January 25

I hope everyone is enjoying this warmer January weather!  I am very thankful for all of the outdoor recess since it seemed like we had indoor recess for so long!  Hopefully the temperatures stay up.

In writing, we finished up our informational unit on Native Americans right before Christmas.  We celebrated early in January by doing a gallery walk so students could look at each other's books.  In this unit, students learned about paraphrasing and note taking when researching.  We also focused on organizing research by creating subtopics.   Students worked hard to write a lead that would draw the reader in and give a preview of what information would be covered in their writing.

 We are now working on poetry.  So far we have read many published poems, and students have written haikus, cinquains, diamantes, and limericks.  They seem very interested in reading and writing poems!

In reading, we recently finished focusing on different informational text structures that authors use when writing.  A few that we covered were problem and solution, description, and compare and contrast.  Since we started poetry in writing, we have been learning about poetry in reading as well.  We have focused on figurative language, and we have analyzed poems for theme and other poetry elements.  In our reading groups, students are reading high interest novels, and we are having great discussions when we meet!

When we came back from Christmas, we explored properties of light in science.  We had fun doing some activities with flashlights!

Now we have moved on to living things.  Students are learning the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates, and we are focusing on the five types of vertebrate animals.  We even made a model backbone with gummy candy, pasta, and pipe cleaners!  In this unit, we will also learn about how the food chain affects all living things.

In math, we are finishing up chapter 6 on multiplying and dividing decimals.  This is a tough chapter, but the students are working very hard.  Look for a study guide to come home later this week.  After we complete chapter 6, we will move along to fractions.

Our math centers lately have focused on decimals and area and perimeter.  I am trying to incorporate real world problem solving into their centers.  Last week, students created their "dream house" and calculated the area and perimeter as one of their activities.

For most of our math centers, students have several activities from a certain math theme to choose to complete.   Giving them a variety of challenging activities and allowing them to choose has really increased their motivation and attentiveness during math!  I have a lot of fun planning the math centers, and I am so glad students seem to be enjoying them!