December 4th-8th

Writing:
We are continuing to practice our storytelling this week. Students are focusing on coming up with a character, a problem, and a solution and then adding lots of details in between to make it interesting. We are also working on editing with a partner and not relying on Mrs. Alden to fix our mistakes! Students will look for capital letters, punctuation, and complete sentences before publishing.

Published final copies are being kept in a portfolio for each child in case you're wondering why hardly any writing ever comes home. :-)

Reading:
This week we are focusing on one of my favorite authors, Leo Lionni! We will read many of his books and compare and contrast them to look for similar themes and problems.

Math:
We are finishing up addition with regrouping. After a quick review, students will take a quick assessment. Then we will move into subtraction with regrouping. We will practice with base-ten blocks first before moving into the traditional algorithm. Students will play games, solve word problems, complete an I-Spy before being assessed at the end of the week.

Social Studies:
We are continuing our study of maps by making a map of the world's continents and oceans. Then we will practice locating places on a map and using cardinal directions to lead someone there. At the end of the week, we will take everything we've learned and use it to create a pirate island with buried treasure and a treasure map to lead us to it. Ahoy maties!

Question of the week:
How did pine trees become associated with Christmas?

Reminders:
TAG referral deadline: December 8th.
Last day of the semester: December 21st.
Holiday party: December 21st from 1-2 pm.