Newsletter Info

Social Studies

This week we will meet some of the first settlers who made their way to America. We will learn about the trading opportunities and religious freedoms that motivated many of the first settlers to make their initial voyage. We will discuss why the Spanish and Pilgrims wanted to come here and build settlements. Students will need to be able to explain the similarities between these two groups of settlers.

Math Workshop

Our weekly math quiz will be tomorrow. It will focus on addition and subtraction story problems, with three digit numbers. Students are welcome to bring home their 1,000 chart, workbook, and/or homework sheets to prepare. We have worked to develop strategies that are both efficient and comfortable for each one of us. Students will need to show an equation, strategy work, and a solution with a label to receive full credit. These are the same steps we follow in class each day.

In workshop time the rest of the week, we will continue working with story problems, however, we will move on to more challenging problems that involve solving for a missing part. We will encourage students to use their knowledge of the difference between the two numbers and 100 to assist them in reaching a solution. Peek over their shoulder when they’re doing their homework. Are they writing accurate equations that actually represent the situation? Are they stopping at multiples of 10 on the number line, or are they jumping by multiples of 10?

Science

Congratulations to all our Jeopardy players and winners; Friday’s game review was a lot of fun for everyone. We can’t wait to play again at the end of our next unit, which will focus on Animals. The essential questions that will focus our learning during this unit are as follows: In what ways can animals be grouped? How do animals respond to changing seasons? This week we will explore the similarities and differences among animals, leading students to see that animals can be grouped (just like plants). We will also address the misconception that while humans and animals are living things, humans are not animals.