IXL Math

Our school has purchased IXL Math, a drill style online math supplement that students can use both at home and school!  Once I set it up for our classroom, your child will come home with their own personal login and password.  In the meantime, you can check out IXL Math on your own.  ( A quick google search will bring you to their page.) I believe they allow 20 free sample questions each time you visit their page.  More to come on this soon...

Classroom Update

Thank you to all those who were able to donate to the Food Drive!  It was a huge success!  This service project was entirely student run.  From the advertising posters, to the collection, to the loading and unloading of the school bus - our kiddos worked very hard.  And what a difference they made in our community.  I am so proud of all those involved.


Now that we are done with the food drive, we have time to focus on our Magnet Unit.  Students will understand that magnets have poles, opposite poles attract, and same poles repel.  Students will understand a magnetic field, and what kinds of objects are magnetic.  We will use a variety of magnets such as horseshoe magnets and bar magnets.  We have already tried a few experiments, and have more to come. 


In math we continue to work on subtraction, using a variety of strategies.   Our goal is to be able to subtract within 20.  Sharing math strategies, playing math games, and practice drills are some of the ways that we are reaching our goal.  


We are wrapping up our theme of "Nature Walk" in reading.  This week we are comparing the fictional piece Owl Moon with a nonfiction article called Owls.  I am also taking time this week to individually assess each student's reading progress.  In Writing Workshop, we continue to work through the writing process, focusing on "writing with voice" in our mini-lessons.  


I look forward to seeing you all during conferences!

A Poem by Nick W.

Trick or treat.

Knock knock.

Who is there?

Some kids.

Oh hi, kids.

We want candy.

Finally.  We are never

coming again.

by Nick W.

Classroom News

In math, we have just finished up a unit on adding to sums of 20, including adding three or more addends together.  We are about to begin a unit on subtracting within 20.  You can help your child by having them look at the relationship between adding and subtracting.  Using doubles or near doubles, and getting to 10 are also great strategies to figure out subtraction.  For example:  11-8= ?.  Your child can think "8+?=11".  Or 13-6=?.  Your child can think, "I know that 6+6=12, and I need one more, so 13-6 must equal 7."

Our Food Drive is still going strong.  We will continue to collect food (and Mrs. Freeman's class is collecting bottles) until November 10.  A HUGE thank you to those who have donated!  This is entirely a student-run project, and they are doing a great job!  Once the Food Drive is over, we will have more time to explore and experiment with magnets for Science class.

In Writing Workshop, I have been focusing on a different question each month.  We have discussed how to get ideas for our stories, how authors organize their stories, and now we are discussing how to write with voice.  This is a very tricky trait to teach and learn!  When a piece has voice, you can feel the personality of the author.  Think about the difference between your favorite story and an encyclopedia entry.  Most students have by now chosen a piece to get "published", or typed up and put into book format.  They all continue to work through the writing process with writing, revising, and conferencing.  If you think you have time to volunteer on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays from 9:30 - 10:00 to work with student authors and help get their stories typed up, please contact me (s.pelkey@cdsedu.org).

Remember there is NO SCHOOL Friday, November 11 (Veteran's Day).