1/14 to 1/18

Hello,

This week marks the end of the second quarter.  It is crazy to think that the year is half way already.  We are finishing up mid year assessments and there are many celebrations to be had.

Next week we will be celebrating NDLC week!  There are many fun activities planned.  Be on the lookout for more information this week.  Here are the dress up days planned:
Jan. 22: Twin Day
Jan. 23: PJ Day
Jan 24: Active Wear
Jan 25: Dress like your future Job

Upcoming Events/Reminders:
January 18: ½ day for students
January 18: Field Trip form for PAC due
January 21: No school for students
January 22-25: Celebrate NDLC Week (watch for dress up days)
January 22: Family Night
January 24: Family Night
January 25: Intent to Return Sheet due (those are coming home today)
January 29: Field Trip to PAC

Reading: In reading this week we will be learning more strategies to decode tough words. We will think about how words can fit and sound right and how to break apart large words. Another strategy we will learn is using words we know to solve words we don’t know. Lastly we will talk about vowel teams, and how they can make many different sounds.

Writing: In writing this week we will be continuing to judge our collection and start writing reviews! The collections will be coming home sometime this week. We will learn a new strategy to quote an expert to convince our reader. Then we'll talk about how it is someone's job to try new things and then write reviews about them! Students will make a list of places they’ve been that they can write reviews about! Then we will also inquire and read reviews to see what those authors did to convince their readers.

Math: This week in math we will practice counting on from two digit numbers.  We will learn new games to help us with adding tens and ones.  At the end of the week we will review and have our unit test. 

Science: This week we will discuss one of the properties of how light interacts with materials:  some materials allow light to pass through them (“transparent,” or see-through), others do not (“opaque”), while others are only “kind of” see-through (translucent). We will talk about how glass is an especially important material which enables us to have windows in our homes, windshields on our cars, eyeglasses, and more.

One thing you can do to further encourage your child’s curiosity about this topic is to look together to find examples of translucent and transparent materials in your home. In addition to any objects made of glass, one example that might be unfamiliar and interesting to your child is any kind of *film*, if you happen to have photographs and video from before there were digital cameras (for example, the print negatives of film photographs, photographic slides, or the film from an old 8mm home movie).

Questions to ask this week:
-What awards did you give your collection?
-What are you going to start reviewing?
-How do you solve 2-digit equations? Example: 56+7
-How are you a boss of your reading?
-What experiments have you done in science this week?
-What are some expert words that you have learned in science?