Week 14

 

A Bald Eagle graced us with it glory this week, giving us hope for the future!

This week in Literacy we focused on writing complete sentences.  We learned that every sentence needs to have a subject (person, place, or thing) and a predicate (an action or what the subject is doing).  Students worked in small groups to create silly sentences in an activity called Rainbow Sentences.  In this activity students were given cards outlined in the colors of the rainbow.  Each color represented and different part of a sentence.  They put the cards in order by the color of the rainbow to create different sentences.  Then they practiced writing them and identified the subject (noun/pronoun) and the predicate (verb).

Additionally, we began looking closely at Non-fiction text.  Students learned about the various features found in Non-fiction text and then did a non-fiction text feature scavenger hunt to look for these features in books.  On Monday we will begin a new writing unit on informative writing.  

In Math first graders are working on using counting on strategies for solving the unknown in an addition number sentence.  Second graders are comparing and contrasting using standard and non standard (metric) measurement, and third graders are solving multiplication and division problems with multiples of 2 and 3 using a tape diagram model.  They are learning that sometimes the quotient represents the number of groups in a set, and sometimes it tells about the size of each group.

This week students continued their exploration of the idea of "selection".  They learned that selection can happen in nature without the intervention of humans.  We learned how a type of lizard known as an  Green Anole, (found in Florida) were affected by the introduction of the Brown Anole (originally found in Cuba) into their Habitat.  The Brown Anole were much bigger than the Green Anole and were a predator to the Green Anole.  The Green Anole were better climbers than the Brown Anole. We discovered that the Green Anole that didn't climb so well were eaten by the Brown Anole, but the Green Anole that were excellent climbers were able to quickly climb the trees to get away from the Brown Anole and were able to survive.  Over time, the good climbing Green Anoles bred with other good climbing Green Anoles and the species became primarily excellent climbers who are now able to survive living with the Brown Anoles.  This is known as "natural selection".

This week we learned about the first people to live in the Americas (the Native Americans) and how they came to America 40,000 years ago.  These people were here loooonnnng before America was discovered by the Europeans.  When the Europeans did begin to settle in America (becoming Colonists), they began to push the Native Americans away from their land.  The Colonists did not understand they ways of the Native Americans and did not want them to hunt or plant their crops near them.  Eventually they pushed the Native Americans onto land known as a reservation, where today many Native Americans still live.  Later we learned about what is was like to live during Colonial times.  Students learned that the Colonists did not have an easy life.  The had to work very hard to survive.  Colonial children were also expected to work to help the family survive.  The Colonists had many obstacles to overcome.  Students compared and contrasted what is was like to live in Colonial America vs. Modern America.  

Thursday the Rotary from Morrisville came to present the third graders with Dictionaries.  This is an event that the third graders look forward to every year and is considered a right of passage!  The other students (unlike at the bigger schools) get to watch this presentation, so when they get to third grade they know this is a special event.  The third graders were excited and proud to receive their Dictionaries.

I want to thank you all for your diligence in keeping your children in school by changing your holiday plans and celebrations.  I heard stories of children having Zoom Thanksgiving (a sure sign of the times), and quiet family Thanksgiving dinners, much different than other years.  If one thing all of this is teaching us is that our children are resilient and flexible.  While upholding our family traditions remains important to all of us, finding new ways to "spend time together" and rejoice in our celebrations is imperative this year.  While other schools around us have had to close or have chosen to close, keeping our school open is a priority. Again, I wish to thank you for all you have had to sacrifice to make this happen.  

Finally, Mastery Reports went home on Friday in student's Friday Folders.  Please look these over. and talk about them with your child.  The cover page explains how to read the report.  Keep in mind as you are reading the report, that this is a proficiency based mastery report which means that students are generally working toward proficiency at the end of the school year.  Each Trimester has a target to reach along the path to proficiency.  So, a student may be at "Getting Started" or "Making Progress" and still reach the target.  The exception to this is content areas that have been taught in its entirety and will not be assessed again this school year. In the case the target is Proficient now.  The colors on the report indicate whether your child is on target, below target or above target.  If you have any questions regarding your child's mastery report, please reach out.

Reminders:

• Library is Monday!  Don't forget you books!
• Please be on time for PE on Tuesday and Thursday!   Don't forget you sneakers!
• Send me an email for lunch orders diane.nicholls@lsuu.org

Bald Eagle flying over Lake Elmore on Thursday!