We've been busy in Room 202! You have probably heard that we have welcomed two new students our our classroom. Andrew and Prayag have joined our class and we are fortunate to have them. They both are now valued members of our classroom community and fit right in. There are now 24 students in our classroom.
Andrew's dad, Mr. Zhang, visited our classroom on Friday to share and discuss the traditions associated with Chinese New Year. We thank him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to share his talents, memories, and slideshow with us. The children greatly appreciated his gifts of Chinese writing and red envelopes!
We recently began and are now immersed in a Historical Fiction unit. Students have read a story and articles about the California Gold Rush. We are now reading stories written by Laura Ingalls Wilder set in Minnesota in the 1800s. We will also be reading other fictional pieces based on real events from the past. Students have been writing in response to reading, answering comprehension questions and creating written essays in response to a writing prompt. As always, the best way to improve reading skills is for children to read, read, read at home. RAZ Kids counts as reading and also provides practice with comprehension skills.
The boys and girls started a new unit in math...Area and Perimeter. Information about this unit was sent home with the students on Friday. The first few lessons have focused on measuring in standard square units to determine the area of a rectangle.
Your child is encouraged to use Xtra Math at home to improve math fact fluency and Zearn, which follows our math curriculum and provides a preview and practice of the skills being taught in the classroom.
In Science we continue to learn about Weather and Climate and we will soon be starting a unit about the Puritans in social studies.
The students recently took their first MCAS practice test, done together as a class. We discussed the importance of going back to the text to locate the correct answer and how to eliminate answers that do not make sense. We will continue practicing with paper and pencil as we discuss test-taking strategies, as well as on the Chrome Book, using a program called Edulastic. Your child is encouraged to use Typing.com at home to help them with their keyboarding skills.
Valentine's Day - We will have a valentine exchange in our classroom. I will soon be sending home a list of student names. Please be sure your child has a valentine for each of their classmates in order to avoid hurt feelings.
Wanted: We are doing our best to keep our classroom germ free during this season of flu, colds, and other illnesses. We have plenty of tissues, but are running low on wipes for student desks and tables. If you have extra wipes that you would be willing to donate, it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!