April 26 - 30

We took this picture for the yearbook. This week we got to go bowling in PE! We also learned about how seeds change when they get wet and about the parts of a seed. We are making good progress on our typing skills in the computer lab. We are learning how to tell subtraction stories and how to show data in different ways in math. We are working on retelling books we have read to include details like characters names and the setting. We also watched a Mo Willems video on how to draw Cat the Cat! That book inspired some writers to create similar books this week.

We wrote a poem about Moms to read on the Mother's Day Tea on Thursday, May 6 at 9:30 AM in the cafeteria. All family members are welcome to attend!

How Seeds Travel Video

The first time we watched this the narration was lost to many a "Whoah...." and "Did you see that?!? What is that?!?" but students were still able to recall many facts:

We will watch it again, just like we reread a book, to learn more. We will also drop some maple seeds ("helicopters") to learn how seeds can travel in the wind.

April 19 - 23

This week we have been reviewing the months of the year and the days of the week. We have been challenging each other with questions using the words before and after.

We have also been working on being a more independent writer. Students have been exploring writing nonfiction, fiction, narratives, instructions and poetry. Next we will focus on the different steps of the writing process and self-monitoring which step we are on:

1. Picking an idea and planning
2. Writing a draft
3. Revising a draft (making it longer, more interesting, or make more sense)
4. Editing a draft (checking for space between words, capitals, punctuation, and spelling)
5. Publishing a final draft (sharing with an audience)

We have been doing a lot of seed research in science, including starting a class garden. We worked in partners to sort out a group of small items into what we thought was a seed or was not a seed. We planted one of each and will see what grows. If it grows, it is a seed. If it does not grow, it is probably not a seed. We have observed some seeds falling outside our window, too. We also did an Earth Day activity in which we simulated polluting a river. Look for the picture of the yucky final result!

April 12-16

Welcome back! We have been working on remembering all of the rules and routines of our classroom this week. We took a test to see which students already know the order of the days of the week and the months of the year. Most students knew a song that helped them remember the days of the week but we will be learning the months of the year over the next few weeks!

We have also been working on retelling what we learned in nonfiction books and the parts of a nonfiction book to really pay attention to like bold words and picture charts/graphs.

We started studying the value of coins and played a few new math games on the Smartboard: Whack a Mole and Funky Mummy. We also played a spelling game that has many levels.

We are starting to edit our writing for Capital Letters and so far we have three rules for when to use them: Names, Beginning of a sentence, and the word I.