October 26th-30th

I hope everyone had a fun filled Halloween !! It was so nice to see so many of you at our class party on Friday.  Here are some pictures from the party. Thank you to Dylan's mom for taking the photos.

Here are some things we worked on during the week.

Writing- This week in writing we focused our attention on adding details to our narratives. Students were given leaves and magnifying glasses to help us with the concept of "magnifying" and stretching out our small moments. Using the leaves and magnifying glasses students noticed small details in the leaves like the colors, veins, markings, size etc. We then talk about how we need to do the same with our narratives. Students learned they can focus in on their one small moment and write lots of details about it.

Reading- In reading we continued talking about what to add on our post it notes. We also spent some time this week talking about retells and what to include when giving your partner a retell. The main parts to a retell include:who are the main characters, what is the setting, what is the problem and solution, and then giving a description of the beginning, middle and end. We have also been talking about retell in our guided reading groups.

Math- We finished chapter 3 this week in math and our chapter test will be on Monday. This week we learned how to solve multiple step problems and thinking addition to 10 and addition to18 to help us subtract.

Social Studies- The tally is in and the chocolate chip cookie won! Students were treated to a chocolate chip cookie on Wednesday. :-) We also discussed goods and services and needs and wants this week. We watched two brain pop videos about these two topics to help us learn about the differences.

Spelling- There is no spelling this week. New spelling words will come home on Friday November 6th and the test will be on Thursday November 12th due to no school on the 11th in observance of Veteran's Day.

Don't forget:

1. Turn your clocks back one hour on Sunday.
2. A healthy snack for your child each day.
3. There is a half day of school on Tuesday November 3rd- Election Day. Dismissal will be at 12:10.

October 19 - 23

I apologize about this post being a couple days late. We had a very busy weekend and I did not have time to update. Here is a peek at what we did last week.

Writing- This week we continued working on our beginnings and middles of our narratives. I met with small groups of students to help them get started on their beginning. Students have done a great job thinking of their topics and the ideas they would like to write about. We also briefly started to talk about the end of our stories. We will look more closely at the end as well as adding more details to our narratives this week.

Reading- In reading we learned about thinking as we are reading. Students learned that they think about different things as they read. They may make predictions about what is going to happen next or they might make some connections to other books or themselves. They might ask questions as they are reading or come away learning something new. We talked about how it is helpful to write their thoughts down on a post it note during and after their reading to share with a partner. The students have done a nice job using the post it notes to make connections, predictions, questions they have etc.

Math- We started off the week with our chapter 2 test. Everyone did very well with this unit and it showed on their tests. We also started math stations last week. Everyone did a fine job rotating through the different stations. We began chapter 3 last week and should finish up this week. Chapter three is all about using our subtraction strategies to help us solve subtraction math problems.

Social Studies- This week in social studies we started a discussion on voting. We talked about what it means to vote. Together we completed a KWL chart on things they already knew about voting and things that they wanted to learn about voting. We watched a video of the book Duck For President which talked about the voting process. Also last week students learned about an election the class would have on their favorite kind of cookie- Milano or Chocolate Chip. We read some facts about each type of cookie and students voted on the cookie they would like to win. They all had a fun time with this lesson.

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. Thank you to everyone who has attended parent teacher conferences. It has been nice to share the progress your children are making each day.

Don't forget:

1. Wednesday October 28th is a half day for our last parent teacher conference. Dismissal will be at 11:45.

2. Our class Halloween party is scheduled for Friday October 30th at 2:30.

3. A healthy snack for your child each day.

Mrs. Salmonsen

October 12-16

Well it certainly is beginning to feel more like fall. This is my favorite time of year. I love the cooler weather, the colorful falling leaves and football on T.V.. As you can see our class is busy getting ready for Halloween!

Below are some of the things we worked on this week.

Writing- This was an exciting week in writing. Students began writing the beginning to their narrative. Before writing the beginning, students were given a writing booklet and across the top of the pages they jotted down ideas of what they would like to write. This helped them to map out their story and have a plan for how their story will go. Students shared their ideas with a partner and practiced telling their partner verbally their story. As students continue to work on their narratives, please ask them what they are writing about and help them to remember specific details from that time. We will continue to work on our narratives throughout the next few weeks.

Reading- This week we put all three literacy stations together- Read To Self, Read To Someone, and Listen To Reading. Students rotated throughout the week going to each station while I finished up some reading assessments. Students did a great job and have a great grasp on what is expected at each station. Next week I will begin pulling guided reading groups as students work through these stations.

Math- We finished chapter 2 on addition strategies. On Monday we will have our chapter review and test and then on Tuesday we will begin chapter 3 which is all about using subtraction strategies. Next week I will also begin my guided math groups. During these math groups students will be working in different stations. One station they will come to me for a small group instruction lesson, the other station is working independently on their independent practice booklet and the third station is practicing math facts through games and using the iPads. We practiced this station on Friday. Below are some pictures of the kiddos completing this station. This week we talked about adding three numbers, how to make 10, and some problem solving skills and strategies.

Spelling- This weeks word family is the AN family. Students will bring home their individualized spelling list to study over the weekend. Please take some time and help your child practice their spelling words. Our spelling test is on Wednesdays. They should practice the words that are in their own handwriting and are on the looseleaf sheet of paper.

Don't forget:

1. On October 22nd we have another half day for parent teacher conferences. We will dismiss students at 11:45.

2. A healthy snack for your child each day.

3. Our class Halloween party is scheduled for October 30th at 2:30. All parents are invited. Please contact Sarah Metcalfe or Julie Gilberg if you are interested in helping out.

October 2nd- October 9th

Happy October!  We continue to work hard in room 19.

Writing- This week in writing we spent some time talking about small moments. A small moment in one specific moment when something happened. It is not something that has happened over time. Small moments are like the seed of a watermelon. A watermelon is a much bigger topic like a family vacation. A seed topic is something very specific like going surfing at the beach while on vacation. Students talked with each other and decided whether or not their topics were seed topics or watermelon topics.

Reading- In reading this week we learned about the Listen To Reading station. At this station students will be using the iPads to listen to books. This week they listened to students using Bookflix. Bookflix can be accessed from the Hamagrael library webs page and is free to use. After listening to the story, students completed different activities based on what the story was about. We also began a discussion about what goes on a post it note during and after they are reading. We talked about connections and predictions as being two  types of strategies they can write on their post it note to help with their comprehension.

Math- We continued chapter 2 this week. This chapter is all about reviewing addition strategies to help us when we add. We started off by reviewing how to add 0, 1, and 2. We also reviewed our doubles facts and our doubles plus one or near doubles facts. For fun, students played addition bingo to help reinforce the concepts we learned this week.

Social Studies- Our Scholastic News this week was all about firefighters in a community. We specifically looked at the three types of communities there are- rural, urban, and suburban. Students compared this three types of communities and learned about what makes them the same and different. Students also worked on making a paper ice cream craft that labeled where we live starting with Earth and ending at their address.


Don't forget:

1. Friday is a half day for parent teacher conferences. Dismissal will be at 11:45. If you forgot your conference date and time please contact me and I would be happy to tell you when you are scheduled.

2. A healthy snack for your child each day.

Mrs. Salmonsen