This Week 9/20/14

Hello!

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for Curriculum Night last week!  It was great to see you :)  For those of you who weren't able to make it, you can see the powerpoint presentation by clicking on this link:  Curriculum Night PPT

I just had to share this picture from recess last week:

The kids found this BIG, UGLY, GREEN caterpillar, and were absolutely fascinated by it!  They watched it crawl along every stick they could find, and wanted to know what it would turn into.  We looked it up and found out that it's a Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar.  The moth is the kind that looks like it has two big eyes on it's wings:

Some of us thought it was cool, and some thought it was creepy...what do you think?  Never a dull moment with these guys!!!

DON'T FORGET:  Permission slips and payment for our field trip to Schiele Museum are due on Wednesday, Sep 23rd

So, here's what's coming up this week in...

Math:  We'll be wrapping up the last activity in Unit 1 on Monday.  We'll be reviewing the following skills on Tuesday:

• Write numbers (into the millions) in standard, word, and expanded form
• Round numbers (into the millions) to any place value
• Compare and order numbers by using what they know about place value
• Break down dollar amounts into the dollars (ones), dimes (tenths), and pennies (hundreths)
• Count money and figure out change given
• Using an organized list to solve a problem

On Thursday we'll begin Unit 2 - Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers.  We'll also begin working on building our math fact fluency this week.  I'll write more about that in a separate blog post.

Reading:  This week we'll continue working on monitoring our understand of what we read, focusing on how to determine the meaning of words by using context clues.

I've completed the kids' beginning of the year reading assessments, and will begin forming Guided Reading groups.  We'll probably start meeting with our Guided Reading groups next week.

Language:  This week we'll work on the Hard and Fast Rules of Apostrophes, Quotations, and Numbers. 

Writing:  On Monday, the kids will go through the pieces they've written since school started, and they'll choose one to take through the publishing process.  We'll focus on revising, editing, and publishing their writing this week.  This will be the first writing piece that they'll add to their Writing Portfolios!

Social Studies:  In our NC unit, we'll complete our Glogs on the NC Native People and will share them with each other.  Then we'll begin looking at how the North Carolina colony came to be, why people wanted to come here from England, and the challenges they faced when they got here.

Bible:  We'll learn about how the believers came together following the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the disciples.  They met together every day, ate meals together, and supported each other.  Our memory verse this week is:  

• The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed. Acts 2:42

I pray that you all have a wonderful week!