Updates

Good Morning Families,

A few updates for you:

*Reading: We've started our Mystery unit. Help your student be a reading sleuth by asking questions about their books.

*Math: In Math, we've started our third unit which focuses on Addition and Subtraction of decimals. We have been working hard at reviewing place value. Did you know there isn't a oneths spot? Students have been using something called secret code cards to help them build decimal numbers. Watch for pictures to see these cards in action!

*Social Studies: We are starting to explore Explorers. The past few days, we've discussed a certain Italian sailor who thought he was going to Asia but instead found the Bahama Islands. Any guesses? We will fast forward in history a bit when we head to Roanoke and Jamestown colonies. Watch out for the mosquitoes there! In order to have more discussion time in class, students are bringing home their Social Studies textbooks to read ahead.

In addition to our text work, we are also continuing to build mapping skills. Our next adventure is navigating through elevation colors!

*Science: Our "Rocks & Minerals" test will be coming home by the end of this week. There are still a few students who need to take it. Overall, the students did a nice job on it. Next unit..."Human Body". I've asked students to begin bringing in clean food labels. However, I reminded them not peel off labels from cans in the pantry; otherwise, it's mystery dinner every night!

*Writing:  Students are going to start another Writing Circle topic seed today. They will pick a topic and write in any format or genre they choose. On Thursday, the students will pick one of their three seeds to grow into a final draft. I'm excited to see what they will choose! So far, the drafts I've peeked at look great!

*Spelling: We've been working on homophones and homographs. In addition, students have been working on a Greek & Latin root activity. Ask them if they can tell you what the meanings of -phone, -graph, and homo- mean. These were part of a lesson we did last week. I was impressed with how intuitive this bunch is! Nice work, word detectives.

*Progress reports will be posted on Sunday night. I will have missing work reports available on Thursday morning for the students. At this point, it seems most students are sitting well with work. Please watch for the progress reports to arrive at your home next week.

*"Dippin' into the New  Year" will be our end of 2010 classroom "party". This will take place from 2-3:15 on Tuesday, December 21st. Please watch for more information on this and how you can be involved early next week.

Please remember to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
angeama@pewaukee.k12.wi.us

Enjoy your day!