Language Arts
We completed our reading of a great non-fiction piece this week Perchas urbanas: dónde anidan las aves en la ciudad / Urban perches: where the city birds nest. We went for a quick walk outside and talked about the different locations around the school where birds could nest. Students were then given this as a writing prompt, being sure to include a 
topic sentence in each paragraph.
Students received reading book number 10. They should read this book aloud several times throughout the week. There is no reading worksheet this week.
Spelling/ ortografia (There are no Spanish spelling words this week.)
Math
Our multiplication study this week focused on multi-digit multiplication with regrouping. We worked in small groups to talk our way through the steps, with each student explaining the process to their classmates multiple times. We also had partner fun, using 4 dice and multiplying. The students did a great job explaining their steps/thought process to their partners.
Students will need to fluently multiply numbers within 100, and to multiply 1 digit number x multiples of ten. Students should work on their multiplication fact fluency. We will also review and reinforce mental math and estimation strategies daily. (Students will need to know the multiplication facts by the end of the year.)
Social Studies
Our Roman opinion papers were due this week. Everyone was so creative in making their illustration to go along with them. I loved seeing the variety of work that came in. Those students who wanted to, shared their papers and illustrations in class on Thursday. This week we finished up our Ancient Roman unit and took an assessment on Tuesday. Over all everyone did well, the most challenging parts were identifying locations on a map of the Roman Empire and writing out responses to some of the short answer questions. On Thursday we began our Viking unit. The class found and marked Scandinavian countries on our Living Map. We also started a KWL chart on the Vikings. The class had a lot of enthusiasm and quite a bit of prior knowledge about this subject. I think we are going to find this unit very interesting.
Science
We finished up the light portion of our Light and Sound domain this week. The class worked on their T chart, identifying light terms and vocabulary and writing out definitions in their own words. We did a lesson on what color is. We discussed the different kinds of light waves, how their wavelength is measured, and how only a small fraction is actually visible to the eye. We reviewed the visible light spectrum and discussed what a prism does to light, the class compared it to the water in the glass that bent the straw. We also discussed the other kinds of light waves that are invisible to the eye, such as microwave, x-ray, and ultraviolet. On Thursday we played a riddle game to review core content and began working on a class book about light.
English Spelling/Writing
The class had a quick week with their word sorts with only having three days in class to work with them. I am particularly impressed with the Green group since their words have been extra challenging these last couple of weeks. Almost everyone took advantage of the holiday weekend and got their activities turned in early – good job class! For grammar this week we reviewed synonyms.
I finally was able to go through everyone’s journals, make comments and ask questions. I love reading what is on all of their minds. I read about exciting travels, time spent with family and friends, desires to own dogs or cats, clubs that some of them have started, and wonderful ideas for inventions. Reading all of their journals is a great reminder to me as to how each one of these kiddos is unique and adds so much to the richness of our class!
Art
We started an evergreen tree holiday picture this week. The students used colored tissue paper to create 3 different textured papers, with warm colors, cool colors, and mixed colors. We reviewed the Elements of Art and how they are used in various art projects. Next week the students will use all these elements and their textured papers to create beautiful evergreen landscapes.
A NOTE ABOUT ART GRADES: I use art grades to let you know what topics in the curriculum we’ve covered and not as an indication of skill, since all children have wonderful creative abilities.