Weekly Times December 14, 2012

Weekly Times 

November 29- December 14, 2012

Headlines

Units of Inquiry
STORY OF EARTH- Where We Are in Place and Time

• Thinking Journals- writing down our thinking and talking about it
• Animal Adaptations - an inquiry into an animal of choice and what makes it specially adapted to its environment
• Adaptations song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX8VQIJVpT
• Field Trip to the Museo Zoologico - Fossils and the Origins of Life
• Major events in prehistory ordering activity
• Dinosaur Dig- what it's like to be a paleontologist
• Prehistory Scavenger Hunt
• The birth of Earth to the first life in oceans ordering activity

Language
Spelling - silent letters, homophones
Writing - myths of how an animal got its special feature (goes along with a study of myths in Library)
Guided Reading Groups - Saving the Stegosaurus or Dinosaurs Before Dark
Read alouds: The Pebble in My Pocket, Evolution

Peer Leader - 
Activity about friendships, passing a string and saying what you like about someone
Name activity


Maths
Multiplication - making array cards and playing games with them
Division - dividing arrays in equal groups
Writing our own word problems with things that come in groups and the museum
Solving word problems
Time - telling time on the clock to the minute as well as quarter past, half past and a quarter to the hour
Mathletics

Wonderful Job at the Concert!

ANNOUNCEMENTS/NOTICES

• Weekend Assignments:  - 
•  Reading Log - Please read aloud with your child for 15 minutes - see letter in the LOG - children should have logged some reading at least 5 times this week with two being their banded books aloud to an adult - as usual
•  Reading JOURNAL - I have written the same letter to each student asking them to write about the problem/solution as well as a character

• Holiday Assignments:  - 
•  Earn, Spend, Save, Give - as part of our new unit, we ask that students visit a store and select some items to answer questions about.  The sheet will come home and the items do not need to be purchased
•  Multiplication Facts- Keep practicing your facts!  By the end of the year, you should know all of the tables up through 10.  If you know them already, work on division or the 12's, 25's or 15's
• Reading-  Keep reading!

The Dinosaur Dig

Taking Notes

Back in the Lab

Museo Zoologico - Paleontologists again!

Museum Visit

Museum Visit

Doin' the Frosty Hand Jive!

Weekly Times November 24, 2012

Weekly Times November 24, 2012

Headlines

Units of Inquiry
STORY OF EARTH- Where We Are in Place and Time

• Thinking Journals- writing down our thinking and talking about it
• Changes project presentations - Gallery Walk- students were able to decided how to represent their changes to others - posters, Powerpoint, Keynote, Timeline, Poetry
• Animal Adaptations - an inquiry into an animal of choice and what makes it specially adapted to its environment
• Provocations - thinking about how we adapt to new situations with a lesson on origami in Japanese and working with blindfolded partners in PE
• Japanese Lesson Video:http://youtu.be/L5Ep0NgYmQY
• PE Blindfolded Soccer: http://youtu.be/H72eZ9FMKcc
• Adaptations activity with matching the animal and its adaptation (to be continued)
• Adaptations song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX8VQIJVpT

Language
Spelling - review of oi/oy and ow/ou
Writing - in thinking journal and what we are thankful for
Guided Reading Groups - Saving the Stegosaurus or Dinosaurs Before Dark
Read alouds: I Hate English

Peer Leader - videos - students saw an Ambrit-made video and reflected in their thinking journals about empathy and being caring:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TemswwtJopM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpMCFik7IZ8


Maths
Multiplication - quick check of 3's and 4's - students might make and use flash cards to help
Time - telling time on the clock to the minute as well as quarter past, half past and a quarter to the hour

ANNOUNCEMENTS/NOTICES

• Weekend Assignments:  - 
•  Reading Log - Please read aloud with your child for 15 minutes - see letter in the LOG - children should have logged some reading at least 5 times this week with two being their banded books aloud to an adult - as usual
•  Reading JOURNAL - I have written the same letter to each student asking them to write about the problem/solution as well as a character

Gallery Walk of Our Changes projects

Digital Presentations:

RM: http://youtu.be/kjzQXn8OrB8 

NC: http://youtu.be/TFvSjyQxta8

ND: http://youtu.be/SP34RyIgj9c

GT: http://youtu.be/wPtJgBJTeZk

CD: http://youtu.be/YyGf2nZGPGM

TK: http://youtu.be/3Stt85IQaSo

FT: http://youtu.be/PZ6AGRmGYyk

CS:

DN:

MM:

EA:  http://youtu.be/1a69-p4SeeQ

Weekly Times November 16, 2012

Weekly Times November 16, 2012

Headlines

Units of Inquiry

DIG IT - How the World Works
Field Trip to Rocca di Cave


STORY OF EARTH- Where We Are in Place and Time
Thinking Journals- writing down our thinking and talking about it
Thinking about changes - what are some of the biggest changes that we have experienced from when we were babies until now- Thinking about how to represent those changes to others
Changes project - students were able to decided how to represent their changes to others - posters, Powerpoint, Keynote, Timeline, Poetry

Language
Writing about the weekend or a story
Spelling - the letter y
        -often is a consonant at the beginning of a word
        -can be many vowels - long a, long e, long i, short i
        - when adding -s or -ed, if there is a consonant before the y, it becomes i then -es or -ed
        - when adding -s or -ed, if there is a vowel before the y, just add the ending
Guided Reading Groups - Saving the Stegosaurus or Dinosaurs Before Dark
Read alouds: Magic School Bus: Voyage to the Volcano

Peer Leaders - Empathy videos:
1.  http://youtu.be/bStrKzwYamo

2. http://youtu.be/61Ypt_2z7cw

3. http://youtu.be/l9fpGIhwrH4

4. http://youtu.be/iPTqzQu32u


Maths
Multiplication - quick check of 3's and 4's - students might make and use flash cards to help
Things that come in groups - real-life applications of multiplication- making up word problems with things that come in groups and solving one another's problems
Time - what we know about time and telling time on the clock

ANNOUNCEMENTS/NOTICES

• Weekend Assignments:  - 
•  Reading Log - Please read aloud with your child for 15 minutes - see letter in the LOG - children should have logged some reading at least 5 times this week with two being their banded books aloud to an adult - as usual
•  Reading JOURNAL - I have written the same letter to each student asking them to reflect on their reading so far.
• Personal Changes Project - Some students have brought home their projects to work on- it is not required but so nice.
• SCHOLASTIC ORDERS - this is a great chance to get some books for home and help us get more books for our class libraries!  Please send in your orders by Tuesday.

It was very exciting to see sheep!

Fossils of sea shells up in the hills of Lazio