12
Jan
2017

Happy New Year!!

Introducing our new student!

Our new Ghioni Gem joined us on Monday, and her name is Abilinah. Her favorite color is purple, and she enjoys riding her bike and coloring.

READING & WRITING

All students have just finished writing their first Narrative story of the year. They worked on creating a story plot, developing character traits, and connecting the ideas within their beginning, middle and end. We are enjoying listening to those who are willing to read their stories to us.

In reading, we continue to focus on recognizing the variety of traits found within a main character, making claims about the identified traits, and writing evidence that supports the claims.

We have begun our literacy stations, where I’m able to work with small groups each day. We are currently focusing on nonfiction texts with an emphasis on text features, vocabulary, and the difference between making inferences and finding “right there” information.

MATH

We continue to do our two-minute timers to practice our math facts each week. Many of the students have clearly been practicing, as they are moving up quickly to the 12’s.

We have just begun our unit on Division. Most kiddos are picking up on this challenging concept quickly.

SCIENCE

Before break, students presented their research projects on their Puget Sound animals. Some students made posters and the others created board games or activity books.

SOCIAL STUDIES

We have launched into our Oregon Trail Unit. We began by learning the overview of our U.S. history that led up to the pioneers setting out on the Oregon Trail. This week, the students will form family groups and join a wagon train, which will help them build an understanding of the journey across the U.S. in the 1840s. They will confront difficulties such as illness, food shortages, and a broken wagon. Encounters with Native Americans will set the scene for examining the views of the period as well as the ethical issues surrounding westward expansion.