Recap and Reminders!

 

Plimoth Trip

We had a great field trip this past Monday to Plimoth! Students enjoyed learning about the Plimoth grist mill and watched a presentation about how the mill grinds corn using the power of the water.  

We stopped at Plimoth Rock and learned that it is a "symbol" of the pilgrims more than an actual landing spot. The Mayflower II is still in Connecticut for its much needed repairs, but will be back in Plimoth in 2020 for the 400th anniversary of the landing at Plimoth in 1620. 

At Plimoth Plantation we visited both the 1624 village and the Wampanoag homesite. Students learned a lot in both places and shared much of their learning when we returned to school on Tuesday in their journals.  Some of their highlights were the cannons, trying to grind corn with a mortar and pestle, and meeting the pilgrims. Here are some pictures from our trip. Thanks to our chaperones for sharing. 

Have you heard about Sam?

Our latest read aloud is All About Sam. This class giggles uncontrollably as I read this book each afternoon. Sam Krupnick is a boy who seems to have some trouble understanding the meaning of words. Ask your child about the "pan-tree" or "water in the pipes" or "training pants." Sam recently brought his pet "King of Worms" to the library pet show and he won an award for Most Invisible Pet! 

I love read alouds and having a shared text means we can ALL discuss the book together. Reading aloud as a family is also a lot of fun. Have you tried it?  

Math    

Multiplication and division are in full swing in Room 102. We have been learning strategies for mastering our facts. 

Twos - doubles  

1 + 1 = 2    2 X 1 = 2                      

2 + 2 = 4    2 X 2 = 4

3 + 3 = 6    2 X 3 = 6

Fours - double your doubles

2 X 2 = 4 so 4 X 2 = 8

2 X 3 = 6 so 4 X 3 = 12

2 X 4 = 8 so 4 X 6 = 16

Fives - always end in 5 or 0 (odd and even)

0 X 5 = 0  (even)

1 X 5 = 5 (odd)

2 X 5 = 10  (even)

3 X 5 = 15 (odd)

An odd number times 5 gives an odd product and an even number times 5 gives an even product. 

And then there is the NINES!  So many tricks and strategies. I hope your child has shared some at home. There is the finger trick. The sum of the digits trick and the patterns we see as we multiply. Very exciting stuff! 

We will continue on with other facts this next week and soon we will start some quizzes as students work to master these facts. In school we are playing games and working on fact fluency, but students can also practice at home with flash cards or websites. 

In other content areas:

WRITING - students have been having lessons on using dialogue, when to indent, editing, and show don't tell. Next week we will finish up our stories and work on FINAL DRAFTS!  

SOCIAL STUDIES - We have really been learning so much about the pilgrims. Students brought notes back from our field trip and did a "Write around" where each student in the group writes something about the topic and the next person reads it and continues. Students wrote 2 paragraphs... one about a "pilgrim" they met in Plimoth and the other about an artifact they saw. Next week we will type our paragraphs using the chromebooks and google classroom. 

Cursive - the quietest time in Room 102. We have been making our way through the letters of the alphabet. Everyone complained about "r" this week saying it was hard. But they persevered!  

What else are we doing?  

• reading Scholastic News and learning about jellyfish, volcanoes in Hawaii, and 3-D printers
• comprehension questions about our reading
• searching for non-fiction text features like captions, glossaries, bold print, and illustrations or photographs
• Daily Language Review to practice grammar and other skills
• reviewing addition and subtraction facts
• writing in our journals
• discussing author's message 
• proving how Lois Lowry uses "Show Don't Tell" in her book All About Sam
• writing letters back "home" to England about the trip on the Mayflower
• using the "Make 90, Make 10" strategy to make 100. 
• editing with our peers
• reading independently and recording our books
• LEARNING A LOT!

Reminders

We will be outside harvesting in the Victory Garden on Monday morning. Please remember to have your child have a coat or sweatshirt and to wear OLD shoes. 

Also... all students will need a men's handkerchief for our Pilgrim Activity Day on Friday. 

Parents:
If you buy a package with more than one,
please send it in to class so we can have extras (if needed).