December 14-17

Writing:

Students will continue to use their descriptive and sensory language skills as they wrap up their ice cream writing assignment and as they begin our last piece of the year about what winter is to them.

Reading:

This week in reading we will be finishing our unit on media literacy.  We will watch various commercials for cereal companies. Students will choose a target audience and create a cereal package they think that their audience would want to buy. Students will name their product and give it a price.  We will also make a Venn diagram of the difference between traditional literacy and media literacy

Math:

This week we are figuring each other out! We will be writing word problems about ourselves and putting them on a poster. Then we will have the chance to solve our friends’ problems! The posters will be out on the bulletin board in a few days, so come see if you can figure us out!

Science:

We are finishing our playground model this week. We will be thinking about how each piece of equipment is inclusive for different ability levels and writing a paragraph about it. We will also be reading after several different types of disabilities, including visual impairments, hearing impairments, autism, and learning disabilities.   

Research question of the week: Do snakes have ears? How do they hear?

Reminders:

December 17th- Winter Party 1:30-2:30

December 18-January 4 Winter Break

January 5th First Day back after Winter Break

December 7th-11th

Writing

We will focusing on descriptive writing and sensory language as we invent and write about a our very own flavor of ice cream. Students will create a digital advertisement for their flavor.

Please remember that Life Journals are due every Friday.

Life Journal expectations are as follows:

1. Students will glue or draw an item in their Life Journals. It could be a movie or game ticket, a picture, a drawing, an envelope with a special letter in it…as long as it can fit in their notebook, students may use it.

2. Students will write at least a paragraph about what was glued or drawn into their Life Journal. The visual placed in a Life Journal will assist in writing about it.

Reading

This week in reading we will continue learning about media literacy.  We will look at some samples of media with images, movie trailers, commercials and news media.  We’ll discuss how sound, color and image affect how we perceive things.  Students will discuss how commercials often give opinions in order to persuade people to buy their product.  We’ll discuss how we think commercials affect children and what is the purpose of the commercial.  We’ll also look at video games and talk about their purpose.  

Math

We are reviewing 2 digit addition and subtraction. We’ve only looked at them separately and now we are combining them. We will have to pay attention to the operation sign. We will also be working on mixed addition and subtraction word problems where students will be responsible for deciding if the problem is asking them to add or subtract. It will be a great review of these important skills before heading into the holiday break!

iXL: L.8 and L.9

Science:

This week we are taking what we learned on our field trip and putting it to good use! We will be designing the new Caraway playground! We will decide as a class what structures we want on our new playground and split into groups to make a model of each chosen structure. We will be thinking about how our new playground is inclusive for kids of all abilities. It’s going to be a great week of architecture and engineering!   

Research question of the week: Who invented teddy bears? Where did the name come from?

Reminders:

December 7-11: Book Fair

December 18-January 4 Winter Break

January 5th First Day back after Winter Break

November 30- December 4th

Writing

This week will be all about letter writing! We will review the components of a letter, and write a letter to one of our favorite fictional holiday characters. We will also be studying synonyms and antonyms.

Please remember that Life Journals are due every Friday.

Life Journal expectations are as follows:

1. Students will glue or draw an item in their Life Journals. It could be a movie or game ticket, a picture, a drawing, an envelope with a special letter in it…as long as it can fit in their notebook, students may use it.

2. Students will write at least a paragraph about what was glued or drawn into their Life Journal. The visual placed in a Life Journal will assist in writing about it.

Reading

This week in reading we will focus on Media Literacy. We’ll ask students the question, “What is media?” and how does it affect our lives.  Students will use comprehension skills to analyze how words, images, graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning. Using media resources, we will discuss different purposes of media (e.x.: informational, entertainment) and identify various written conventions for using digital media (e.g., e-mail, website, video game).

Please remember to read 100 minutes a week at home.  If students read 20 minutes at least 5 days a week, they will reach this goal.  Challenge your child to use more than one strategy they’ve learned in class during their at home reading time.

Math

3 digit place value continues this week. We will practice adding and subtracting 100 from 3 digit numbers and think about different ways to make the same number. For example, 325 can be made of 3 hundreds, 2 tens, and 5 ones, or 32 tens and 5 ones. We will review everything we’ve learned and wrap up the week with an assessment.

iXL: M.5, M.10, M.13

Continue to practice those basic facts! We want every child to be able to recall addition and subtraction facts to 18 automatically!

Social Studies:

It’s National Geography Week!  We will be studying different types of maps and discussing why it’s important to be able to read a map.  We will also learn about globes and where the continents and bodies of water are on Earth.  

Science:

We will be engineers this week as we design a bridge to get from Gnome Village to Gnome Market.  We will be working as a team, coming up with a design, building it and testing it out.  If you have any containers you can keep over the Thanksgiving break and send in for us to use that would be wonderful.  

Building supplies:

empty toilet paper rolls

empty paper towel rolls

empty plastic tubs (like yogurt)

empty boxes (like crackers)

Scotch tape would also be helpful for building

Research question of the week: Research a holiday from a different country. Tell what country it is from, why they celebrate it, and what they do to celebrate it.

Reminders:

November 23-27 Thanksgiving Holidays

December 2: Early Release

December 3: Field Trip- sack lunch and closed-toed shoes

December 7-11: Book Fair

December 18-January 4 Winter Break

January 5th First Day back after Winter Break

November 16-20

The Kinsa FLUency program is now live for Caraway Elementary!!!

Please redeem your FREE Kinsa Smart Thermometer by following these easy steps:

• Download the Kinsa app for iOS or Android
• Check that your phone is compatible with Kinsa Smart Thermometers
• Follow the prompts to create profiles for anyone in your family
• Swipe right to search for our school group – hit “Find”
• Search using our school name and zip code
• Join Group and follow the prompts to redeem your thermometer
• Kinsa will send a thermometer directly to your home address!  

Writing

We will wrap up our unit on expository and informational writing this week. We will use what we have learned to create another expository on a prompt of our choice.

Please remember that Life Journals are due every Friday.

Life Journal expectations are as follows:

1. Students will glue or draw an item in their Life Journals. It could be a movie or game ticket, a picture, a drawing, an envelope with a special letter in it…as long as it can fit in their notebook, students may use it.

2. Students will write at least a paragraph about what was glued or drawn into their Life Journal. The visual placed in a Life Journal will assist in writing about it.

Reading

This week in reading we will focus on fiction vs. nonfiction. Students will be able to identify the differences between fiction and nonfiction text by reading books about the same topic, one fiction and the other nonfiction.  Students will make inferences and draw conclusions about nonfiction texts. We will learn about the features of nonfiction text.  Some of the text features they will learn are index, table of contents, glossary, captions maps, bold print and photographs.   Students will learn to understand the purpose of each of the text features and how it can help them understand nonfiction text more easily.

Math

We are looking at 3 digit place value this week. We will review the different ways we can write numbers and apply that knowledge to 3 digit numbers. We will practice building 3 digit numbers out of base-ten blocks and decide if that number is odd or even. We will talk about the value of each digit and why the 6 has a different value in 624 and 216. We will wrap up the week with a pumpkin I-Spy and a mystery puzzle where kids will have to work out clues in order to reveal a picture!

iXL: M.5, M.10, M.13

Continue to practice those basic facts! We want every child to be able to recall addition and subtraction facts to 18 automatically!

Social Studies:

It’s National Geography Week!  We will be studying different types of maps and discussing why it’s important to be able to read a map.  We will also learn about globes and where the continents and bodies of water are on Earth.  

Science:

We will be focused on magnets this week!  We will learn all about magnets and their properties.  We will look at the forces of push and pull with magnets.  We will investigate with magnets during some fun hands on experiments.

Some great websites to go to to continue your child’s science experience:  

http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-magnetism/

http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-magnets

http://www.magnetgames.net/

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/detectivescience/magnets.html

Research question of the week: How many different versions of the fairy tale, Cinderella, can you find?

Bonus points: Write your own version!

Reminders:

November 23-27 Thanksgiving Holidays

December 2  Early Release

December 7-11: Book Fair

December 18-January 4 Winter Break

January 5th First Day back after Winter Break

Pictures

Here are some pictures from some of our adventures!

Showing off our character pumpkins:

Halloween STEM challenge:

Learning to make kimbap: a sushi-like Korean dish!

Yum!

A big thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Lee for teaching us!

November 9-13

The Kinsa FLUency program is now live for Caraway Elementary!!!

Please redeem your FREE Kinsa Smart Thermometer by following these easy steps:

• Download the Kinsa app for iOS or Android
• Check that your phone is compatible with Kinsa Smart Thermometers
• Follow the prompts to create profiles for anyone in your family
• Swipe right to search for our school group – hit “Find”
• Search using our school name and zip code
• Join Group and follow the prompts to redeem your thermometer
• Kinsa will send a thermometer directly to your home address!  

Writing

We will continue learning about the features of expository and informational writing this week. We will use what we have learned to create a piece all about South Korea!

Reading and Social Studies

Our study of South Korea continues this week. We will be studying the different symbols on the flag, learning about lotus flowers, making traditional Korean fans, and even trying our hand at calligraphy! 

We will also will have a fun demonstration from Sang and Jung Lee (Lynn's parents) as they teach us how to make a Korean dish called Kimbap!

Math

We are continuing subtraction this week. Last week we learned several different strategies for subtracting and this week we are practicing them. With several games and lots of word problems, we will become subtraction stars! We will also begin working on mixed word problems, meaning that now kids will have to decide if the problem is asking them to add or subtract. Asking kids to review addition and subtraction key words will help them remember!

Continue to practice those basic facts- it is a goal of every second grader to recall their basic facts automatically!

iXL: L.7, L.8, and L.9

Games to play: http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/online/missing.swf

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Addition/urikares.html

http://www.oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/SpeedGrid/Subtraction/urikasub1res.html

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fruitshoot/fruit_shoot_subtraction.swf

Science:

We will continue to study force and motion this week. We will be doing lots of experiments and we need some materials to help us in our learning.  Please let me know if you can send in any of the following. Label them with your name as most of the supplies will be returned to you!

10 toy cars

4 large sheets of sandpaper

10 marbles

10 containers of bubbles- these won't be returned

5 pool noodles- these won't be returned as they will be cut in half

10 tops

5 pinwheels- the kind you blow to spin-

10 bouncy balls

Thanks!

Some great websites to go to to continue your child’s science experience:  

http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-force-push-and-pull/

https://online.kidsdiscover.com/unit/force-and-motion

http://www.pbs.org/parents/curiousgeorge/activities/pc_ramp_n_roll.html

https://preschoolstem.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/slide-vs-roll/

Research Question of the week: What are hieroglyphs?

Reminders:

11/10 Holiday pictures and picture retakes

11/23-11/27- No school! Thanksgiving Break

November 2-6

Writing

This week in writing we will continue practicing expository writing by writing to explain why our skeleton is important. We will write our rough draft, revise and edit it and then finish with a published final copy.

Reading and Social Studies

Social studies and reading are connected this week as we learn about South Korea. We will research the flag, political leaders, landmarks, food, and celebrations. We will practice reading non-fiction texts and taking notes.

Come by and view our heritage boxes/ ofrendas in the hallway! They turned out great!

Please remember to read 100 minutes a week at home.  If students read 20 minutes at least 5 days a week, they will reach this goal.  Challenge your child to use more than one strategy they’ve learned in class during their at home reading time.

Here is a great reading list for boys that covers many reading levels:

http://www.readkiddoread.com/blog/i-hated-to-read-til-i-read-this-booklist-for-boys

Math

We are moving onto subtraction this week. We will learn several strategies for subtraction 2 digit numbers including drawing a picture, splitting the smaller number, thinking addition with a number line, and the traditional regrouping method. We will play games, search for problems around the room, and solve word problems. Practicing basic math facts at home will make the transition into 2 digit numbers much easier!

In iXL F.9, F.10, H.5, and H.9 would all be great practice!

Science:

We are going to be studying force and motion for the next several weeks.  We will start with push and pull and then go on to spin, roll and slide.  We will be doing a lot of physical movement to get these concepts down.  We will go out to the playground and see if we can decide the types of motion and force we are using when we play.

Some great websites to go to to continue your child’s science experience:  

http://easyscienceforkids.com/all-about-force-push-and-pull/

https://online.kidsdiscover.com/unit/force-and-motion

http://www.pbs.org/parents/curiousgeorge/activities/pc_ramp_n_roll.html

https://preschoolstem.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/slide-vs-roll/

Question of the week: Why are barns red?

Reminders:

11/5 Field Trip- your child needs a disposable lunch and closed-toed shoes.

October 26-30

Writing

We are beginning our next writing unit on expository and informational writing. This week, students will focus on exploring and explaining from personal knowledge and experience. We will examine several examples of expository writing, and learn how to state and connect our ideas using transition words, clear topic sentences, and strong conclusions.

Reading

It’s pumpkin book report presentation week!  Last week, we wrote our book reports in class.  Students wrote about the setting, character, problem, solution, and their favorite part of the book. This week, students will present their book report and pumpkin character at school beginning Tuesday, October 27th, and then bring their pumpkin home on Friday, Oct. 30th.

Your child’s pumpkin character is due on Tuesday, Oct. 27th.  

Math

We are continuing our study of length this week. We will learn to estimate a distance and then use our ruler to check. We will also measure our buddy and practice deciding between centimeters, inches, feet, and yards. On Wednesday, we will review everything we’ve learned and we’ll assess on Thursday.

Friday will be lots of fun as we participate in a Halloween STEM challenge! Kids will be working in groups to build a pumpkin catapult, a marshmallow tower, and a spider web that catches critters. For this exciting activity, we will need a few supplies:

6 small decorative pumpkins (not real, we don’t want them to be heavy since they are being launched)

Plastic spoons

Rubber bands- different sizes

Painter’s tape

Miniature marshmallows

Toothpicks

Yarn

Small plastic critters

Plastic cups

A few volunteers will make this run more smoothly. If you can come help our class on Friday from 1-2:30, please let me know.

Social Studies:

This week we will continue our study on our family heritage and ancestry.  We will become familiar with the celebration, Dia de los Muertos, that the Latin American culture celebrates.  The focus is on the symbols in the culture and ancestry compared with other cultures.  It has been neat to see all of the similarities and differences between cultures.  We will make a “heritage box” or “ofrendas box” that represents our family heritage or ancestry.  Please send in a shoe box, colored tissue paper, and battery-lit votives for this activity.  

Science:

This week we will continue to study patterns in the sky.  The overall theme is that there are patterns to the activity we see in the sky with the moon, sun, stars and clouds.  We will discuss what we see in the sky and then talk about what patterns we can recognize.  This week we will wrap up looking at the moon with a fun Oreo moon phases activity, then look at clouds and constellations. We will assess at the end of the week with the focus being patterns we see in the sky.

Some great websites to go to to continue your child’s science experience:  

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/kidsclub/flash/index.html#.Vh6-H-xViko

http://www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/space.htm

http://www.planetsforkids.org/moon-moon.html

https://stardate.org/nightsky/moon

http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases_calendar.phtml

http://www.kidsastronomy.com/astroskymap/lunar.htm

http://hubblesite.org/

Question of the week: Why do cats purr? Hint- it’s more than being happy!

Reminders:

10/28      Early Release Day

Here are a few pictures from our field trip: