Weekly Update from January 6

Hi Families,

Happy New Year! Thank you to all of the parents who led activities and support during our Winter Party before the break. It was so much fun! Check out pictures at the bottom of the update. Also, thank you so much to all for the sweet cards, generous gifts, and yummy treats! I am so grateful. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season!

It’s great to be back in the classroom with students. Everyone is VERY excited about the new addition to our classroom –the “not-couch.” I swear, it’s not a couch! It is a comfy chair for students to sit in when it is their “day of the week.” We have a whole complex turn-taking system. Ask your child to explain it to you! So far we’ve had minimal disruptions due to the comfy chair arrangement and students are doing an excellent job negotiating and sharing with one another.

​Important Upcoming Dates:

• Monday, January 16: (the following Monday) Martin Luther King Jr. Day -no school.​

Below, check out students measuring the lengths of strings using centimeter cubes.

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Community Building
In addition to all of the excitement and discussion about the new comfy chair arrangement, we had a nice week working together. Most students have been doing a great job working in partnerships during various academic assignments, which I believe enriches their learning experience. On Friday we had a discussion about how to calm ourselves down when we are over-excited, anxious, or full of energy. We needed that after a week of having recess mostly indoors!

Literacy 
This week we explored immigration to the United States. We learned about push and pull factors that cause people to immigrate and heard the story of Charles Steinmetz, a German immigrant who almost got turned away at Ellis Island but ended up contributing enormously to the US in the field of electrical engineering and mathematics. We also practiced our verbal discussion skills by answering literal and inferential questions in complete sentences (the students were very annoyed by my insistence on this -haha!)

Writing
In Writing this week, we learned about the four different types of sentences: statement, question, exclamatory, and command. We practiced identifying, punctuating, and writing them.

Phonics
In Phonics we reviewed trick words, practiced reading, spelling, and marking up multisyllabic words and words with suffixes. I also introduced prefixes and we did a fun matching activity where students matched a word with its definition by using their knowledge of prefixes. Students took the Unit 5 Phonics test at the end of the week on suffixes and multisyllabic words. I'll grade them and send them home next week. 

Our next unit in Phonics is on the all-important vowel-consonant-e syllable, often referenced using the phrase "magic e" or "silent e."

• Read more in the Fundations Home Support Packet for Unit 6.
• Review with the Fundations Home Support Packet for Unit 5.

Math
In Math we kicked off Unit 3 on Measuring Length, where students measure and estimate lengths in standard units and solve measurement story problems within 100. This week we explored measuring in centimeters and meters and learned how to use different measuring tools for different magnitudes of length. We'll explore inches and feet next week.

• Read more in the Illustrative Math Family Support Materials for Unit 3
• Review with the Illustrative Math Family Support Materials for Unit 2

Social Studies
This week we tied in our literacy unit on Immigration to our Social Studies topics on world geography and migration. We also began learning about the continent of Europe and its geographical features.

​​Thank you for reading! Please reach out with any questions or feedback. Have a great week!

​Below, check out students measuring the lengths of large reptiles (simulated with masking tape strips around the room) using 10 centimeter tools, rulers, and meter sticks.

​Below, check out all the action from our Winter Party and last day of school before break!