News You Can Use!

Literacy 

Treasures:

This week, the children worked with long o (oa, ow). The children read different fantasy stories. They worked with identifying fantasy (what is not real) and reality (what could happen in real life) elements. 

I feel lucky when...

On Wednesday, we read the book, The Luckiest St. Patrick’s Day. Then we talked about luck and feeling lucky. Afterwards, the children wrote about what makes them feel lucky using the prompt, “I feel lucky when…”. They wrote some wonderful responses. To complete the project, they created a little leprechaun. They turned out super cute! 

On Thursday, the children reread our fantasy story from Tuesday, Olivia. They analyzed Olivia’s character and completed a tree map. On the map, they wrote down what Olivia: is, enjoys, and can do. The children worked with the strategy of rereading to complete the tree map.

Grammar Packets:

This week, the children learned about adjectives. They learned that an adjective is a word that tells about a noun. Some adjectives tell what kind. Some adjectives tell how many. 

Math 

In Math, the children had Explorations on Monday. They worked with Exploring Attributes, played Make My Design, and practiced their math facts using a Fact Platter Fact Generator.

On Tuesday, the children identified pattern block shapes. They identified the sides of a triangle and learned that a corner is a point where two sides meet. The children discussed defining attributes and non-defining attributes of triangles. They were also introduced to the term polygon (a shape with all straight side that touch only at their endpoints).

On Wednesday, the children enjoyed using straws and twist ties to create different polygon shapes. They identified their polygons sides and corners. 

On Thursday, the children were introduced to 3 geometric shapes: Spheres, Cylinders, and Rectangular Prisms. They identified and described the solid figures. The children worked with counting the number of flat faces and corners of each of the shapes. The children created cylinders using paper and rectangular prisms using straws and twist ties. We also started a Shapes Museum in our classroom, the children may continue to being in geometric shapes to add to our Shapes Museum. 

Science

This week, the scientists enjoyed investigating our last 6 penguins: Rockhopper, Macaroni, Little, Adelie, Gentoo, and African. We researched using a variety of books, photos, and fact sheets. The scientists have become experts and can describe the different penguins using their key features. 

Today, the scientists chose their favorite penguin to research. Using a graphic organizer, they used two web sites to research their penguin. Next week, they will write a report on their penguin and craft a replica of their penguin using construction paper. Look for your child’s penguin report in the hall during conferences. 

The children have enjoyed watching the penguins at the California Academy of Sciences via their live penguin cams. If you would like to view the penguins, go to: http://www.calacademy.org/webcams/penguins/

Star Student

Diana was our star student this week. Thanks Diana for sharing all about you!

Royal Reader

A special thank you to Diana’s dad, he joined us this week as our Royal Reader. The children enjoyed listening to the two stories that Mr. Brambarov read, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books! and Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes.

Notes:

-The children have worked very hard this trimester! I look forward to meeting with you next week at conferences to discuss your child’s progress. 

-We will not have a spelling list next week, due to the short week. We will take this opportunity to review our word wall words.

Have a great weekend!