Language Arts

     At this point in the year, all students are reading in groups and taking books home weekly. The children love to read and are very proud of themselves! Please keep up the great practice at home!

     Besides reading groups, we are studying about word patterns to help us spell, learning to hear the long and short vowel sounds, and continuing to add new sight words to our Word Wall. Working on rhymes is also a weekly practice.

     With the stories we read, we are still working on identifying the characters, the setting, and the problem/solution. This skill is still challenging for many students. Our crew is also working on everyone being able to answer questions about books we read.

Math

     We continue focusing on recognizing, writing, counting, and comparing numbers 11-30. We have also been learning to show how we solve story problems using pictures, words, and numbers. Our crew has been practicing adding and subtracting, making reasonable estimates, and recognizing more complex patters. This month we are also discussing measurements and different ways we measure time, weight, temperature, and length.

Character

     I am slowly introducing the Habits of Learning, which are learning practices connected to our SIERRA norms. We are specifically focusing on producing high quality work all the time, and respecting other students during class work time.

     Reading books and discussing how we can demonstrate our SIERRA norms at school is still a weekly (sometimes daily) practice.

Expedition News

     Even though our winter seems to have been cut short, we continue focusing on our Winter Matters expedition. We have studied about why we have seasons in general, and winter in particular. We looked at the different kinds of snow crystals and how they are made. We have just finished reading and writing about animals that migrate. Next up is how animals that do not migrate survive the winter.

Important Dates

April 16-18: Goal Setting Conferences

April 17: minimum day

April 25, May 2, 9, 16: swim lessons at the high school