Our Second Week In!

Good morning parents!  We had a great second week of school with your children.  They are all doing really well with adjusting to Pine Ridge and many of them are making new friends.  We have posted a few new pictures on our class photo website (the tab at the top of the blog) if you want to take a look!

As we look ahead, there are a few dates to remember:

• September 10- Psalm 23 is due.  Please send in a note if your child has said this to you with the number of helps he/she needed.
• September 15-  All Walk-a-thon money is due to school
• September 17- Walk-a-thon at 1:00 at the High School Track
• September 19-  School Pictures
• September 29, Monday- No School.  Staff Development day
• October 9, Thursday- Grandparent day at Pine Ridge (1:00-2:30)

We are really starting to dive into the curriculum and wanted to take a moment to update you on what we learned this week.

Math-  We continued to focus the week on the meaning of multiplication and drawing out what each multiplication equation looks like.  We focused on arrays (rows and columns) and spent a lot of time building different multiplication problems with arrays.  We also began division this week by using building blocks to figure out our equations.  Much of our math time is "hands on" right now as students get a firm grasp of the concepts being taught.

Science-  We explored rocks and minerals this week.  Students learned that rocks are made up of minerals and we looked at several different minerals that make up granite.  We also focused on different earth materials such as gravel, sand, silt and clay and explored the particle size of these earth materials.  This class loves Science experiments and it is a lot of fun to listen to their predictions as they work!

Bible-  We continued to learn about the book of Ephesians this week.  We focused specifically on the passages about children obeying their parents, what it means to live in "Unity" with one another, and also on the armor of God.  The class really enjoys finding verses in the bible.  As a class, we read out loud the selected passage for the day and we often highlight the verses that stand out to us.

Reading: We have been continuing to build our independent reading stamina. This week we started reading The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.  It is a very unique book pack with high level vocabulary which has been sparking great conversation.  This week we have been learning that the most important thing about reading is that understand what we are reading about. To help us with that, we have been practicing several different comprehension strategies.  Our first strategy was to listen to our "internal thinking voice" and to ask questions while we read and then as we read, we are seeking to answer our questions. I model this in our read aloud and then they practice this in their own good fit book.The next strategy we learned is envisioning.  We practiced reading certain parts of the text and then sharing what exactly we see in our heads as we are reading those words.  Your children wee great at that which is often a difficult task when tried right away.  The strategy we did today was making and confirming predictions while we read which again will help our comprehension.  I love watching your children read.  

We are finished with spelling inventories and next week I will start to do running records to find their exact instructional level.  Your child will also bring home their good fit book on Monday to read at home for their reading minutes. Look for a book bag with directions on Monday.

We will start our word work/spelling/vocabulary the following week as I need to first make sure that our independent reading routine is down before I add another component to our workshop.

Writing: We have been working very hard on generating ideas and small moments as we are moving through personal narrative.  We have written about important people, places, and things in our lives.  We have been really focusing on writing about small moments.  Rather then writing about your whole day at the amusement park, we are writing about the first time you were in line waiting to get on a roller coaster.  Each day when we are done writing, we share what we have been working on.  This is one of my favorite parts of the day as they LOVE to share and they take such pride in their hard work.  It is GREAT to see.

Have a wonderful weekend with your families!

Blessings,

Mrs. Stielstra and Mrs. Wyma