Week of October 31

Hello Parents and Families! It's been a few weeks since I've updated the blog. October went by quick! Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Here is a look at what we learned last week...

Reader's Workshop --> We are focusing on nonfiction (informational texts) during our mini lessons. Last week we talked about the Author's Purpose when writing a text. We learned the "PIE" acronym. The author writes a book to Persuade, Inform, or Entertain. We talked about what those words mean. We worked on the book Pumpkin Circle (a nonfiction text that discussed how a pumpkin's life cycle works). During this time, we also discussed the Author's Purpose in this text was to inform the readers. We also discussed the main idea...which will be a focus this week.

Phonics--> We learned about the long O pattern in words. For example, when we see a word like "vote", we notice the O has to "say it's name" because of the silent E at the end of the word. We call that the Vowel-Consonant-Vowel pattern.

Math Workshop--> Balanced equations and Related Facts were the focus last week. We looked hard at the true meaning of the equal sign in equations. For example, we can say 9 = 9 because they are the SAME on both sides. We can also say 3 + 3= 4 + 2 because they are the SAME on both sides. We can also say 6 = 1 + 5 because they are the SAME on both sides.
We have also been talking about relating addition with subtraction. For example, if we know that 6 + 2 =8, then we should be able to solve 8 - ___ = 6 by knowing the fact family of 8, 6, & 2.

Social Studies--> We learned about Thomas Jefferson. This coming week, we will be making a book of facts regarding Thomas Jefferson.

Writer's Workshop--> We are continuing to write books about topics we are experts about. Students wrote about anything from ballet to Pokemon! I love hearing the ideas of things the kids know a lot about and are excited about! It makes it more meaningful and fun for them to write!!

Have a wonderful week!