Weekly Gazette (Week of March 9-March 13)

What is My Child Learning This Week?

Reading/Science-We begin a unit about deserts/habitats. Students will read various texts related to deserts, but the primary texts will be Dig, Wait, Listen, a wonderful desert story in their reading textbooks, Desert Biome, an informational text, and Living in the Desert, a play(Reader's Theater) about animals and the people who live in the desert. We will study this unit for about four (4) to six (6) weeks. Today, we begin Dig, Wait, Listen. We focus on its vocabulary and use of picture and context clues to determine unknown words.

Also this week students will complete two (2) science experiments related to magnets and force/motion. This week ends our unit on force and motion. The last month and half of school will cover social studies topics.

Math-We focus on logical reasoning skills. Everyday this week, students will work in pairs and/or groups to problem solve various mathematical situations and write/explain strategies used to solve them. The goal is for students to make sense of math in their own way. In addition, for about ten (10) minutes daily, we will focus on double-digit addition and subtraction strategies.

Writing-Students continue to write good leads to begin a story. Also, students will be introduced to an activity called "Who Took My Caps?", a very powerful writing and shared reading activity that reinforces the use and importance of using punctuation in writing.

Word Wall/Shared Writing-Students will use the word wall to spell other words. e.g with rain, they are able to spell brain, drain, pain, train, stain, main, and sprain. It is very important for writers/readers to make these connections. We will also work with word families such as -ike and -ould. We do these activities as a group, with students 100% involved in the writing and thinking processes of these activities. The students write, not the teacher. Please work on activities such as these at home to help reinforce how words are related. I have websites posted in the online resources section that have activities such as these also.

Tests/Quizzes This Week

• Subtraction timed test this Friday, March13th. Students will have five (5) minutes to complete fifty problems of single-digit subtraction or five (5) minutes to complete twenty double digit subtraction problems. (practice work is in your child's homework folder).


• Cursive Writing assessment (only lowercase letters) this Friday. Students begin learning capital letters next week, March 17th!


• Word Wall assessment this Thursday, March 12th.

Important Reminders

• There is NO SCHOOL next Monday, March 16th. (Spring Break)


• Graded papers go home this week. Please return them by Wednesday, March 25th.


• Third quarter ends this Friday, March 13th.


• Thanks to all who attended FamilyDay! It was fantastic, and the kids had a wonderful time! :)


• Please check the Online Resources section of the blog to explore various activities that your child can do at home to reinforce skills in math, science, and language arts.