Please note I am making a change in our blog's format based on feedback I have received. I will put important dates at the beginning of the blog and will significantly shorten and focus the "What We Learned" section. I hope these changes will still give you a good understanding of what we are doing in class. I am replacing the extensive "how" information with "I can..." statements. I strongly encourage you to ask your student to demonstrate their "I can..." statements. We will work towards mastery and it may take some time to reach the "I can..." statement, but students and parents alike will know the end goals.
Important Dates & Reminders
Our library days are: October 24; November 8, 27; December 11; January 8, 24; February 7, 22; March 8, 22; April 16, 30; and May 14, 29.
October 12, 2012 - Fall Family Night from 6pm till 8pm and Windermere Spirit Wear Sale
Fall Family Fun Night is just around the corner! By now, your child should have brought home several flyers detailing some of the wonderful opportunities at this event, including climbing on the inflatables, making s'mores, playing in the Hay Maze and more. This event cannot happen without the efforts of many volunteers, so please consider giving an hour or two of your time that night to help us put on another fabulous Windermere evening! Please visit our online sign up sheet by clicking (on the PTO link to the right) to volunteer! As always, thank you for your support of PTO and its programs! (Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend this year. I will be celebrating my son's birthday early by going to the How to Train Your Dragon extravaganza which unfortunately overlaps. I hope all can make it to Fall Family Fun Night. This is a spectacular event and I have many wonderful fall evening memories with my children at Fall Family Fun Night. It seems as though the PTO outdoes itself every year.)
October 22, 2012 - No school, professional development day
October 24, 2012 - Picture Retakes
October 26, 2012 - End of the first quarter
October 29, 2012 - No school, teacher grading day
October 31, 2012 - Halloween party (NOTE CORRECTED TIME: extended lunch from 12pm till 1:15pm, Most students go home to change into costumes.)
What We Learned This Week
Word Study
- We can define nouns (proper nouns, common nouns, plural nouns), verbs and adjectives.
- We can give examples of nouns (proper nouns, common nouns, plural nouns), verbs and adjectives.
- We can identify nouns (proper nouns, common nouns, plural nouns), verbs and adjectives in passages.
Reading
- We can summarize reading passages and stories.
- We can identify the main characters (who), setting (when and where), and plot (key "what" and "why" events from the beginning, middle and end).
- We can use context clues to understand unfamiliar words.
Writing
- We can take notes using the A B C's of note taking (abbreviate, bullet points, caveman speak).
- We can plan, draft, edit and publish friendly letters.
- We can state the parts of a friendly letter (heading, greeting, opening, body, closing, signature).
- We can indent (opening, body, closing) or not indent (heading, greeting, signature) the appropriate parts of a friendly letter.
I'm sending home your student's pen pal letter as they turned it in after planning, drafting, and editing with the changes I then asked them to do marked in red. Please review this, sign it and return on Monday. These are great letters and it's impressive that students are writing multiple paragraph letters so early in the year with as much independence as I've given them.
Math
- We can add two digit numbers using any of three strategies: 10's and 1's, preserve a number and add its number bond, round and adjust.
- We can add and subtract all one digit numbers fluently.
Science
Many thanks to all of our chaperons. We had a great earth sciences field trip to Highbanks.
- We know that small rocks come from larger rocks.
- We know that rocks are made of/composed of minerals.
- We know we can compare rocks by color, shape, hardness, and luster.
- We know the rock cycle is three processes can turn any kind of rock into a type of rock dictated by the process: extreme heat creates igneous rock, pressure creates metamorphic rock, erosion and weathering create sedimentary rock.
- We know soil can be composed of different materials.
- We know soil appears in different layers (humus, topsoil, subsoil, and parent material).
- We know the Earth is covered by different layers of rock: crust, mantel, and core.
- We know floods and glaciers move rocks and boulders.
- We know geologists study the Earth.
Social Studies
- We know globes are models of the Earth.
- We can list the seven continents.
- We know we live in the continent North America, the country United States of America, the state of Ohio, Franklin county and the city of Upper Arlington.
- We know the Earth is divided by an imaginary mid-line called the equator and that it is the warmest part of the planet because its rotation keeps it closest to the sun at all times.
Service Learning
Anastasia Peratopoulos, a former Windermere student and now eighth grader at Hastings, is fighting leukemia. She visited us and shared the 1,000 Letter Project with our school. Each member of our class wrote two support letters to two different young people with leukemia. I explained this was a form of blood cancer. Your students may have some questions for you.
Physical Education
- We can beat Mr. Hudson mercilessly at dodge ball. It looked a lot like that... brutal:)
