Weekly Update

 Research Workshop:
We started country research this week, so we are now combining reading and writing workshop into research workshop.  We will do research workshop 2 times during the school day.  Students were so excited to pick their countries and get the library books they will be using for their research!  They created webs to determine the 6 main topics they want to research about their country.  Sample topics included food, clothing, housing, holidays and festivals, school, animals, etc.  Using the table of contents and the index in their books, students placed sticky notes on the pages in their books that included information about their topics.  This task was in preparation for the notes they will begin taking this week.

Math Workshop:
We began the week doing more lessons on elapsed time number stories.  This is a challenging concept for students, so we have been spending extra time doing these types of problems together in class.  Students also began lessons on graphing.  They studied bar graphs and pictographs to interpret information and answer story problems using the graphs.

Social Studies:
We are currently on a region tour of the Southeast that we began right after winter break.  We started our journey in Florida with tour stops at Everglades National Park, JFK Space Center, Disney World, and we are now in Jamestown, VA.

We started our tour on a fishing trawler!

We headed to the Florida Everglades and took an airboat ride to see the many birds and animals.

Our tables were our pretend boats!

We had a "Disney Day" in Orlando, Florida!

Students brought in Disney souvenirs and displayed them on their desks.

Students walked around our "Disney Museum" to check out each other's souvenirs.

Emma gets her sailor cap back on to travel to the JFK Space Center!

Students write travel journals after visiting each tour stop.

Weekly Update

Reading Workhosp:
We began our Informational Unit.  Students reviewed the following nonfiction text features: table of contents, photograph, caption, index, glossary, heading, and subheading.  We spent time locating these text features in various informational texts and discussing the purpose of each one.  Students also learned how to infer unfamiliar words within informational texts.  They practiced inferring unfamiliar words using sentence clues and by reading ahead.  Students also listened to a read aloud of a biography about Martin Luther King, Jr and learned how to complete a timeline.  Then they were assigned a picture book biography of their own and completed a timeline.

Math Workshop:
The second half of our measurement unit has focused on telling time.  We have learned to tell time to the minute and 5 minute interval.  Students have also practiced solving several elapsed time word problems.  The elapsed time word problems are tricky for many students.  We will continue to practice elapsed time in class.

Science:
Students enjoyed visiting the Michigan Science Center.  Our field trip started with a show called "What's Up?" in the Planetarium.  We also caught a show in the DTE Sparks Theater where Allison had a "hair raising" experience and Devon became a Jedi for a moment.  In the Toyota 4D Theater we went for a "ride" and got a little wet as we learned more about engineers.  We also learned more about the states of matter during a hands-on experiment with "pink slime."  Students also had a lot of time to explore the many exhibits throughout the center.



All-Star of the Week:
Stephanie was our All-Star this week.  She shared her favorite book, Goodnight Moon, and several photos with the class.  She also enjoyed a special lunch from Subway with her mom on Friday.  Students wrote many nice things about Stephanie in her compliment card booklet.