February 28, 2020
After a couple of days, the class is back in full swing. We hope you all had a nice week together with your families. Tuesday was “Pancake Day '' and we took the opportunity to see how people around the world celebrate. We celebrated by having some pancakes. Permission slips were sent home for a field trip to the Parrish Art Museum on Thursday, March 12th. Please send in the form if you have not yet done this.
Reading: Through Google Classroom, the children have been reading short literature texts and answering two focused questions for each one. A wide range of skills are assessed with the texts. We are able to reinforce any skills that the children need extra help with. This week they worked on making inferences, summarizing the text, identifying the theme, how the character has changed, and identifying phrases in context.
The guided reading groups are continuing to read their historical fiction books. The groups are immersed in mature conversations about the text. They are looking at vocabulary in context, making inferences, evaluating characters’ actions, and identifying the challenges the characters face and how they overcome them.
Writing: Our animal text structure writing project has just about been completed. We have been conferencing with the children and having them help to evaluate their written work with a rubric. Our next writing piece started this week. This is writing a compare/contrast essay. We shared a sample essay and went over the components of this essay. Each child is able to decide on what they would like to compare. They will use a graphic organizer to help them plan their writing.
Math: The fourth graders are immersed in their fraction unit. They are changing improper fractions into mixed numbers, comparing them, and then placing them on the correct spot on a number line. We went over two different ways to change the improper fraction, making it into a number bond or dividing. Another way to compare the fractions is to make the denominators into the same number.
The third graders are also busy with fractions. They are working on identifying and representing shaded and non-shaded parts of one whole as fractions.
Social Studies: After reviewing the exploration of North America by Henry Hudson, Verrazano, and Champlain, we then learned about New Netherlands, the Dutch Colony. We read about the relationship between the Algonquians and the Dutch and how Fort Orange, Albany, was a trading post.
STEM: The picture at the top is a wind turbine. We looked at how wind energy is a renewable resource and the advantages that it offers for a cleaner environment. Our focus is on how the turbine creates wind energy and other similar types of renewable energy; solar and hydroelectric.
Our upcoming field trips:
Thursday, March 12th: Parrish Art Museum
Thursday, March 19th: Lincoln Center
No school for students on March 20th
Enjoy the weekend.
