Classroom Update: October 10, 2014

In reading, we finished our overview of the eight reading competencies referenced on curriculum night. We will explore these competencies further through our various reading units this year. We have now begun a new unit on realistic fiction. We discussed the characteristics of the genre, as well as the elements of fiction. To exemplify these characteristics, students are reading Amber Brown Is Not a Crayon by Paula Danziger.

In math, we have applied knowledge of place value to answer the question, “How Many Tens?” We have used math manipulatives called “Base Ten Blocks” to illustrate this concept.

 

In writing, students are wrapping up their first personal narrative stories. Next week, students will write a second personal narrative piece. They will use the writing strategies that we have worked on together to complete this piece with greater independence. 

In social studies, we have begun our unit on the Wampanoag tribe. Students applied the reading competency of “Big Ideas” to locate main ideas and supporting details in an informational text about the Wampanoags. Students made posters to represent the big ideas from each chapter of the text. Next week, we will begin researching the seasonal life of the Wampanoags.

On a final note, we welcomed a student teacher to our classroom last week! Ms. Heather, a student from Lesley University, will come to our class once a week through December.