Happy Friday! It's a beautiful sunny afternoon, but it was definitely too wet for Camp Swampy this morning. I am glad we postponed, and I look forward to going next week. Thank you to all of you who filled out the google doc giving permission again. If you haven't done that yet, please be sure to do so by next week.
We've had another great week here at JES. We have continued talking about strategies for finding topics to write about during our writing time. During Word Study, we have learned about contractions and how to spell them and put the apostrophe in the correct place. In reading, we have discussions about how to write down our ideas, how to challenge ourselves, and how to check for understanding as we read. I am continuously impressed with the reading stamina in this classroom! This group really enjoys books!
We finished our first math unit today. It was mostly a review of what it means to multiply, but we also learned about factors and multiples, as well as how to identify prime and composite numbers. We are getting into our Math Menu routines, and students are beginning to get work that I have prepared specifically for them now that I know them better as math thinkers. I collect their work weekly and correct it -- I give back any work that needs to be fixed, and I send home all work that is correct. You may see these Math Menu packets arrive in your child's folder. They often ask me if they can recycle them, and I say no! You are free to recycle them, of course, but I'd like you to know what they are working on. If you see some work that is not finished or not attempted, don't be alarmed. There are some pages that are required and others that are just there as a stretch for students who are finished or want a challenge. I don't always correct those, and that's okay!
Our science time this week was spent learning about different animal adaptations and how various structures of animal bodies help them survive. Today, we did another lab trying to decide which dish soap makes the best bubbles. This required deciding the criteria for "best" and then planning out steps and collecting our data. It was messy, but fun. The classroom smells like Palmolive!
During social studies this week, we read a historical fiction book about the Greensboro sit-ins of the 1960's and the protest movements they sparked. This led to a great conversation about protests and picketing. We talked about issues that matter to us, and each student made a "picket sign" that shows a passion worth fighting for. We had everything from "Save the animals" to "No guns." I love seeing how passionate this group is!
Finally, parent conferences are coming up soon. I look forward to (virtually) meeting all of you and talking to you about your children. The students are also welcome to attend the conference since we will be talking about them, but I will leave that up to you. Mostly, we will review how the year has been so far and make some goals for the rest of the year. Here is a link to sign up for a conference. I have tried to have slots that are early in the morning and some that are in the evenings so I can accommodate a variety of schedules. Please let me know if none of these times work, and we will find another that does.
I hope you all have a restful weekend doing something fun!
