Week of March 22, 2010

Congratulations to all of our Young Scientists, and a giant thank you to all the parents who encouraged each step, including celebrating with us last Thursday night!! Your work & learning were very impressive!!!

Research: We have gotten our dinosaur names, organized our thinking & folders, gathered our sources, and learned how to take notes! Tomorrow we start taking notes on 3x5 cards, and putting each card into its proper category: body description, food chain or habitat.

Language Arts: You may be familiar with this story adapted from Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates, “The Hole in the Dike”, in which a boy courageously saves his village from being flooded. Ask your child why that took courage; also ask about the setting of this story.
Our spelling words are all past tense verbs; we are practicing identifying base words.

Math: We have spent a good amount of time really getting secure using the Partial Sums Algorithm to add big numbers; we’re also writing & illustrating some creative, fun multiplication stories for a class book patterned after Each Orange Had 8 Slices. Now we’re ready to focus on subtracting 2-digit numbers, starting with the concrete base 10 blocks, as well as dimes and pennies. While we call this Trade-first, it looks very like the traditional “borrowing” method.

Homework
I need to practice my ______ math facts for our mental math quizzes!
Join Longfellow’s fun with eating healthy fruits & vegetables:
Daily: Build your reading fluency by reading aloud to a parent several times a week; mark your Lambshead Book It Calendar; practice reading vocabulary (gurgling, trickling, gushing, numb, rumbling, and hero). And carefully do the cursive & Home Links the night they come home! Finalize your preparations & practice for giving your oral Women’s History book report. Include the character traits that made this woman so successful.
Tomorrow: Eat and wear White
Due Wednesday: Eat and wear Red; All Women’s History Story Maps (for inclusion in our class Big Book); Spelling workbook, pages 106-109 and/or the challenge word sentences
For Thursday: Eat and wear Yellow and Orange
For Friday: Eat and wear Green; It’s Mismatch Day – wear clothing that does not match! Spelling (10 past tense verbs + your dinosaur’s name!), vocabulary & reading tests; last day for Women’s History book reports
For next week: Have a wonderful vacation, take your learning outside of the classroom by being good observers and thinkers about all you do; find some good books to take you on adventures; be kitchen scientists and/or cooks!!

4/10: Longfellow’s Outdoor Ed Fund-raiser & great deal for bike owners: Spring Bike Tuneup, 10 - 2
Don’t forget Census 2010!