Hello families! We had a busy week here in C-5. (Even without technology for a day! That was
definitely different; strange how we have become so used to using computers for everything!) We
learned a bit about two October events – Columbus’s birthday and Fire Safety week. We read a Weekly
Reader that included maps to show where Columbus traveled, and talked about how he hadn’t quite
accomplished what he set out to do! Students practiced some new words in a word search about his
explorations, too. We have been talking about fire safety, including some puzzles and reading
comprehension activities. Today, our class read Officer Buckle and Gloria, which is a funny story about
safety tips. (See if your child can tell you who Gloria is, and why everyone liked her.) Then, to practice
putting events in order, they worked on sequencing details from the story. Each student made an
Officer Buckle safety tips booklet and created a “Safety Star” with a safety tip on it. These stars will
be on display in our room. Remember that Monday is the last day for the Fire Safety poster contest!
In math this week, we wrapped up our addition chapter. Students did very well on the topic test.
Now we are working on subtraction, which we are connecting to addition facts. For example, if we know
4+4=8, then 8-4 has to be the “other” part, the 4. We reviewed subtracting 0,1, and 2. By the end of
the week, we were subtracting from 18 and under. PLEASE help your child memorize facts! We went on
First in Math in computers on Wednesday. The Practice Gyms are a great way to focus on certain
numbers (such as adding 8’s), and Just the Facts is a great way to build speed. We have been playing
some center games, using dice and flash cards with partners to work on our skills in class as well.
We have packed a lot into language arts this week. Our focus has been on families, and we have
talked a lot to compare and contrast ours. This led to making Venn diagrams, learning how to record
information that is the same or different. We read a story called My Family, which introduced many new
words. We compared Camila, the main character’s family to our own. We also read some poems about
families which introduced us to that genre. Students observed how some poems rhyme (in different
patterns) and use repetition to flow better. This was the first week that I worked with the students in
small reading groups. Each group took turns reading aloud from a story related to our family topic. The
small group gives a greater opportunity to practice fluency/accuracy, and to review concepts taught in
the whole class. Meanwhile, other groups worked on Venn diagrams, writing and word work. Our writing
this lesson is about friendly letters. This week we learned about voice, or style in writing (making it
sound natural, like you’re talking to someone). We planned out a letter about our families, and then
worked on writing the body of it. To go with this, we are learning abbreviations (such as Mr. and Mrs.).
Other grammar topics included reviewing parts of sentence with word order, and learning how to correct
run-on sentences. We also looked at the glossary at the end of our book to find out how to get the
meaning of some words. Our spelling list focused on more short vowels (e, o, and u) which we practiced
all week. Our test was today. Looking at short vowels helped us identify syllables that have them.
Closed syllables (consonant-vowel-consonant, such as in “bed”) almost always have a short vowel. This
helps readers when they come across a new word. We used two syllable words, like kitten and cobweb,
to practice this.
Please remember to send in your book orders by Tuesday. You can order on line until 9:00 pm
Tuesday night. Have a great weekend! 