April 11-14

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS:

WE ARE PUBLISHING A BOOK!  Today, you will find an order sheet in your child’s backpack.  This is for you to choose whether or not you would like to order a copy of the class book we will be writing and illustrating this week.  You DO NOT have to purchase a book if you don’t want to.  However, if you choose not to purchase a book, please check the “NO” box at the bottom of the page and sign and return the paper.  The envelope requests that you return the paper and payment by tomorrow.  This is best!  However, if you need a little more time, you may turn in all papers by Thursday, April 14th.  We need all papers signed and returned (whether you want to buy a copy or not) to allow us to order a copy of our book for our classroom library.  Please let me know if you have any questions. 

This Wednesday is Literacy Night!  I hope you all can make it!  I’ll be dressed as Miss Frizzle and Miss Davis will be my lovely sidekick, Liz!  The evening will be a fun celebration of all things literacy.  

This Wednesday is also an early release day.  Please plan accordingly.

A new homework packet went home today.  This homework packet is for the next two weeks.  With this packet, you and your child can turn your spring break into a STEAM break!  Inside the packet you’ll find all kinds of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) projects to do this week and also over vacation.  Have fun!

There is no school on Friday!  Enjoy your vacation!

Your child’s biography project also went home with them today.  They worked incredibly hard on this project and I’m so excited for them to share it with you.

THIS WEEK IN...

Spelling:  We will be working with Unit 17.  The words are:  right, look, think, also, and around.  Since there is no school on Friday, our test will be on THURSDAY instead.

Writing:  We’ll be doing a lot with writing this week!  First, we’ll be reviewing what small moments are and how they make a great personal narrative.  For example, if we wanted to write about going to the beach, a small moment story would be about jumping the waves or building a sandcastle.  This week, students will pick a topic, brainstorm a story, and write a draft.  Then, we’ll use a mentor text to help us learn how to make our stories better.  We’ll be reading Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee.  She uses so many tools to make the story exciting!  Team Howard will be encouraged to use similar tools to improve their small moments story.  Finally, we’ll use the second grade writing rubric to assess Marla’s book.  This is done primarily to show the students what is expected of them and how to demonstrate that in their writing.  All of the skills practiced this week will be assessed the week after vacation.  Team Howard will be given an on the spot writing prompt.  They’ll be given 90 minutes in total to write a personal narrative that demonstrates where they are as writers.  This writing piece will be shared with their future third grade teachers.

Scholastic News:  This week, we’ll read an article about mysterious blue honey.  When we finish reading the article, we’ll answer questions about how bees actually make honey.  We’ll continue our nonfiction reading skills with a text-feature hunt.  

Publishing Our Book:  This early release day, we will be writing and illustrating our very own book.  We’ll be using The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose to inspire our very own animal story.  We’ll be using our very best handwriting and illustrating skills to create this special book.  I’m so excited to see how it all turns out!  Remember, you are also invited to purchase a copy of this book as a keepsake if you’d like!

Science:  This week, our mini-lessons will focus on habitats.  A habitat is a place for an animal to live.  An animal needs a habitat to provide space, food, water, and shelter.  We’ll turn to the great Miss Frizzle to help us learn more!

Read Aloud:  We are loving the book Dodger and Me!  This blue chimpanzee is one entertaining character!

Math:  We’ll continue our focused lessons around telling time and money.  We’ll also have a meet and greet time with our new math switcheroo groups.  These new groups will focus on using strategies to help us solve addition and subtraction problems within 100 and 1,000.