October Update!

Hi all,

I will preface by saying that I have no pictures to share this week!  I had meant to take some pictures yesterday of the great work kiddos are doing in class, but we got busy and I forgot.  So I will have to update with no photos!  :(

This week, we began to wrap up our unit on coordinate planes.  We have be working at graphing and interpreting sets of data as well as determining rules from patterns.  Next week, be on the look out for a home project in which students will collect data about themselves and then graph it!  In addition, next week we will begin our first Engage NY unit.  In this unit, we will be exploring place value and how we can use place value to multiply and divide by powers of ten.  From there, we will use our understanding of place value to help us with our understanding of multiplication and division.

In reading, we have been thinking about characters and their traits.  We have learned that to identify character traits, good readers think about what characters say, do and think and also notice what other characters say about them.  We have also started identifying the way characters change, by talking about picture books we have read this year.  Students are continuing to read their guided reading books, as well as independent books, and are doing well at writing 1 journal entry each week!

In writing, we have been working on narrative writing craft.  This week, we learned many new ways of generating ideas for realistic fiction as well as ways to write good narratives.  I am so pleased with the amount of engagement I am seeing from our writers in class.  They have so many good stories to tell!!!  Yesterday, almost every student raised their hand to share a story they wrote in our writer's workshop!

In social studies, we continued reading about the 3 branches of government. We have been learning not only about the government, but how to navigate a text book and take good notes.  On Friday, students began to create a google image that would represent the powers each branch of government holds.

Have a fabulous week!  I promise pictures for next time!! :)

Ms. Phillips