit when they enter the lunch line. The school also has sunbutter and jelly sandwiches if they do not like the main options for the day. 

Remember to mark your calendars for these Important Dates!

September 2nd - No School - Labor Day

September 7th - Family Back to School Picnic 10am - 12pm

September 11th - LSC Meeting

September 12th - Curriculum Night 5-7pm

September 24th - Fall Picture Day

I hope you all enjoy the longer weekend and look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Tuesday September 3rd! 

Have a great long weekend!

This week in Math: Students solved number puzzles by looking at patterns. Used connecting blocks to create equations up to 10. Our students helped the Desmos centipede cross some broken bridges by finding the missing numbers in equations adding up to ten. 

Our class also completed iReady Testing for Math.

This week in Reading: Students learned how to handle books carefully. Our students also explored Foundations decodables and searched for words that have double letters. We also discussed what it meant to do our best work!

This week in Writing: We wrote a list of important people in our lives. Our students then took one person from the list and wrote 2-3 memories they have with that person. We continued to practice writing neatly and building writing stamina.

This week in science: We explored Tortoise parts! Students created diagrams of turtles and labeled each structure. Our students read Tortoise parts with partners and shared their favorite structures. They became scientists and observed what our jaws do when chewing food, and how our bodies move when breathing in and out. 

Weekly Update Week 4:

This week in Math: 

• Students learned about adding and subtracting within 20. 
• Students completed a Sub Unit Quiz this week about the lessons we have learned so far in unit 1. 
• Our students used cubes to find out “what number is behind my back?”

This week in Reading:

• Students read through an interview with a lego brick. Students rotated between being the interviewer and the lego brick.
• Students learned how to choose a “just right” book
• Students shared ways to keep our classroom cubbies organized with books

This week students completed iReady for reading!

This week in Writing:

• Students practiced proper capitalization, spacing and punctuation. They did this by writing a riddle to have other students try and solve the riddle.

This week in Science:

• Students explored a few ways that living things do to survive. 
• The students played the Survival Game again but this time some of the living things did not survive because they were eaten.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students identified how everyone contributes to communities.
• Students explained how roles work in the schools. 

Weekly Update Week 5:

This week in Math: 

• Students analyzed, interpreted, and investigated pictographs, bar graphs, and tally graphs.
• Students created graphs from data collection sheets.

This week in Reading:

• Students learned good times to abandon books
• Students worked on picking just right books
• Students shared their thoughts about their books

This week in Writing:

• We began creating our collages. Students did a gallery walk, and talked about their photos.

This week in Science:

• We wrote letters to the Shedd Aquarium asking questions about their sea turtles, and sharing some facts with them that we learned here at Decatur!
• Students discussed what animals need to do in order to survive.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students talked about rules and laws.
• We listed some rules we have at home, and some laws we have to follow in the city.

Weekly Update Week 6:

This week in Math:

• Students collected data and created graphs to match the data
• Students completed a Sub-Unit Quiz about graphs.

This week in Reading:

• Students learned about nonfiction books
• Students read nonfiction books and identified the topic and facts in their books.
• Students partner read nonfiction books

This week in Writing:

• Students wrote and glued captions to match their photos from home
• Students partner-shared their photos and captions with each other.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about voting.
• Students voted on who should run for president. Mr. Roper won!

This week in Science:

• Students learned about how living things eat other living things. Students investigated how animals use their structures to eat their food.

This week students participated in our first cultural corner! Ms. Liberman shared about Rosh Hashanah. We are excited to invite parents to come into the classroom this year to share their culture and traditions!

Weekly Update Week 7:

This week in Math:

• Students completed the Unit assessment
• Students worked on creating tape diagrams to compare numbers
• Students used tape diagrams to find missing factors.

This week in Reading:

• Students learned about nonfiction books
• Students read nonfiction books and identified the topic and facts in their books.
• Students partner read nonfiction books and identified three different types of nonfiction books.

This week in Writing:

• Students wrote Beginning, Middles, and Ends for their picture choice.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about rights and responsibilities for kids in the past and present.
• Lesson 5 assessment

This week in Science:

• Students learned about spikes, spines and shells
• Students used clay to model defense mechanism 
• Students had to defend their clay against predators.

Weekly Update Week 8:

This week in Math:

• Students started a new math unit on Money!
• Students completed a pre-check for the unit

This week in Reading:

• Students continued to explore nonfiction books
• Students looked for juicy words in a reading based on the history of EMOJIS
• Students learned about the different vowel sounds both short and long.
• Students partner read

This week in Writing:

• Students learned about adding details to their writing by using flaps and carets.
• Students are writing a story based on one of their pictures they brought in for their collages.

This week in Science:

• Students learned about how Shells, Spines and Spikes are used and defenses.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about maps and map features
• Students created maps of the school.

This week in Math:

• Students analyzed and counted money
• Students identifies pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
• Students' problem solved to figure out how much money was needed to buy items.
• Students attempted to make a dollar in two or more ways. 

This week in Reading:

• Students explored procedural books. 
• Weekly Reads
• How to Cross
• How to Make a Drum
• A Fiesta Pinata
• Students looked for juicy words during buddy reading
• Students learned about long vowel sounds
• Students Created Flip books on a specific procedure. Ex: How to Make a PB&J

This week in Writing:

• Students created stories using their drafts,carets and flaps.
• Students worked to add details, and create beginning, middles, and ends.

This week in Science:

• Students began exploring how camouflage helps animals survive in the wild. 
• Students modeled spikes with play-doh, and drew/labeled their animals in the wild using their defense. 

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about maps and map features
• Students created maps of the school.

This week in SEL

• Students wrote to staff members asking about their jobs. What they enjoy, what is difficult, and asking get to know you questions. 
• Talking Circle this week was about Safe Bodies.

This week in Math:

• Students used connecting cubes to solve subtraction problems.
• Students solved double digit subtraction problems.

This week in Reading:

• Students read fiction Bonk books.
• Students identified settings and characters in fiction books.
• Students learned about /oo/ sounds in words.

This week in Writing:

• Students completed their books written about a picture from their collage.
• Students illustrated their books.

This week in Science:

• Students learned about different types of defense spikes, camouflage, and shells.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about how weather affects the way we live.

This week in SEL

• Students had a talking circle about friendship.

Weekly Update Week 10: 

This week in Math:

• Students used connecting cubes to solve subtraction problems.
• Students solved double digit subtraction problems.

This week in Reading:

• Students read fiction Bonk books.
• Students identified settings and characters in fiction books.
• Students learned about /oo/ sounds in words.

This week in Writing:

• Students completed their books written about a picture from their collage.
• Students illustrated their books.

This week in Science:

• Students learned about different types of defense spikes, camouflage, and shells.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about how weather affects the way we live.

This week in SEL

• Students had a talking circle about friendship.

Weekly Update Week 11:Kevin

Thank you everyone who attended conferences! It was great to connect with you about your child! Our field trip was a success. Thank you our chaperones for coming with us to the Museum of Science and Industry! We could not have done it without you. We explored the Blue Paradox, weather, extreme ice, and the space exhibit!

This week in Math:

• Students reviewed Sub unit 2.2 
• Addition and subtraction within 100, and money topics
• Students were assessed on the Sub unit 2.2

This week in Reading:

• Students analyzed comics for speech bubbles, thought bubbles, panels, and onomatopoeias!

This week in Writing:

• Analyzing and added details in stories.

This week in Science: 

• Students were assessed on camouflage.

This week in Social Studies:

- Students explored globes and what they can help us locate

- Students compared differences between maps and globes

This week in SEL

- Students participated in a talking circle about Field Trip etiquette. How we maneuver around the museum and sticking with our groups. 

Completed OSP Training.

Weekly Update Week 12:

This week in Math:

• Word problem palooza
• Students analyzed word problems involving addition and subtraction
• Students analyzed word problems to find the unknown factor. 
• Students created tape diagrams, and number bonds to assist in finding the unknown.
• Students used more, great than, fewer and less than to figure out procedures to solve word problems.

This week in Reading:

• Students Read the story of the Three Little Pigs, Mango, Abuela and Me and analyzed problems and solutions.
• Students Read The Three Little Pigs and Home At Last and analyzed for setting importance and how it adds a layer to our stories.

This week in Writing:

• Analyzing fractured fairy tales, and comparing them to original stories.
• Students had to write similarities and differences between the The nThree Little Pigs, The Three Pigs, and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.

This week in Science: 

• Students began learning about offspring and parent traits. 
• Students observed parent, offspring, and grow offspring cards to compare defense mechanisms and how the offspring look like the parents.

This week in Social Studies:

- Students community connections

- Our town is in a city, inside a state, inside a country, inside a continent on the Earth.

- Students drew their neighborhood and identified items inside/around the neighborhood.

This week in SEL

- Students participated in a talking circle about empathy.

- Students Wrote about being as small as a mouse, and as tall as a giraffe.

Weekly Update Week 13:

This week in Math:

• Students developed questions about stories with 3 known values
• Students solved two step story problems
• Students solved two step story problems, and compared.

This week in Reading:

• Students noticed character changes and inferred reasons from events of the plot.
• Students focused on character traits of characters both outside (looks) and inside traits.

This week in Writing

• Students practiced Handwriting

This week in Social Science:

• Students discovered how the United States was founded.
• Students answered the lesson question: “How did the United States get started?”

This week in Science:

• Students learned more about living things and their offspring.
• Students read the scene book: Parents and Offspring

This week in SEL:

• Students learned more about their SEL partners.
• Students had a talking circle about how to take care of each other.
•  

We hope all families had a happy and safe Fall break!

Weekly Update Week 14:

This week in Math:

• Students solved two step word problems
• Students analyzed word problems to find the unknown factor(s)
• Students used words like fewer and more to decide which procedures to use.
• Students completed the end of two Unit Assessment.

This week in Reading:

• We began our book study of Nate The Great!
• Students focused on character traits of characters both outside (looks) and inside traits.
• Students found vocabulary words to enhance their knowledge of the story.
• Students identified characters involved in the mystery
• Students completed an Author Study of Marjorie Weinman Sharmat.

This week in Writing

• Students practiced handwriting focusing on letters M-Z
• Students compared Fractured Fairy tales to their real stories
• This weeks comparison was with Cinderella, Prince CInder, and Cinder-Elly

This week in Social Science:

• Students learned about the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Amendments
• Students answered the lesson question: “How does the U.S. Constitution unite us?” 

This week in Science:

• Students learned about offspring and parent defense
• Students read the book: Parents and Offspring
• Students compared parents and offspring by looking at the features of the adult and offspring.

This week in SEL:

• Students Read the story Ten Little Fish
• Students recreated the stories with a partner.
• Our main focus was sharing responsibility and being responsible. 
• We discussed responsibilities at home and at school.
• Our talking circle asked students how it felt to be away from school, and how it felt to come back. 

It was a great first week back from break!

Weekly Update Week 15:

This week in Math:

• Students began working with measurement
• Students used centimeter blocks to measure items and compare sizes.

This week in Reading:

• We continued our book study of Nate The Great!
• Students focused on finding Juicy words that add detail to the story.
• Students analyzed cause and effect relationships.
• Students revisited the setting and its importance to the mystery.
• Students explained how Nate The Great is realistic fiction. 

This week in Writing

• Students practiced handwriting focusing on letters using trick words.
• Students began to create their own fractured fairy tales.
• The fractured fairy tales are Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Cinderella or The Three Little Pigs.

This week in Social Science:

• Students learned symbols
• Students created a symbol that represents the class.
• Students analyzed symbols of the U.S., Illinois and Chicago

This week in Science:

• Students learned about offspring and parent defense
• Students read the book: Parents and Offspring
• Students compared parents and offspring by looking at the features of the adult and offspring.

This week in SEL:

• Students Recreated the story Ten Little Fish
• Our main focus was sharing responsibility and being responsible with a partner. 
• We met with our buddies this week! We created snowflakes and talked about what makes us unique.
• Our talking circle this week was about communication and how we should be trying to speak to each other as classmates.

Weekly Update Week 16:

This week in Math:

• Students used measurement to solve word problems.
• Students took a sub-unit quiz on measurement.

This week in Reading:

• Students finished reading our novel: Nate the Great and the Missing Key
• Students completed a final project about the novel.
• Students learned about the long vowel A sound in foundations, -ai, -ay, -a_e, and -a.

This week in Writing

• Students worked on writing their own fractured fairy tales.
• Students wrote the beginning, middle and end of their stories.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about Monuments in the United States.

This week in Science

• Students learned about creating models.

This week in SEL:

• Students had a talking circle about making choices. 

Thank you all so much for the holiday gifts! Have a safe and wonderful winter break! We look forward to seeing students back on January 6th!

Weekly Update Week 17:

This week in Math:

• Students used measurement to solve one and two step word problems.
• Students began creating and reading line plots.

This week in Reading:

• Students Read The Bird and The Zebra
• Students identified characters and explained their importance
• Students identified setting and explained the importance
• Students created a flow chart for series of events
• Students learned about the long vowel O sound in foundations, o_e, oa, and oe

This week in Writing

• Students worked on writing their own fractured fairy tales.
• We entered into our revising and editing stages of our stories. 

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about historical figures and important events in the United States.

This week in Science

• Students created defense models demonstrating their knowledge of animal defenses and how they help animals survive in the wild.

This week in SEL:

• Students had a talking circle about goal setting
• We discussed the importance of SMART goals
• We talked about break and all the fun activities that were had!

Weekly Update Week 18

This week in Math:

• Students continued to work on their line plots.
• Students assessed their understanding of Unit 3.
• Students began Unit 4: Subtracting and Adding on a number line.

This week in Reading:

• Students learned about the climax, or high point of a story.
• Students read the story The Snow Day.

This week in Writing:

• Students are working on their final draft of their fractured fairy tales.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students are working on discovering about the past. Students learned about how artifacts, interviews, timelines and photographs can tell about the past.

This week in Science:

• Students completed observations of the sky and different parts of the day.
• Students are learning about the sky at different times.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about feelings. Students acted out feelings, drew feeling faces and wrote about one feeling they had this week.

Weekly Update Week 19

This week in Math:

• Students continued to work on their line plots.
• Students assessed their understanding with the Sub Unit Quiz
• Students compared numbers using number lines and analyzed number lines to create addition and subtraction equations.

This week in Reading:

• Students began reading nonfiction.
• Students read the story A Dog Mayor, A Puppy Found A Treasure, and Snow Mail.
• Students completed comprehension worksheets for each story.
• For Fun Friday Students created posters for Dog Mayor Candidates. Minnie (Mr. Roper’s dog) and Boomer (Ms. Busch’s dog)

This week in Writing:

• Students are working on their final draft of their fractured fairy tales.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students are working on discovering about the past.
•  Students learned about how artifacts, interviews, timelines and photographs can tell about the past.

This week in Science:

• Students completed observations of the sky and different parts of the day.
• Students are learning about the sky at different times.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about feelings. 
• Students drew and wrote about times they felt specific emotions. 
• We discussed that it is okay to have big, medium, and small emotions. 
• We walked through different techniques to help handle feelings.

Weekly Update Week 20

This week in Math:

• Students continued their learning on number lines
• Students learned how to jump along the number line

This week in Reading:

• Students learned about nonfiction text features while reading the nonfiction text The History of Rubik's Cubes.
• Students learned in foundations about the /ue/ and /oo/ sounds.
• Students completed a crossword puzzle about the readThe History of Rubik's Cubes.
• Students learned about finding important facts in nonfiction texts.

This week in Writing:

• Students worked on finishing their fractured fairy tales.
• Students completed grammar pages.

This week in Science:

• Students are learning about observations in the daytime and nighttime.
• Students read the resource book Patterns of Earth and Space

This week in Social Studies:

• Students are learning about the community and how the community has changed over time.

This week in SEL:

• Students checked in with SEL partners to share their feelings about the upcoming show.
• Students had a talking circle about the show.

All first graders did such an amazing job! Thank you so much for your support!

Weekly Update Week 21

This week in Math:

• Students finished their Math units of Number Lines.
• Students completed an assessment which included; ways to add and subtract on a numberline, identifying points on a numberline and answering story problems.

This week in Reading:

• Students buddy read non fiction books.
• Students identified the topic of a nonfiction text and shared why the topic is important.
• Students completed a bingo board assessment based on their non fiction reading.
• Students learned about the aw, au, and augh sound /aw/ in foundations.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about 2 important figures for Black History month: Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges.

This week in science:

• Students used a sky cam to observe different places on earth. 
• Students recorded where on earth it was daytime and nighttime.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about managing different feelings.

On Friday students created a craft and learned about Lunar New Years. Thank you to the volunteers who came out to create an amazing experience!

Weekly Update week 22

This week in Math:

• Students started a new unit. Students are counting numbers up to 1,000.
• Students have been using base-ten blocks to skip count.

This week in Reading:

• Students read the non fiction book What built this? Before reading students created a list of things they already knew about Animal Homes. After they read they created a list of things they learned about Animal Homes.
• In foundations students learned about the spelling ir, ur, er which says the sound /er/.

This week in Writing:

• Students compared and contrasted different sports then wrote sentences to match.

This week in Science:

• Students learned about the sides of the globe it is daytime and nighttime.
• Students placed daytime and nighttime stickers on globes to learn that it is daytime on one side of the earth and nighttime on the other.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about Louis Armstrong, Beyonce, Jackie Robinson and Serena Williams.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about “warm fuzzies” and “cold pricklies”. A warm fuzzy is when someone does or says something that makes you feel good. A cold prickly is when someone does or says something that makes you feel sad.

Students also had buddies thi week. They made friendship bracelets with their 6th grade buddies! Enjoy the long weekend, no school on Monday for presidents day.

Weekly Update Week 23

This week in Math:

• Students learned about different ways to write numbers: Standard form, base ten diagrams, written form, and expanded form.

This week in Reading:

• Students read a nonfiction book about Simone Biles.
• Students found nonfiction text features, identified juicy vocabulary words, and answered questions about the text.

This week in Writing:

• Students cut and pasted headings and facts that match the headings of the story.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about Barack Obama as a part of Black History Month.

This week in Science:

• Students learned about different places on earth and when it is nighttime or daytime. Students turned globes to “face the sun or stars” so that they could represent daytime and nighttime in different places.

This week in SEL:

• Mr. Murray visited our class to spread awareness about Random Acts of Kindness Month.
• Students had a talking circle about joking vs. teasing.

Weekly Update Week 25

This week in Math:

• Students learned attributes of two d shapes. 
• Students explored shapes and categorized them by attributes.

This week in Reading:

• Students read a nonfiction story Mystery in the Sky.
• Students used context clues to write vocabulary words and definitions. They drew pictures to match the word.
• Students analyzed causes and effects in the story Mystery in the Sky.
• Students worked on restating the question while answering questions. 

This week in Writing:

• Students used National Geographic books to analyze subheadings.
• Students picked out 3 key features from each section

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about Ruth Bador Ginsburg and Jane Goodall.
• This Month we will be learning about Women in History as it is Women’s History Month. 

This week in Science:

• Students explained why Sai sees daytime but then sometimes it starts to change to nighttime.
• Students went outside to observe the Sun and the horizon in the sky.

This week in SEL:

• Students completed a talking circle discussing problems in the classroom.
• Students worked with feelings cards and identified caring words and actions.

Weekly Update Week 26

This week in Math:

• Students learned attributes of three dimensional shapes. 
• Students explored shapes and counted faces, edges and vertices
• Students measured 3D edges.
• Students learned about parts of a shape; fourths, thirds, and halves.

This week in Reading:

• Students read a nonfiction book called Brazil.
• Students partner read the book Brazil.
• Students completed a nonfiction text feature hunt in the book Brazil.

This week in Writing:

• Students used National Geographic books to write facts about specific animals.
• Students planned a trifold.
• Students edited their facts to add stronger details.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about Eleanor Roosevelt and Helen Keller.
• This Month we will be learning about Women in History as it is Women’s History Month. 

This week in Science:

• Students went outside and observed the sun and horizon in the morning and afternoon to track the sun's movement at different times of the day.

This week in SEL:

• Students completed a talking circle discussing what it means to take care of each other in the classroom.
• Students acted out a scenario on being caring and kind to a friend at lunch. 

Weekly Update Week 27

This week in Math:

• Students learned about fractions and creating wholes
• Students began learning about time. 
• Students learned the terms quarter past, half past, quarter til. 
• Students learned to count within 5 minute increments.

This week in Reading:

• Students read a nonfiction book called I’m Allergic to Peanuts.
• Students read a nonfiction article called Peanuts For Babies. 
• Students learned about the same topic and used venn diagrams to compare and contrast.

This week in Writing:

• Students used National Geographic books to create informational posters.
• Students created trifolds with 2-3 facts about a specific animal.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about Oprah Winfrey and Marie Curie
• This Month we will be learning about Women in History as it is Women’s History Month. 

This week in Science:

• Students read the story What Spins.
• Students created the DECATUR NEWS and discussed 

This week in SEL:

• Students created “Five Little People” and discussed what it means to be fair.
• Students discussed ways to help create fair spaces.
• Students wrote letters to women who have been impactful in their lives. 

Weekly Update Week 28

This week in Math:

• Students learned about A.M. and P.M. 
• Students reviewed information for Unit 6
• Students completed Unit 6 assessment. 

This week in Reading:

• Students read a nonfiction article called “The Rainforest.”
• Students wrote out two facts about the rainforest.
• Students focused on cause and effect.
• Students began their book study with an author focus. We read about Mary Pope Osborne who is the author of the Magic Treehouse series. 

This week in Writing:

• Students worked on creating longer sentences focusing on questions words. 

This week Science and Social Studies have transitioned into Health:

• We completed lessons 1-3
• Lesson 1 students created classroom expectations that help us create a happy and healthy classroom community.
• Lesson 2 students interviewed family members and we discussed healthy and unhealthy ways to have conversations with friends. We also discussed what makes a good friend and created a friendship cake!
• Lesson 3 students created graphs of who they can talk to about family change. Students identified how families can change. As a class we discussed family changes and family dynamics. 

This week in SEL:

• Students created comic strips showing us what they did through the break
• Students created goals for quarter 4
• Students shared their goals and created posters for each other of other students achieving their goals!

Weekly Update Week 29

This week in Math:

• Students started the new unit: Addition and Subtraction within 1,000.
• Students collaborated with one another to create and solve addition and subtraction problems.

This week in Reading:

• Students started to  read The Magic Tree House: Afternoon on the Amazon. 
• Students read the Prologue, Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.
• Students identified vocabulary words, setting, and figurative language in the chapters.
• Students completed Word Sorts with sounds such as /aw/ and /oe/.

This week in Writing:

• Students started learning about persuasive writing.
• Students identified why the book “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” is a persuasive book.

This week Science transitioned into Health:

• We completed lessons 4-6
• Lesson 4:The Circle Of Life and family changes
• Lesson 5: My Body is MY Body, safe and unsafe touches, setting boundaries
• Lesson 6: Pink, Blue and Purple discussing gender and stereotypes

This week in Social Studies:

• Students learned about the customs of many cultures.
• Students explored ways that families share their customs.
• Students described ways people in the community celebrate customs.

This week in SEL:

• Students shared stories of times they felt were unfair.
• Students participated in a talking circle

Weekly Update Week 30

This week in Math:

• Students used explored comping tens and hundreds.
• Students used base ten blocks to add three digit numbers to three digit numbers
• Students used place value to add three digit numbers to other three digit numbers.

This week in Reading:

• Students began chapter 3 of Afternoon on the Amazon
• Students did vocabulary games to help build understanding
• Students interpreted infographics to create mini posters.
• Students sequenced the first three chapters
• Students crafted on Thursday ways to be problem solvers reading the story “Stuck” 

This week in Writing:

• Students continued work on persuasive writing.
• Students  read the story I Wanna Iguana
• Students created claims and supported them using reasons from the story.

This week Science 

• We began our new unit Light and Sound
• Students experimented and explored areas that are lighter and darker.
• Students observed light sources and how they can change an area.

This week in Social Studies:

• Students explored different traditions
• Students discussed what unites a community.

This week in SEL:

• Students discussed fair and unfair 
• We did a buddy activity with middle school students creating buddy books.

Weekly Update Week 31

This week in Math:

• Students are decomposing a ten when subtracting within 1,000
• Students are decomposing a hundred when subtracting within 1,000
• Students explored different ways to decompose when subtracting

This week in Reading:

• Students read Chapters 4-6 of Afternoon on the Amazon.
• Students analyzed the book to find problems and solutions.
• Students learned a new spelling for both sounds, the ew spelling for /oo/ and /ue/.

This week in Writing:

• Students continued the unit on persuasive writing.
• Students read the book Duck Rabbit.
• Students wrote strong claims about a Rabbit or Duck.
• Students wrote evidence as to why it is a rabbit or a duck.

This week in Science:

• Students are learning about Light and Sound: Light makes things look bright and you need some light to see.
• Students read the book Can you see in the Dark

This week in Social Studies:

• Students started Unit 5: The Work We Do
• Students learned about many types of jobs and consider the various skills needed for each.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about social awareness. Students identified social cues, social norms and expectations in the classroom setting.
• Students acted out scenarios related to social awareness.

Weekly Update Week 32

This week in Math:

• Students are practicing choosing different strategies to solve subtraction and addition problems.
• Students are practicing making estimates and assessing answers.

This week in Reading:

• Students are reading Chapters 7-9 in the Magic Tree House: Afternoon on the Amazon.
• Students analyzed cause and effect, vocabulary words and character’s feelings.
• Students learned new letter sounds New Letter sounds -ul, -al, -il, -el, and -le

This week in Writing:

• Students continued the unit on persuasive writing.
• Students used an Edit and Revise checklist to edit their writing.
• Students are writing their final draft for persuasive writing.

This week in Science:

• Students communicated their discoveries of light sources.
• Students completed engineering notes about light sources.

This week in Social Science:

• Students learned about how work has changed from the past.
• Students compared jobs from the past and present.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about spatial awareness
• Students acted out scenarios where they would need to be spatially away.
• Students created posters of how to be spatially aware.

Weekly Update Week 33

This week in Math:

• Students completed an assessment of Unit 7.
• Students started the last unit of Math: Equal Groups.
• Students created equal groups with counters and wrote different patterns of equal groups.

This week in Reading:

• Students finished reading our novel: The Magic Tree House Afternoon on the Amazon.
• Students created an Amazon Rainforest craft.
• Students took a foundation assessment.

This week in Writing:

• Students Wrote claims for books they think the library should have more of.
• Students supplied reasons and examples that supported their claims. 

This week in Science:

• Students explored with light and created ways to make a space brighter/darker.
• Students completed engineering notes about light sources.

This week in Social Science:

• Students learned about goods and services.
• Students identified what people do in specific jobs. 

This week in SEL:

• Students created a feelings book addressing feelings of being overwhelmed, angry, sad and nervous.
• Students identified ways to handle each emotion, and what would happen if they do not take care of the emotion. 
• Students completed a talking circle about respect for themselves, classmates, staff and others.

Weekly Update Week 34

This week in Math:

• Students differentiated odd and even numbers.
• Students identified that even numbers create equal groups  and odd numbers create equal groups with one left over.

This week in Reading:

• Students started their unit on Trickster tales. Students created a definition for a trickster tale.
• Students read the book The Turtle and the Monkey and identified the smaller/weaker character and the bigger/stronger character.
• Students read the trickster tale Leopard, Ram and Jackal.

This week in Science:

• Students investigated shadows. Students looked for shadows in the classroom.
• Students sorted shadow cards into categories.

This week in Social Science:

• Students learned about trading goods and services.
• Students learned about different types of money used around the world.

This week in SEL:

• Students learned about peer relationships.
• Students learned about conflict resolution, compromise and using kind words with others.

Weekly Update Week 35

This week in Math:

• Students are describing, and finding total amounts of objects in arrays
• Students are reasoning about equations that represent arrays
• Students are making rectangular arrays with equal-sized squares

This week in Reading:

• Students are identifying the main character that uses tricks or cleverness to get what he wants in a trickster tale.
• Students identify the main character who outsmarts the other characters.

This week in Science:

• Students are creating ways to make shadows with different materials.
• Students are determining if different materials create dark areas on a surface.

This week in Social Science:

• Students are focused on the essential question: “Why do people trade?”
• Students will finish their Unit 5 mini book.

This week in SEL:

• Students are creating books for incoming first graders. Students will write tips, advice and things to expect about first grade.

Weekly Update Week 37

This week in Math:

• Students participated in Math Centers. Math centers consisted of activities that review the math from the entire year.

This week in Reading:

• Students read the story The Turtle’s Race with Bear.
• Students made predictions about the story and wrote connections from the story to real life.
• Students identified character traits in the story.
• Students created a story map.

This week in Science:

• Students had science conversations about light and sound engineers.
• Students are testing different types of materials to create shadows.

This week in Social Science:

• Students explored the unit reviews and explorations for Unit 3 and Unit 4.

This week in Writing:

• Students wrote persuasive writing pieces to convince readers which is better: Playing video games or playing outside?

This week in SEL:

• Students are discussing plans for summer and reviewing the school year.