Last week flew by!  We had three great parent presentations on cultures/background of 1-Bu students - Pakistani, Colombian, and Indian.

Please keep in mind that there is no school this Friday, April 2nd.

Reading: This week we will continue our non-fiction unit of study by making 'wonderings' about various non-fiction topics, and then trying to find the answers in the appropriate sections of books.  The students have done very well learning about how to gather information from many different kinds of non-fiction conventions.

Writing: At this point, all of the students have chosen their 'all-about' writing topics, created section titles/headings, and begun to write their first section.  This week, we'll work on putting non-fiction conventions, that we learned about in reading workshop, into our own writing.

Math: Three dimensional shapes and symmetry will be all the talk in math this week.  We hope to finish this short unit on geometry by the end of the week.

Social Studies: So far we've learned about Korean,  Pakistani, Colombian, and Indian cultures.  This week we have two more parent presentations, one on Chinese culture and one on Guatemalan culture.  Thank you so much for all of your help with this unit!

Extras: We've got two, special out-of-the-classroom events happening this week.  We have a Firefighter Phil Assembly on Tuesday and Discovery Lab on Wednesday!

Have a great week!

What a crazy week we had last week! I hope that you and your families are all 'back to normal' now.  Sorry this update is a day late, but I didn't have internet at home until late Sunday night.

Reading: This week we will finish discussing nonfiction conventions.  We'll discuss the table of contents, glossary, and index.  The students have been doing a great job gathering appropriate information from various nonfiction conventions when they read.

Writing: Last week we published our 'Easy-to-Read Writing' pieces.  The students' finished pieces are located in a special book bin in our classroom library.

This week, we started an all-about books writing unit.  In this unit the students will learn how to write non-fiction books 'all-about' topics of their choices.

Math: Last week we finished up unit 6, and now we've moved on to unit 7.  In this unit, we'll be focusing on geometric shapes and principles. 

Please continue to practice math facts at home.  The fact triangles that have gone home with homework assignments are a great tool to help the students develop math fact power.

Social Studies: We're learning all about the various cultures and backgrounds that make up the students in our class.  So far we've had two fabulous parent presentations on Korean and Pakistani culture.  Thank you so much for those of you who volunteered to come in and present to the students!  We're learning so much!

Extras: Please consider donating a box of tissues to 1-Bu.  With the warmer weather approaching, spring allergies have started to put a demand on tissues.  We would greatly appreciate any donations.  T

As I'm sure you've heard by now, there is no school on Tuesday, March 16th.

I am unable to access school email (the server must be down).  If you have emailed me anytime since Saturday, I have not received your email.

I hope that you are all safe and coping well!  I still have no power, and am having trouble coming up with things to do to fill my time!

There is no school on Monday, March 15th due to the weekend storm.

Unfortunately, I do not have power at home and will not be able to update 1-Bu's webpage with our latest news.  Check back next week! 

Get ready, this is going to be a very busy week in 1-Bu!  We'll be going to the book fair to browse (and create 'wish lists) on Monday.  Then, on Tuesday, we'll go back  to buy books.  On Friday, we have a Discovery Lab lesson with Mrs. Crawford and we'll get a chance to go view the 5th and 6th grade science fair exhibits!  On top of all of that, we have our first grade class trip this week too!

Reading: Last week, we started our Nonfiction Unit and the students are really enjoying themselves.  This week, we'll continue to learn how to extract information from various conventions in nonfiction books - comparisons, cutaways, and close-ups.  (Last week we focused on photographs, labels, and captions.) 

Writing: We're still working on publishing our latest writing pieces.  The editing process has taken a little longer this time, because the students are spending a lot of time independently making changes to make sure that their writing is as easy to read as possible.  I'd love to have our publishing party this week, but with everything going on, I have a feeling we won't get a chance until next week.

Math: We'll be going over lots of different topics in math this week!  From reviewing function machines, to learning about quarters and telling time using digital clocks. 

Please use the fact triangles to review math facts with your child at home.  Of course, we will be spending time in school reviewing math facts as well, but every little bit helps in developing automaticity of math facts.

Social Studies: Recently, we've been learning about how the world is represented in visual terms - through maps and globes.  This week, we'll focus on locating where we live in a map/globe.

Extras: Thank you to everyone that has volunteered to come in and share your family's heritage, background, and/or culture with 1-Bu!  I will send home notes confirming the time and date of your presentation early this week.

Finally, I'd like to give a huge round of applause to all of the 1-Bu students in Star Power on Friday night!  I was beaming with pride.  My cheeks hurt when I got home because I had been smiling so much!  Everyone did a fantastic job!