9/11-914/17

I am really enjoying the kids. We had a great week, and had so much fun in projects building and playing with the catapults we made. 

Reading: This week in reading we continued to Read to Self and build our stamina. By Thursday, we were able to add in Work on Writing in writing journals. We also continued learning about plot structure, specifically the rising events, climax, falling events and resolution. Next week, we will look at context clues. 

Writing: We are continuing to learn and practice cursive. This week, we completed the MAPS Growth Assessment for fall during our writing time. On Thursday, we began talking about writing an opinion piece, using two flavors of Oreos. The kids got to taste Apple Pie and Birthday Cake Oreo and form their opinion on their favorite flavor (Birthday Cake won 16 to 8). Next week, we will brainstorm the reasons why or why not Birthday Cake was or wasn't their favorite, and begin writing their rough draft.

Grammar: This week, we reviewed nouns, and learned about pronouns. This next week, we will discuss plural nouns and irregular plural nouns. This week, the students will be given their first spelling list to begin studying. Their first test will be 9/28/17.

Projects: This week we started learning about simple machines. We created a catapult and a screw at our centers and the kids got to have a hands-on experience with these simple machines. Next week, we continue learning about simple machines they will get to do two more experiments: a pulley and a ramp. 

Homework: Read 20 minutes everyday.