Reading : Last week, we started to dive into learning about deeper comprehension strategies by talking about 'real reading'. While being able to retell a text is a very important skill to have, it requires a surface level understanding of comprehension. Ask your child about what 'real reading' entails. In class, we talk about real reading being a mixture of the text (i.e. reading the words on the page) and thinking (i.e. thinking about what you're reading). We'll spend a lot of time learning about all the ways that readers can think about the text. Last week, we briefly touched on a few ways to think - thinking about what the text reminds you of, wondering/asking questions about the text, making predictions, and thinking about what you've learned in nonfiction books.
When you're reading with your child at home, stop every once in a while and ask your child what he/she is thinking. Talking about what's going on in the book while you're reading is a great way to work on your child's comprehension.
Writing : The students have been doing a fabulous job writing their how to books. Last week, we spoke about ways to make the steps of a how to more clear to the reader. Telling the reader the quantity of each material that he/she will need, using sequencing words, and warning the reader about pitfalls he/she may encounter are all ways to do this. Some of the students have been bringing in great examples of how to texts from home, thanks!
Math : We've had a big push learning about addition and subtraction recently. This week, the students learned various strategies to add three numbers and how to add 10 more and 10 less. Next week, we'll start a new math unit, which is all about place value and comparisons.
Science : Keep trying to look at the moon each night! While I don't expect the students to have mastered the names of all the phases of the moon, we worked on the conceptual understanding of these phases last week. We listened to a fun rap song about it that the students loved. Click here to watch the YouTube video at home.
Social Studies : We took a break in our geography unit last week to talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. Ask your child what he/she knows about MLK. We had some great discussions in the classroom about segregation and protests. The students are all very interested in learning about how this happened in the schools and want to learn about Ruby Bridges, so I'll make sure to cover that in the weeks ahead.
Computers : The past couple of weeks, the students have been working on their typing skills in the computer lab. Your child can easily work on these at home, too! If you get your child to the main Cherry Hill webpage, he/she should be able to navigate to the sites that we use to practice typing. If not, send me an email and I'll happily lead you in the right direction.
I hope you've had a great week! Sorry, we were so busy that I didn't take any pictures this week.