Weekly Update

Reading Workshop
We continued our unit of study on characters.  Students learned readers look for patterns in a character's behavior.  They practiced making claims about a characters's behavior and providing evidence from their books to support their claims.  Students also learned readers revise their theories about characters as they read.  We practiced making claims about Opal from our class read aloud, Because of Winn-Dixie. We also noticed how some of our original theories about Opal have changed as we continue to learn more about her character.

Writing Workshop
Writers learned to create detailed descriptions to help readers see what they see.  Students practiced adding detailed descriptions to their own stories.  They also learned writers use effective dialogue to help readers listen in on conversations in their stories.  Students learned how to correctly punctuate and add dialogue to their stories.  Finally, students picked one personal narrative from their Writer's Notebook they'd like to make better.  They learned how to complete a Story Mountain, which includes a beginning, rising action, most important part, falling action, and ending to help organize their story.

Math
Students have continued to learn how to build fluency with multiplication facts 0-10.  They also practiced solving and writing word problems.  Please continue to practice basic multiplication facts at home with your child.

Science
We wrapped up our first science unit.  Students worked together in small groups to create a waterwheel.  Through their investigation they learned a waterwheel is an axle with blades that are pushed by flowing or falling water.  Students also learned about the water cycle through an informational article and a water cycle rap.

Halloween Party
Thank you to Mrs. Rohrbeck and all of the parent volunteers for a successful Halloween party!

Class Store Grand Opening

Class Jobs

Our classroom economy started during the first week of school when students decided which jobs we needed in our classroom.  Each job was given a salary based on the students' determination of how much work each job required.  While students can earn credits for a variety of things in our classroom, their main source of income is their daily job.

All-Star Cash

We call our class money "All-Star Cash."  The students helped cut the different denominations of money prior to the opening of the class bank.  They also learned about the difference between goods and services and producers and consumers during our economics lessons. 

Class Bank

Once all students rotated through each of the jobs a few times and collected a good amount of money, it was time to open the class bank and class store.  Before the bank opened, students added up their credits (and subtracted any debits they had been given) to determine the total amount of money they earned during the first pay period.  Students took their credit/debit logs to the Room 13 All-Star Bank to collect the All-Star Cash they earned.

Elena and Emma S. were the first bankers of the year!

Personal Wallets

Students put their All-Star Cash in their personal wallets before heading to the class store.

Charlie put his All-Star Cash in his football wallet.

Class Store

Finally it was time to shop!  Students used small shopping baskets to collect the items they wanted to purchase.  Each basket was labeled with a price for the items inside.

Shopping Logs

All students used shopping logs to keep track of their purchases so that they did not spend more money than they had earned.  They added up their purchases as they shopped.

Mahee totals up her purchases.

Cashier Station

Once students totaled up their purchases, they visited the cashier station to have their shopping logs checked by the cashiers and get a bag for their purchases.

Raghav and Brayden were the first cashiers of the year!

What a fun time the students had at the grand opening of the class store!!

All-Star of the Week:

Miruna was our Room 13 All-Star this week!  What a fun time she had sharing items from her sharing sack and reading aloud her favorite picture book, "It's Not Easy Being a Bunny."  Her parent letter was so creative!  Instead of a letter, Miruna's mom wrote a fairy tale with Princess Miruna as the main character.  She also enjoyed having mom bring a special guest to eat with her in the cafeteria on Lunch Buddy Day. What a special week for Miruna!