This Week...

October 14- October 17, 2014

Reading:  This week, students worked hard applying a summarizing strategy to various readings.  They practiced completing story maps using ordinal words (first, next, then, last).  The texts included “The Wind and the Sun”, and “The Strongest One”.  Students practiced the key aspects of good fluency: accuracy, expression, medium speed, and punctuation awareness.  We also spent time working with antonyms.  Students used close reading strategies while reading two different science texts: Home is an Oak Tree and The Cactus Hotel.  Students discovered which organisms use these plants to survive.   At the end of the week, students worked on questioning.  They learned the importance of asking questions in order to stay engaged with the text.  Reading Logs are due Monday, October 20.  (100 minutes)

Math:  We began unit 3!  An informational letter was sent home detailing important concepts of the unit.  Measurement was the main focus of the week!  We read the story How Big Is A Foot? to understand the importance of standard units of measure.  Students did a hands-on activity where we found our average class shoe size.  They also practiced measuring line segments to the nearest whole, half, and quarter inch.  Finding personal references for the U.S. customary system and the metric system was also a focus.

Social Studies:  We dissected lima beans to find important seed parts: the seed coat, stored sugars, and the embryo.  We watched a seed germination time lapse video clip to experience how a plant grows from a tiny seed.  Students also participated in a hands-on paper cutting activity that demonstrated how the Illinois prairie is rapidly disappearing.  Students learned that development and farming are major factors that have contributed to the decrease in prairie acres.  They also learned about various adaptations that plants have in order to survive in their environments, as well as how seeds disperse.

Writing:  Students worked on incorporating strong verbs in their writing to show the reader what was happening at a particular moment.  In grammar, students discriminated between common and proper nouns.

Spelling/Cursive:  Students took their week 7 spelling test.  In cursive this week, students practiced the letters “q” and “g”.

Miscellaneous:  This week, students enjoyed a visit from Lieutenant Larson, an Arlington Heights fireman!  He shared many important tips and rules about fire safety. Thank you to everyone who already returned their purple conference forms.  If you have not done so yet, please send it in as soon as possible.  Thank you again for all your continued support at home…have a great weekend!