We were all happy with how the story is finishing up. We have learned about tracking characters in a story and monitoring their character traits. We talked a lot about the difference between a feeling and a trait. This story is rich in vocabulary and language and has offered us the ability to think deeply about our first book. The children did a great job with it!
Since we have just about finished reading this book, we all know how it will end (SPOILER ALERT!). Here is a page from Zoo Atlanta, where Ivan eventually ends up. They have outlined the "real Ivan's" life in a timeline, pictures and a video of him. We will view this page on Monday.
In Math we have started to learn about division. We will use many of the same strategies for solving division problems as we learned for multiplication. Once the children see the connection between the two, learning division should start to feel easier.
In Science we have started our unit on Heredity! We had the opportunity to share photos of our ancestors (and/or our parents). We enjoyed noticing some similarities we have seen with our classmates and their families and had a few great discussions about inherited and non-inherited traits. Though we have just started this unit, an extra page of vocabulary was sent home with your child this week. If he/she would like to being making flashcards or preparing for our test, this is a great way to get ahead.
We have arrived in Mexico! We are learning about the geography, art and culture of this country. On Halloween we learned about the Day of the Dead (el dio de los muertos) and about the celebrations that take place in Mexico on November 1st.
From the Teacher's Desk:
Overall the students are doing a fine job completing homework and returning it to school Some students are struggling with the organization of this; completing the homework at home but leaving it there, or leaving materials at school. At the end of each day we have a dedicated time to write in our assignment notebooks, get our mail and pack up our materials. Please check in with your child to see how he/she feels homework is going. If you have been returning to school regularly after hours to collect materials for homework, please let me know. Checklists or an added teacher check could be something to help with this.
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GENERAL HOMEWORK TIPS FOR PARENTS
(Reposted from the Department of Education. You can see the full article here.)
✪ Make sure your child has a quiet, well-lit place to do homework.
Avoid having your child do homework with the television on or in places with other distractions, such as people coming and going.
✪ Make sure the materials your child needs, such as paper, pencils and a dictionary, are available. Ask your child if special materials will be needed for some projects and get them in advance.
✪ Help your child with time management. Establish a set time each day for doing homework. Don‘t let your child leave homework until just
before bedtime. Think about using a weekend morning or afternoon for working on big projects, especially if the project involves getting together with classmates.
✪ Be positive about homework. Tell your child how important school is. The attitude you express about homework will be the attitude your child acquires.
✪ When your child does homework, you do homework. Show your child that the skills they are learning are related to things you do as an adult. If your child
is reading, you read too. If your child is doing math, balance your checkbook.
✪ When your child asks for help, provide guidance, not answers. Giving answers means your child will not learn the material. Too much help teaches your child that when the going gets rough, someone will do the work for him or her.
✪ When the teacher asks that you play a role in homework, do it. Cooperate with the teacher. It shows your child that the school and home are a team. Follow the directions given by the teacher.
✪ If homework is meant to be done by your child alone, stay away.
Too much parent involvement can prevent homework from having some positive effects. Homework is a great way for kids to develop independent, lifelong learning skills.
✪ Stay informed. Talk with your child‘s teacher. Make sure you know the purpose of homework and what your child‘s class rules are.
✪ Help your child figure out what is hard homework and what is easy homework. Have your child do the hard work first. This will mean he will be most alert when facing the biggest challenges. Easy material will seem to go fast when fatigue begins to set in.
One more thing... our teachers dressed up this Halloween as four of the Power Rangers! We loved seeing them this way!
And...Spotlight on Sarah! The teachers just LOVE her shirt.
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