November 13-17

Hello families!

We read the books Paperboy  by Dave Pilkey and A Chair for my Mother by Vera B. Williams this week. Both books are good examples of realistic fiction. We read the books to look for the features of realistic fiction and to discuss the idea of empathy. Using the carefully chosen words in the Paperboy we tried to imagine a cold, dark morning getting out of a snuggly, warm bed to go deliver papers while the rest of our family slept! We tried to imagine how we would feel if all the things we liked were destroyed in a house fire, like the characters in A Chair for my Mother. 
We worked on our Realistic Fiction stories in writing. We practiced different ways to start our stories with action, talking or "setting a scene." Our writing has really taken off in this unit. Students are spending more time on one piece instead of writing many short pieces as we did in our Small Moments unit.
For phonics this week we worked on silent e, words ending in y, and onset/rime.
In math we are continuing on in Unit 3. We have been working on addition and subtraction strategies. We learned to play the game "Salute" to practice missing addends. We worked on subtraction number stories and more adding with double ten frames. The Unit 2 math test came home, please sign and return after reviewing with your child.
In science we furthered our exploration of air. We made parachutes and floated them while standing on our chairs. We observed air filling up the paper napkins. We also discussed that the air is on top and all around a parachute as it falls to the ground. We read the book Bubbles float, Bubbles pop! We learned the reasons bubbles pop. Mrs. Scheck handed out bubble gum after the experiment to try making bubbles at home.
Our first field trip note went home on Wednesday. Thank you to the many offers to chaperone our trip. I have enough chaperones for this trip. If you have not sent in money or permission slips, they are due by Friday, December 1st.
Next week is Thanksgiving, therefore there is no school on Thursday the 24th or Friday the 23rd.
Have a wonderful holiday with your child!
Conferences are December 14th. Please schedule to meet with me by logging onto Skyward. I am looking forward to share your child's success with you!
Have a great weekend,
Mrs. Scheck