Weekly Update

Math 

Students did awesome with fractions this week!  We changed mixed numbers into fractions and fractions into mixed numbers.  We also added and subtracted fractions, including fractions with whole numbers!  Students are impressing me with their knowledge and retention of fraction concepts.  Our final math test will be next Wednesday.  Students received the study guide (with extra credit opportunity) today.

    

Comparing fractions

Playing Fraction Triominoes

Reading
Towards the end of last week, we started our final read aloud, Matilda.  Our goal is to finish it by the last day of school, and we are moving at a good rate.  This week we also used close reading to read more closely into our Storyworks magazine articles.  We worked in groups to answer and discuss questions verbally.  Many of the prompted questions regarded the author's craft (ex. "Why do you think the author...?").  Students had great discussions about the text!

Writing
Next week we will share our picture books with our first grade buddies, and then I will share those stories with you on the blog as well.  Students have enjoyed making these digital storybooks, and they are turning out great!


Social Studies
In social studies, we are finishing up a branches of government project.  These are due in class on Thursday.  I am so impressed with the students who have the Preamble to the Constitution memorized.  Ask your child if they are one of them!  On Thursday, we will have a quiz on the names of the 3 branches of government and two duties that each branch performs.  

Our last day of Junior Achievement was Monday, and boy was it a real treat!  Mr. Giles finished off the lessons with a trading game.  Groups of students traded with other groups (a.k.a. "countries") to get the necessary parts to assemble a computer.  Then, we got to try many different flavors of milk from Mr. Giles's company.  We got to hear more about Mr. Giles's business experience and taste test chocolate, peach and even fruit loop flavored milk!  Yum!

Field Day
We do know how to bring the school year to an end with a bang!  We have had so much fun these final weeks of May with all of the extra fun activities.  Today we enjoyed Field Day with many awesome games!  Check out some of the fun we had below.

Important Info. and Upcoming Dates
Please make sure that lunch fines are paid off before school ends.  All library books were due today.  In addition, all of Mrs. Leighton's classroom library books and any other borrowed materials are due by Wednesday (5/28) of next week.  Don't forget to turn in any tests or papers needing a parent signature as well!

Students will slowly bring home everything from school next week.  All items will be taken home by Thursday, so students will not need to bring a backpack to school with them on the last day of school.

• May 26th- Memorial Day- No school!
• May 28th- Chapter 21/22 Fractions Test
• May 29th- Branches of Government Quiz
• May 30th- Last day of school!  This is a half day with dismissal at 11:50, so no lunch will be served.

On Friday of next week, I will post the last Weekly Update!

St. Charles Field Trip

We had a beautiful day yesterday for our trip to St. Charles!  First we visited the Lewis and Clark Museum.  I was very impressed that the students remembered so much from when we studied this in class earlier in the school year!  Great job, students.  Our tour guide went in to such detail that we all learned so much more about Lewis and Clark's journey west.  

Reading all about Lewis, Clark, Seaman the dog, Sacagawea and York

Viewing all of the neat dioramas

Finding all kinds of hidden stuffed animals 

Mrs. Garrison's and Mrs. Leighton's classes with Lewis, Clark, and Seaman

We loved seeing two of Saint Louis' 250th birthday cakes!  One was in front of the Lewis and Clark Museum (above).  The other one was in front of the First Missouri State Capitol Building, which was our next stop! 

We got to see where the House and Senate sat!

Learning about the residence section of the building

Exploring the general store below the courthouse

We had so much fun in the historic town of St. Charles!  We would like to thank Mrs. Fife, Mrs. Giles, Mrs. Rolwes and Mrs. Reijgers for chaperoning our trip!  

We the People...

We are learning the Preamble of the Constitution in working on our branches of government project.  Students are doing great with this so far!  Here is a video that they can use at home to help memorize it.


                          

Weekly Update

Math 

This week we continued with fractions.  We discussed many different ways to find equivalent fractions and we compared fractions with less than, greater than, and equal to signs.  We will continue with fractions next week.   

Adding fractions to our math notebook

Representing equivalent fractions

Playing a pizza fractions game

Reading
We have finished our read aloud "Wonder," and it is an amazing book with a great message.  We have been focusing on theme a lot lately and we discussed that friendship, acceptance and kindness are big themes in this book.  We illustrated our favorite parts from the book.  Those pictures and some of the amazing quotes from the book are now hanging in our room as reminders. 

Also, iMovie book trailers are trickling in.  I will post them as they are turned in.  Enjoy!  





Writing/Spelling
This week students brainstormed the problem, solution and theme of their picture books and began drafting.  Students shared their drafts with the class to get positive feedback and advice.  We are working on some great themes, such as kindness, bravery, integrity, and being yourself.  The next and final spelling test is Friday, May 23rd.  

Social Studies
This week we reviewed the three branches of government.  Click on the picture below to link up to a video that the students really enjoyed.

We also started Junior Achievement with Mrs. Rolwes and Mr. Giles this week!   We learned that an entrepreneur is someone who starts his or her own business.   We even heard personal stories from our parent volunteers about their experiences in the business field.  We've had a lot of fun so far and have learned a lot!  We can't wait for our final Junior Achievement lesson on Monday!

Playing a game called, "Hot Dog Stand"

Using our business problem-solving catchers 

Ice Cream Truck/Bubble Bus
We enjoyed the ice cream truck and bubble bus reward today as an end of the year treat!  Check out the fun we had today!

Important and Upcoming Dates:

• May 16th- No school!
• May 21st- Field Trip to Lewis and Clark Museum and First Capitol!
• May 23rd- Field Day!  Wear comfortable clothes and shoes!  If any parents would like to volunteer, here is the link to sign up:  http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4FA4A923AA8-science
• May 23rd- All school library books are due
• May 23rd- Final spelling test
• May 26th- Memorial Day- No school!
• May 30th- Last day of school!  This is a half day with dismissal at 11:50, so no lunch will be served.

I will keep you posted with any other important information and upcoming dates as the year comes to an end.  Thank you!