March 5-9

Dear Families,

This week we read the story, One Word From Sophia. This book fit perfectly with our opinion writing unit. In the story Sophia is trying to convince her family members to get her a giraffe for her birthday. We learned that characters change the way they present their argument based on who they are talking to. Sophia is told her arguments are loquacious, effusive and verbose  - too wordy. We learned these new vocabulary words this week. We also did a Visual Thinking Routine with the book called a "step inside" to view the story through the eyes of the main character. Students write and respond to questions about the character telling what does she think, what does she care and what does she know or believe. Students provide evidence from the text to back up their answers!

In writing, we are continuing on with our opinion writing unit. We have worked on added more to our letters. Using capitals in the right place has been something we noticed is lacking. Reviewing capitals was part of our lessons this week! Students each chose a book that he or she wants to nominate for an award (that is made up by the student). We added a map of a setting in the story to our letters. Today we will work on adding quotes from the book to help support our opinions. We hope to have students share their letters with other students at the end of the unit.

In math we have been learning several strategies for adding two digit numbers. We practiced these strategies: counting on, partial sums, adding with base 10 and using an open number line. We have been working on two step problems with both addition and subtraction. Yesterday students worked independently on two digit subtraction.

In social studies we have begun a new unit on Our Local Economy. We read the book The Hatseller and the Monkeys. We discussed and sorted Wants versus Needs. Students sorted objects into two columns. We will continue next week learning about producers and consumers. We will read the book From Cows to Ice Cream. Students will learn the process that happens to produce a good. We will also be learning about real life production of a car from Mr. Thorsell!

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Scheck