Thank you so much for coming out last Wednesday for our Chicago musical/portfolio night! The students have worked so hard this year and were eager to perform and to teach you all a bit more about Chicago’s history. I thought they all were very poised and had a fantastic night of performing and walking you through their portfolios! I’ve posted pictures of some behind the scenes photos and also the family pictures so please take a peek and enjoy!
In reading we began a boxcar children’s reading series called The Windy City Mystery. There are many things that the children are enjoying as we dive into this book. They loved “meeting” the main characters of this book/series. Can your child name those characters to you and tell you a little bit about each of the character traits that they’ve learned about the each character so far? We’ve also been using our text to find support to prove why they use certain words to describe those characters. The students are showing that they are fully capable of doing this. As you read nightly and practice reading fluency and interact with your child about what he/she is reading, this “finding proof” would be a great thing to continue practicing. Because this book is a mystery, we’ve been keeping a little journal and writing down all the clues that have been presented so far in the first 4 chapters. I can tell that the students are really getting into this as the clues unfold. Many of them have eagerly come up to ask me if their mystery solving clues are accurate. I’m so excited to see them so excited and involved. Another special thing about this book is that it takes place in our great city of Chicago. Students have been identifying with the landmarks that are mentioned in the book or are used in our book. Can your child tell you what the mystery is?
In math we continued working on polygons and have also been reviewing math concepts from this year such as solving multi-step word problems. Students were reminded to read carefully, identify key details by highlighting them, and to calculate accurately. Sometimes I’ve noticed that students have an idea of how to solve these multi-step problems in their head, but when asked to go back to double check on their own, they just make sure that an answer is written, instead of going back to make sure that their answer makes sense with what the question is asking. Next week we will have a math fact timed test. Thank you for your continual work on that at home.
We said goodbye to our friend, Kimika this week as their family returned to Japan. The students worked hard on making a book for her to remind her of just how much she has meant to our class so she can look back at her time at Half Day with fond memories. We miss you, Kimika!
Enjoy this beautiful sunny weekend!!
In reading we began a boxcar children’s reading series called The Windy City Mystery. There are many things that the children are enjoying as we dive into this book. They loved “meeting” the main characters of this book/series. Can your child name those characters to you and tell you a little bit about each of the character traits that they’ve learned about the each character so far? We’ve also been using our text to find support to prove why they use certain words to describe those characters. The students are showing that they are fully capable of doing this. As you read nightly and practice reading fluency and interact with your child about what he/she is reading, this “finding proof” would be a great thing to continue practicing. Because this book is a mystery, we’ve been keeping a little journal and writing down all the clues that have been presented so far in the first 4 chapters. I can tell that the students are really getting into this as the clues unfold. Many of them have eagerly come up to ask me if their mystery solving clues are accurate. I’m so excited to see them so excited and involved. Another special thing about this book is that it takes place in our great city of Chicago. Students have been identifying with the landmarks that are mentioned in the book or are used in our book. Can your child tell you what the mystery is?
In math we continued working on polygons and have also been reviewing math concepts from this year such as solving multi-step word problems. Students were reminded to read carefully, identify key details by highlighting them, and to calculate accurately. Sometimes I’ve noticed that students have an idea of how to solve these multi-step problems in their head, but when asked to go back to double check on their own, they just make sure that an answer is written, instead of going back to make sure that their answer makes sense with what the question is asking. Next week we will have a math fact timed test. Thank you for your continual work on that at home.
We said goodbye to our friend, Kimika this week as their family returned to Japan. The students worked hard on making a book for her to remind her of just how much she has meant to our class so she can look back at her time at Half Day with fond memories. We miss you, Kimika!
Enjoy this beautiful sunny weekend!!