We made it through January!!!! Although it was a long month, it really flew by. We move on to February now and stay just as busy. Here is a look at our week ahead:
* Michael is our MVP this week--we can't wait to learn more about him!
* Our STARS lunch is Monday! This includes students who turned in all of their homework for either December OR January. Congratulations to Sebastian, Christina B, Nathan, Amey, Christina G, Rebekah, Michael, Ella, Penny, Kailin, Peyton, Olivia, Ben, Mitch, Kyle, Bridget, Anjali, Connor, and Hannah. They will be enjoying a cool animal movie during the second half of their lunch period on Monday with Ms. Boston.
* The new genre for February reading logs is nonfiction. There is a little twist to it though -- the kids are going to read 2 nonfiction books about the SAME topic. The note-taking sheet was given to the kids on Friday. This is to help the kids combine information they learned from both books. This report will be due on March 1st.
* Did you know February is Random Acts of Kindness Month? We will talk a bit about performing RAK and begin a program called "Bucket Filling". The kids will have a chance to be a bucket filler each day as they try something new. Be sure to ask your child about what he/she has done to fill someone's bucket during the day!
* A new lunch menu went home to your family last week. Beginning Monday, there will no longer be any red lunch options to choose from. There will only be blue and white lunch. Home lunch and sack lunch are of course still options as well!
* Thanks to all of those who have turned in their box tops. Keep cutting and collecting! We're hoping to help make Ivy's goal!
* We will focus a bit on folk tales, myths, and fables this week. The kids will do some independent work with traditional literature to help them become familiar with the differences between all the categories. We will also continue to work on our long responses for reading; providing specific details and adding in our own connections to show off what we understand from a passage.
* In writing we will review the effects that using strong verbs have on a paper. The kids will be revising some of their writing to show an action and work to connect a character's feelings to his/her actions.
* While we will continue to devote time to division in math, our main focus will be on angles this week. The kids will review vocabulary of different types of angles, learn how to use a full circle protractor and half circle protractor, and also learn coordinate grids. Friday will be our problem solving days where the kids will continue to practice showing and labeling all of their work, as well as, writing out each step he/she did to solve the problem and the reason for it.
* We finished our circuit boards in science and will test them out in partnerships once time allows! We are anxiously waiting for our next unit in science to be delivered!
* In social studies, the kids did a wonderful job learning about reasons for the Europeans to explore the New World. We learned about 8 main artifacts that were motivations, technology, and products which shaped exploration. The kids will take a quiz over this material on Monday. We will begin Chapter 5 in History Alive on Tuesday. The kids will be assigned one explorer to become an expert on. They will share the information learned to their classmates by presenting a project: a rap/song, poster, interview, or keynote presentation.
* Our Valentine's Day party will take place the afternoon of February 14th (the second half of the afternoon). While I know many are already getting excited about buying valentines, please keep some things in mind:
- If your child chooses to pass out valentines to people in class, please make sure there are enough for everyone! We have 22 kids in class this year.
- The kids will not be able to eat any candy brought in and passed out from home, however, it will be allowed to be passed out.
- It may be kind to keep in mind that we have some dairy intolerances in our room.
- I will send home a class list of names and also a letter explaining what food will be served at our classroom party later this week or the beginning of next week. If you have any concerns about the ingredients, please let me know!
* Have a great start to the week! ~ Mrs. Galazka :o)
