Unit 3 Week 5 Preview

This week we will analyze text structure in order to use our comprehension skill, compare and contrast. We will compare children from all parts of the world to find similarities and differences in their daily activities. Our vocabulary words are: culture, custom, language, similar, and skill. Our high frequency words will be: any, boy, by, does, friend, girl, and water. We will spell words which begin with 3 consonants. We will examine short-vowel verbs which require double consonants to be added with inflectional endings.

We will continue our work writing descriptive sentences first using a Tree Map to record sensory details. We will make our first Double Bubble Map and a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast two things.

Unit 2 Week 2 Preview

This week we will be discussing helping and cooperation in connection with our larger theme Family and Neighbors. We will discuss how we are able to contribute to tasks which need to be accomplished. We will read and listen to several versions of The Little Red Hen for comparison. We will focus on the order of events to retell (R 1.2.7). We will use our fourth thinking map (Flow Map) to write a retelling. We will then learn to write ordered instructions for completing a task.

Our focus in phonics will be the short-vowel 'e'. We will focus on high-frequency words: eat, no, of, some, and who. We will discuss and practice plural nouns with an emphasis on those which require '-es'. Our robust vocabulary words are: appreciate, cooperate, partner, responsibility, and scrumptious.

In social studies we will observe how the environment/weather of three different climates affects lifestyle. We will also examine the division of labor in and the process of raw material to final product.

In science we will work further with solid forms of matter.

Fifteenth Day

We are focusing on the definition of a sentence for grammar this week. We listened to the fairy tale The Princess and the Pea, while reviewing this week's robust vocabulary. We are focusing on plot as our comprehension strategy. Our skills for identifying the middle of the story are improving. We began work on our second thinking map, Bubble Map, in order to describe ourselves. This map will come in handy when writing our personal narratives. We also continued work on our Unit Project.

In math we related story problems to addition sentences. We will have a test on Topic 3 on Friday.

Your child's first reading log is due Friday.

Third Day

Today we reviewed short vowel 'a'. We began our first thinking map: Flow Map, used for sequencing. The use of the Flow Map will help us to organize our thoughts about a problem we've encountered in our lives.

In PE we reviewed/learned various forms of locomotion.

In math we continued with number sense for 9-12 expressing those numbers relative to a ten. I sent home a dice game for the children to play with another person.

Yesterday I sent home the children's first of 9 reading logs for the year. There is space to record at least 10 titles of additional reading each month. The log should be turned back in (signed by a parent/guardian) on the last day of the month. Three reading logs are required each reporting period in order to received a 3 on the progress report homework grade.

Congratulation's to the students of table 3 for meeting the behavioral standard for the first week of school.