Poetry Cafe Time!

We have had a very busy week! I don’t know about you… but I am looking forward to warmer weather very soon! For those kiddos who have been ill this week, I hope that you have a restful weekend and get to feeling better so you can return soon. We miss you bunches! Thank you in advance to those of you who are going to be able to attend the Poetry Café… your children have been working hard cooking up some yummy poems. Just a note: if you have not been able to send back your conference forms to confirm your meeting times, please try to send that in as soon as you can. Thank you for taking the time to fill out the “What do you want to discuss” form. This really helps me to make sure we discuss all of your concerns when we meet. Valentine’s Party Monday!
Here are a few curriculum notes:

Writing: This week we were finally able to wrap up our poetry unit! As a final project each student has selected their favorite poems they have written and took them through the writing process to create a final poetry booklet. They are anxious for me to share these with you at conferences! Next week we will jump back into a traditional writer’s workshop and will learn how to focus our writing on small moments.

Science: We were also able to finish out weather unit this week. I am very proud of how they did on the test! They became quite the meteorologists this year! Next week we will spend some time learning about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Wednesday each student will choose a president to research and write a paragraph about him. They will then make an illustration (these are always fun to look at) and we will create a presidential timeline!

Reading: We took a break from reading groups most of the week and were finally able to finish up second trimester reading testing. I love being able to sit down and read with all of the kids and see how much they are growing in their reading! Reading groups will resume next week.

Math: In math we are focusing out daily practice on various subtraction strategies. (Because our pacing guide for math has us working on units out of numerical order… you may continue to see things on the remembering side of the homework that we have not studied yet. Please give it a try with your child if you would like or just leave these problems blank. We are also working a lot on money values and patterns in class during daily routines.