Week of 1-11-10

Hi families!

It was a great 3 days back from Christmas break even though it is WAY TOO COLD! Next week it should hopefully be in the 30's and 40's! Never would I have thought that I would celebrate 30 degree weather!

Here is the agenda for this week:

Reading - skill focus - sequencing We will continue reading our realistic fiction books, writing about the main idea of each chapter as we go.

Math - large number multiplication The first 2 days were pretty tough for many of the kids, but I taught a trick method on Friday that seemed to really catch their attention! Most did awesome with it! We will do one more day of the "lattice method" and then the kids can choose which method they want to use -traditional or lattice. There is usually more than one way to get to the right answer! Be sure to look at your child's papers to see if he/she is understanding the multiplication and give him/her some one on one time if he/she isn't seeming to grasp the concept yet. Sometimes a one on one session is all the kids need! In the classroom it's one on 23!! If your child still doesn't know his/her multiplication facts, please continue to work DAILY with him/her.

Spelling - /er/ sounding words I will post the list on Monday. There will be no enriched spelling this week because of a class and school spelling bee. The children that were interested in the spelling bee should have taken home a study list before Christmas break. We will have a class spelling bee on Wednesday of this week. The class winners will compete in a school bee on Friday.

English - possessives We will also scan our realistic fiction books for simple subjects.

Social Studies - This week the children will work with a partner on researching an important historical person, event, or place in the SE region. They will do 2 assignments on their topic in class and then present the information they found to the rest of the class. We will then decide on the most important piece of info about each topic and take notes. There will be a test over these notes next week. We will also put this important information in chronological order so they understand that Pocahontas did not live at the same time as Martin Luther King Jr. :) I will also send home a study guide for the location test and the capital test of the SE. The test will be next week.

Science - space We will look at the planets, the sun, and the seasons.

Spanish does not start back again until January 20th.

That's it for now. Check back again for updated info!