Magician - Tricks and his job!

Week 28

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

IB Word of the Week – PRINCIPLED – Talk to your child about how he/she shows integrity, honesty and sense of fairness. Talk about a time when your child showed that he/she was principled. How did it make them feel?
We read the book, “Penny and the Marble,” by Kevin Henkes. This is a great book to read when learning about being principled and honest.

Writer’s Workshop – We have moved on to “All About Books.”
Students will be “writing a few All-About books on topics of their choice.” Students will learn how to take what they know about their topic and write a lot of information about it. Students will also learn how to add more to their book by using the different paper choices that are available.

Some students may wish to add the following pages:

ü  Different kinds of…

ü  How-to page

ü  Diagram of a…

ü  Fun Facts Page

ü  Ask the Expert Page

ü  Questions and Wonders Page

ü  Glossary Page

ü  Table of Contents

ü  All About Author/Dedication page

ü  Summary Page

-ink Word Family – This week we are learning how to spell and write words with –ink. Please explore –ink words at home.

In math we are continuing with money. We are also working with fractions - ½.  When dividing wholes into half use the following words such as part, half, whole, divide, equal, odd, even, uneven.  This will help your child have a better understand of these words when relating to math concepts.

Week 25

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

 

 

·       The IB word of the week is KNOWLEDGEABLE:  How does your child explore concepts and ideas that are of local a global significance?

 

·       “How to Writing” – Celebrate your child’s “How To” books. Your child’s writing has come so far!

  

·       Compound Words – Compound words are two words put together to make one word.  What compound words can your child come up with?

 

·       We read the book, Journey by: Aaron Becker. This book is a 2014 Caldecott Honor Book. The book has no words and only pictures. It follows the adventures of a young girl who escapes the boredom of home to find a magical realm – in which she can control her destiny with her imagination. In class we discussed how authors can publish books without words and still convey so much meaning and imagination.  Some students develop writing skills at a faster or slower rate than others and that is okay. Students can still publish class books with pictures.
If you don’t have this book at home please check it out at the library or consider purchasing. This book leaves so much to the student’s imagination and had them talking about the book all week.

Week 24

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

·       The IB word of the week is INTEGRITY:  Is your child honest and does he/she the right thing? Talk about examples.

·       “How to Writing” – We are starting a new unit of writing during Writers Workshop called the “How To” process.  This type of writings zooms in on a small moment focusing on teaching the reader “how to” do something.  This usually includes an activity by following simple steps. First, then, next, last.  We have practiced “how to” make an alligator, “how to” draw a person, “how to” make a PB&J and “how to” draw an astronaut.

·       Math/Tally – How is your child doing with tallies? Counting by 5s is a great example for helping your child make tally marks. Keep practicing.

·       President’s Day – Can your child tell you any important facts about George Washington or Abraham Lincoln?  What are some of the criteria for becoming president of the US? Live in the US for 14 years. You have to be 35. You have to be born in the United States.   We read several books this week on traits that are important for being president. Your child made a “Vote for Me” poster telling us why they would make a good President.

·       Peter Pan at Lamar – What did your child think of the musical? We say actors flying, we saw Captain Hook, an alligator and so on. We also read several Peter Pan stories in class and compared the play/book.

·       Lunar New Year – The year of the Ram/Sheep/Goat. On Thursday we had several parents give a presentation about the Lunar New Year. Thank you to the following families: Grace, Yul, Charlie, Mona, Jake! Story read by Grace’s family, Dumplings by Mona’s family, oranges from Yul’s family, kumquats and red envelope from Charlie’s family. THANK YOU!! Did you hear about our surprise visitor all the way from China?

Houston has a large Lunar New Year celebration. For more information:  http://lunarnewyearhouston.com/

Week 22

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

·       The IB word of the week is INTEGRITY:  How often does your child do the right thing and is honest. Talk about examples. Praise your child during the times he/she shows integrity.

·       Land-forms – In class we are learning about land-forms.  Land-forms are natural physical features on earth such as rivers, valleys, oceans, hills, plains, volcanoes, ponds, plateaus, bays, lakes, rivers, mountains etc.  The students are very excited about learning about land-forms and to many this is a new term. For a little extra – do some research at home about land-forms.  See what facts you can find. Have your child draw a picture and label their land-forms.

·       Weather – What weather patterns and characteristics are particular to each season?

·       -ch - We have been searching for words inside their I-PICK books. Has your child been reading his/her words to you at home? The students LOVE searching for words. Have your child do this activity at home. Make a list of –ch words (beginning and ending).  I call them word detectives. They love it.

·       Skip counting – The students are learning to skip count by 2s, 5s and 10s. Make sure you are practicing at home.

·       Copper the puppy – What did your child tell you about Cooper? 

·       Groundhog Day - We made predictions about Punxsutawney Phil and seeing his shadow.  Watch the news Monday morning before school and let us know your findings!

Thermometer Experiment!

We've been learning about weather and weather tools in class this week!  We've learned that scientists (meteorologists) use tools to help them in their weather investigations.  One such tool is a thermometer.  We performed an experiment in class using thermometers and cups of ice water.  Students were asked to put their thumb on the bulb of a thermometer and to watch what happened to the mercury.  Next, they placed the thermometer into ice water and observed what happened. 

They were able to experiment several times. Ask your child to tell you about their findings!

Some questions to ask about their learning:

·       What do we use a thermometer for?  (to measure temperature)

·       What is temperature?  (It is the measurement of how cold or how hot something feels)

·       What happened when you put your thumb on the bulb? (the mercury went up)

·       What happened when you put the thermometer into ice water? (the mercury went down)

·       List three things that are hot.

·       List three things that are cold.

·       Why did our thumb (body heat) make the temperature rise?  (we are warm-blooded, and our body heat is warmer than the ice-water)

·       Can you think of something to put the thermometer in that would make the temperature go up or down more quickly?

Many students want their own thermometer at home to show you this experiment! Go forth and purchase.

Egg Experiment

Using their five senses students were invited to examine two eggs; one brown and one white. As a class, we discuss our observations. Some students were be surprised to note that, while the eggs look different on the outside, they look the same on the inside. This same lesson translates into other aspects of life - including people!  Ask your child about this lesson at home or try it at home with your family!

Week 19

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT OR ASK YOUR CHILD ABOUT THEIR LEARNING AT SCHOOL THIS WEEK…..

• The IB word of the week is ENTHUSIASM:  Is your child excited about his/her learning? What are ways they show it?  
• Weather – We brainstormed different types of weather.  What types of weather can your child tell you about? We talked in great lengths about tsunamis. Ask your child about this type of weather.  If your child is interested, research tsunamis at home.
• CH, SH, TH - We have be studying diagraphs and where we see these letters together. Beginning of a word, middle and end. Students have been searching for words inside their I-PICK books that contain these letters. Has your child been reading his/her words to you at home? The students LOVE searching for words. Have your child do this activity at home. Make a list of CH, SH, TH words.  I call them word detectives. They love it.
• Martin Luther King Jr. – We read the book, “Martin’s Big Words” by Doreen Rappaport. We talked about tolerance and being open minded. Talk to your child about being tolerant. What are ways your child shows tolerance? There is a parade this weekend. For more information go to: http://www.mlkgrandeparade.org/
•  Good luck Tiffany Alagarsamy running the Chevron Half Marathon Sunday!!