The kiddos reached 2000 tallies for their fantastic use of Spanish in class! They received teeth or lips as part of their piñata.
Literatura
This week we read a great story: Adivina quiên. This is a story about the different community workers in our town and their jobs. This created a great opportunity for us to make lists of the different jobs of our parents. We worked on our classifying and categorizing strategy by dividing our jobs lists into inside or outside jobs.
Doing the Mayuscula dance!
Our learning objectives this week were to:
Spell and use the following sight words correctly: porqué/ why, quién/who, juego/ I play or game, cierra/close
Focus on the correct pronunciation and spelling of güe, güi, gue, gui, ge, gi through reading and dictation.
Focus on the correct pronunciation and spelling of : /s/ en ci and ce words, and words written with X or Z.
Plan the writing of an invitation. (You’ll be receiving an invitation this week!)
Categorize things based on a common factor.
Identifying words that should be capitalized and words that should not.
Matemáticas
Adding two digit numbers and putting those results in order from least to greatest.
This week we completed our 7th math unit. Students took an assessment on identifying greatest and least in a group. They ordered groups of numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least.
We also began our new math unit: Addition and Subtraction Facts to 20.
Our objectives were to:
used different strategies to add1- and 2- digit numbers.
Strategy: Add by making a 10.
add by making a 10, using number bonds. (This often looks convoluted and confusing to parents but it is a strategy many of use mentally. This lesson was to show how it is done on paper, to make this strategy accessible to those students who don’t automatically do this mentally.)
Here is a video to help you understand the strategy we introduced on Friday.
History & Geography
This week in our Early American Civilization unit we continued to read about the Maya and began to learn about the Aztec civilization. They heard the legend of the Eagle and the Serpent. We found the Yucatan Peninsula on the map. The class had fun drawing some Maya glyphs.
Our objectives this week were to:
• locate the areas that the Maya and Aztec lived on a map
• understand that the Maya developed large cities of population centers in the rainforests of Mexico and Central America many, many years ago
• describe the significance of the stars and planets to the Maya
• understand that the Maya had a religion
• understand the significance of the Mayan calendar
• understand that the Aztec established a vast Empire in central Mexico many, many years ago
• understand that the Aztec had a religion
Science
This this week in our science unit on matter we talked began to talk about gas. The students did investigations to identify two types of gas and their characteristics.
Our objectives this week were to:
• understand there are three forms of matter; solid, liquid, or gas
• identify characteristics of matter
• identify different examples of gases
• understand that gas occupies space
• observe various gases and describe their characteristics
English Word Work
Our word wall words this week were: most, much, know, knew, I’m
Our vocabulary words for the week were: atoms, accurate, gas, helium, legend, awe, scouts, valley
In spelling on Friday every one got new sorts. The red group worked on l, k, j,w, the blue group is working on consonant blends pr, tr, dr, the green group is working on a and i vowel words with initial blends.
For writing we wrote about the Aztec legend of the Eagle and the Serpent. We also wrote a writing response to our gas investigation this week.
Specialists
Character Education with Maestra Sarah: For the next couple week’s we are working on a citizen project. We talked about how doing and saying kind things for others makes them feel happy. We don’t do acts of kindness because we want something in return. We are working on random acts of kindness. Students will share their acts of kindness on our school-wide bulletin board.
As part of our acts of kindness we are doing a canned food drive. We would like to ask students to bring in canned and boxed foods for a donation to our local food pantry. We will will make the donation on Tuesday, February 13th.
We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, February 14th during Character Education classes. Students are asked to make a box to collect their Valentines. They should bring this box and their Valentine cards (one for every student in their class) on 2/14.
Art: In early January we looked at Ezra Jack Keats’ book “The Snowy Day” and also the US Postal Service stamps honoring this book.
The students learned how to create a figure using basic shapes: They cut out construction paper shapes to make a picture of a child making a snow angel, just like Peter does in “The Snowy Day.”
Then they added boots, mittens, a hat, and an oil pastel shadow.
The following week, we read another Ezra Jack Keats book called “A Letter to Amy” which features Peter in a rain coat. The students made another figure using basic shapes, and also used basic shapes for the sidewalk and buildings. The students did a great job on these “weather” pictures! Looking for basic shapes is a good way to learn how to draw whether it is a person, a landscape, still life, or any object.
We then switched to learning a few facts about Pacific Northwest Native Americans, and how important salmon fishing is to these tribes. We looked at several pictures of salmon swimming upstream to spawn, and the tools that Native Americans used to catch the fish.
The students learned how to draw a Sockeye Salmon using diagonal and curvylines, then they added color using the side of oil pastels. The students also used the side of white oil pastels to fill in the background. The last step was painting watercolor over their oil pastel drawings. This created some beautiful texture on the fish and in the water. These beautiful fish look like they’re really jumping up a waterfall!
On January 31 and February 7, I will be out of town, and our art substitute Miss Karen will be providing some wonderful lessons on Native American pottery, using real clay and glazes! It would be helpful for the students to bring a clean plastic container (from salad mix or berries, etc.) to transport their clay pieces home when they’re finished.
I can’t believe how quickly the school year is going…February is almost here! This week, we continued working with Nursery Rhymes/ Rimas y Canciones. Thus, the kids learned the nursery rhyme “Cucu, Cantaba La Rana”.
Cucu, cucu cantaba la rana,
Cucu, cucu pasó un caballero,
Cucu, cucu con capa y sombrero,
Cucu, cucu pasó una senora,
Cucu, cucu con traje de cola,
Cucu, cucu pasó un marinero,
Cucu, cucu se puso a bailar.
The kids surprised us with how much they really liked and enjoyed singing and dancing at the same time. They usually were so excited and waiting for the songs at the end of the day since we used to sing all songs that they learned during this month. This month they had the opportunity to explore different mechanism of language with music as well so they could explore the different sounds. The vocabulary that they learned this week related to the nursery rhyme was:
Rana/frog,
Caballero/gentlemen,
Señora/Mrs,
Marinero/sailor.
The kids did different activities related with “Cucu, cucu cantaba la rana” Rhyme, like making different kinds of frogs to help them to develop their fine motor skills.
Letra
This week we learned all about the letter Dd/ letra Dd. Be sure to point out the letter that we practice when you are reading. The Spanish pronunciation of this letter is more like a hard /th/. Some examples,
dedo/finger,
dinosaurio/dinosaur,
delfin/ dolphin,
diez/ten,
dientes/tooth,
dulce/candy.
Números
We continued working with the number 9/número nueve. The kiddos did some different activities, like recognizing the number around the classroom, counting nine (9) different objects as blocks, fishes, and shapes. And then they traced the number.
La Figura y el Color
Learning shapes and colors helps kids to recognize objects as red blue, etc. round or square. This might seem like child’s play, it’s actually integral to a young child’s cognitive development, and sets the stage for math concepts from sorting and patterning to geometry, and beyond! Thus, we continue working with kids every month doing different activities related to the shape and color of the month. This week we continued working with oval shape(óvalo) and color morado/ purple. Kids drew, colored and glued pieces of paper into the oval shape. Also, the kiddos went on a purple hunt, looking for the purple color around the classroom.
Another successful writing week! Our focus on these two days was on an expository writing piece. Students wrote an article where the purpose was to inform the public about the 4th/5th grade field trip to Olympia, WA. Students had to complete this task in a limited amount of time including all the requirements. Students did a fantastic job incorporating all the expository pieces, non-fiction text features, language structures and vocabulary in Spanish. Be sure to read the pieces that will be displayed on our bulletin board next week.
Ciencias
Is planet Earth a system?
This week our science time was limited, but we had a chance to introduce our science studies for next week. We examine the focus question and shared our thoughts. After that we watch the first part of the video “Physical Systems”. The subsystems geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere were introduced and we will study more in detail next week.
History & Geography
This week we had a great field trip to the capital! We also finished up our unit on England: The Glorious Revolution.
Our objectives were:
review events and important people during England’s Golden Age to the Glorious Revolution
demonstrate knowledge and understanding of events and important people during England’s Golden Age to the Glorious Revolution on the Unit Test
Mathematics
This week we wrapped up our unit on algebra.
Our objectives were:
Review how algebraic expression can be used to describe a situation and solve real-world problems
demonstrate an understanding of how algebraic expression can be used to describe a situation and solve real-world problems on the chapter test
English Word Work
This week we began our new rotation.
Our rotation days were:
Word Search: Students received a word search with their new spelling words. They were tasked with finding and sorting their new words.
Teaching Meeting: I met with each student to discuss and clarify their new sort.
This week we finished up our unit by taking the Unit Assessment. Our objectives were:
students will demonstrate their understanding of grammar, vocabulary, and writing that was studied during this unit on the unit test
students will demonstrate their comprehension ability on the Unit Test
Next week we will start our new unit: Imagination!
Matemáticas
This week we finished up our unit on Division. Our objectives were:
review how there can be remainders when dividing to form equal groups or when dividing things equally
demonstrate how there can be remainders when dividing to form equal groups or when dividing things equally on the chapter test
History & Geography
Social studies with Ms. Marci
Social studies with Ms. Marci.
This week our next unit on the Viking Age. We were introduced to who the Vikings and Norse people were, the areas they lived, and a little about their daily life. On Thursday everyone did a great job performing their Romulus and Remus play and presenting their opinion papers/projects. Thank you to all the parents who were able to attend!
Our objectives were: • identify and locate Scandinavia as the area from which the Vikings originated
• describe the geography of Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland
• understand that the Vikings were proficient sailors, raiders, and traders.
• explain why Vikings were also called Northmen or Norsemen
• identify the Vikings as the earliest known Europeans to travel to North America
• Recall that the Viking people relied on farming, fishing, and trade for their living
• explain the importance of Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson
Rehearsing the play.
Social Studies with Ms. Laura We learned about the city-state Athens by reading a myth concerning a competition between Athena and her Uncle Poseidon. Athena wins and becomes the goddess for the people of Athens. We learned about the Parthenon, the temple Athens built in Athena’s honor. We each made own model of the Parthenon. We talked about Athens, the democracy, and had our own Assembly of Citizens, suggesting, speaking for and against, some laws (rules and modifications) for our class. We read and practiced a play, A Trial in Athens.
Science
This week we continued with our Light and Sound science domain. In our read aloud we learned about qualities of sound. We explored with different instruments on Friday the different ways they make sound and the qualities they observed. Each student is also reading their own A to Z science book about the properties of sound.
Our objections were to:
• identify sound is a form of energy that travels in waves
• describe how sound waves traveling different mediums
• identify sources of sound
• compare and contrast light and sound
• describe how the intensity and frequency of vibrations affects the qualities of a sound.
English Word Work
We had our spelling test on Friday. In grammar we worked continued to work on past tense verbs and reviewed quotation marks. In our journals we used the word “lug” in one entry and also wrote about the proverb, “His bark was worse than his bite,” in another.
This week we completed our de un lugar a otro language arts unit. The kiddos had fun with their trucks/camiones on Friday to go along with our last story of the unit: Camiones. We had fun talking about how these different trucks have different jobs. We also used these trucks for size comparison, an art project, and finally for our weekly journal writing!
Our learning objectives this week were to:
use the letter G in our dictation (we usually do this on individual white boards but decided to do them on paper this week so the students could take them home for you to see).
make lists of items connected to one specific theme
make a list of items by size
identify the singular and plural of nouns
Using our math boxes, dice, and little ‘crocodiles’ to compare groups and say our full sentences.
Matemáticas
This week we had such a great time with all our place value activities and our greater than/ mayor que and less than / menos que comparisons. We used our greedy crocodile to eat all the greater numbers and played several games. The students were VERY good at using these mathematical comparisons in complete sentences while playing partner games.
Introducing our ‘cocodrilo’ who likes to eat all those big numbers.
Our objectives were to:
compare numbers using mayor que and menos que.
reinforce our place value knowledge
add multi-digit numbers using our place-value knowledge
practice our formation of 10 and apply this to our place value practice
History & Geography
This week in our Early American Civilization unit we continued to read about the Mayan people. The class is enjoying the narrative that goes along with this section. Maria brought in a Mayan artifact replica that she shared with the class on Thursday. This week we worked on our civilization chart to better understand what characteristics make up a civilization.
Our objectives this week were to:
• locate the areas that the Mayan lived in
• understand but the Maya developed large cities or population centers in the rainforest of Mexico and Central America many, many years ago
• understand the importance of extended family to the Maya
• understand that the Maya had leaders
Science
This this week in our science unit on matter we talked continued to talk about liquid and began to take a look at gas. The students did an investigation on measuring liquid by volume and mass. Friday.
Our objectives this week were to:
• understand there are three forms of matter; solid, liquid, or gas
• identify characteristics of matter
• identified that liquid matter can be measured by mass and by volume
• estimate and measure liquids
• identify different examples of gases
• identify that gas occupies space
• observe various gases
English Word Work
This week we got our new sorts for spelling. Green group is working on words with initial diagraphs and a,e,i short vowel sounds , blue group has blends gr, gl, bl, br, and the red group is working on h, f, t, c beginning consonants. Our word wall words this week: began, back, ever, every. Our vocabulary words for the week were: temple, plain, liquid, volume. In our journals we wrote about the properties of liquid using descriptive words.
This week, we continued working with Nursery Rhymes/ Rimas y Canciones so we incorporated the song “ De Colores”.
De colores, de colores
Se visten los campos
En la primavera.
De colores, de colores
Son los pajaritos
Que vienen de afuera.
De colores, de colores
Es el arcoiris
Que vemos lucir.
Y por eso los grandes amores
De muchos colores
Me gustan a mi.
It was wonderful to hear the kids hum the song during our activity time. Playing with Spanish Rhymes, children explore the mechanism of language, and also help the kids to build vocabulary and develop sounds. We did different activities related with the “De Colores” Rhyme, like making colorful flowers/flores coloridas, rainbow/ arcoiris, and birds/ pajaros.
New vocabulary learned this week related with the Rhyme “De Colores”:
Flores/flowers,
Pajaritos/little birds,
Arcoiris/rainbow
Letra
This week learned about the letter Ll/ letra Ll. Be sure to point out the letter that we practice when you are reading. The pronunciation of this letter is the same in both Spanish and English. Some examples:
Leche/milk,
Lámpara/lamp,
Leon,lion,
Lagartija/lizard,
Lechuga/lettuce,
Lápiz/pencil,
Luna/moon.
Números
We worked with the number 9/número nueve in several different activities like counting 1-9 using stickers, dots, counting objects, and tracing the number too.
La Figura y el Color
This week the kiddos continued learning about the oval shape (óvalo). They traced this shape on the board, and at the same time they looked for this shape around the classroom. Also, we continued learning and working with the color color /color morado.
Having an authentic purpose for writing sparks certain motivation and creativity. This week in literacy, students worked on a very special writing assignment: Letters about Literature. Letters about Literature is a writing nationwide contest for students grades 4 – 12. Students are asked to write a letter to the author of their favorite book. In their letters students write about the impact that the book made in their life and how it affected them personally. Our 4th and 5th graders did a great job crafting their pieces following the writing process. Even though all the writing stages were done in Spanish, their final copy was written in English. This was a wonderful project done in a collaborative manner. We thank Maestra Ivary for all the help to make this project possible. Please take the time to read these beautiful pieces that will be displayed on our bulleting board next week.
We also had time to start reading the first selection of this unit: Revolucion Estadounidense. Students read aloud to grasp vocabulary and content and also demonstrate fluency and rhythm in Spanish. We are making great emphasis on this. Some of the reading comprehension and thinking skills included: making connections, asking questions, identifying main idea, comparing and contrasting, and identifying cause and effect situations. We will continue to work on the same piece next week.
Along with their regular spelling list, students took home a biography about Martin Luther King Jr. and a homework packet related to the book. Please make sure they practice their reading and are ready to turn in their homework next week.
Ciencias
Focus question: How can you identify a system? Can you explain what a sub-system is?
This week students were introduced to a system as a collection of interacting parts that work together to make a whole or produce an action. They were presented with a common device (a suitcase) and were asked to identify all the elements that together, formed that system. Based on this concept, they were asked to provide other examples. Students concluded that a system can be living and non-living. They also brought up the idea that a system can be a material object – something tangible (the solar system), or it can also be a concept (the system of government or language). Students used precise vocabulary to describe the characteristics of systems and sub-systems.
History & Geography
This week we continued learning about England: Golden Age to Glorious Revolution. Our objectives were:
Identify and describe who the Cavaliers and Roundheads were.
Explain what led to the execution of Charles I.
Summarize the events that led to the Restoration.
Describe the Glorious Revolution.
Summarize the key points of the English Bill of Rights
Our field trip is Tuesday, January 16th. If you have any questions please e-mail me!
This week we read Un Lugar Secreto. Our objectives were:
understand 5 different types of story starters
review dialogue lines, commas in a list, verb tenses, and using capitals and punctuation in preparation for next week’s assessment
Use comprehension strategies such as monitoring and clarifying, summarizing, and visualizing to construct meaning from the text during the first half of the reading
Use comprehension skill Author’s purpose as students finish reading the story
Matemáticas
Playing division games!
Playing division games!
This week we continued working with division. Our objectives were:
divide a 1-digit or a 2-digit number by a 1-digit number with or without a remainder
Use different strategies to identify odd and even numbers
Use base-ten blocks and place value to divide 2-digit numbers without regrouping or remainders
Use base-10 blocks and place value to divide 2-digit numbers by a 1-digit number with regrouping, with or without remainders
History & Geography
Social studies with Ms. Marci
This week we were finishing our Roman contribution opinion paragraphs . The finished papers and projects are due on Tuesday January 16th. Projects should be either a model or a poster board illustrating the student’s chosen contribution from Ancient Rome. We will be presenting these to parents on Thursday the 18th at 2:30. Students who finished early this week had the option of typing their papers and working on an interactive BBC site on Ancient Rome. We also practiced our Roman play which we will be performing on the 18th as well.
Social Studies with Ms. Laura We learned about some of the many gods and goddesses worshiped by the Ancient Greeks and talked about the difference between fact and myth. We made a family tree for the major Greek Gods. We located Troy on the map and read a myth about the ten year long Trojan War. We learned about the trick of the Trojan horse and drew our own large Trojan horse, complete with a trap door
Science
This week we continued with our Light and Sound science domain. We began reading our next section on Sound. The class had fun doing a sound vibration experiment on Friday and they continue to enjoy singing our “Light and Sound” song.
Our objections were to:
• we call the sense of hearing and the corresponding sensory organ
• identify sound as a form of energy that travels and waves
• describe how sound waves travel in different mediums
• identify sources of sound
• compare and contrast light and sound
• describe how the intensity and frequency of vibrations affects the qualities of sound
English Word Work
Everyone got there new sorts this week and worked on them in class. We had our spelling test on Friday. In grammar we worked on verb tenses and comma’s in lists. In our journals we used the word jovial in one entry and also wrote about the Martin Luther King Jr. after reading a story about his life. The class then had the opportunity to share their entries with the class.
This week we had a lot of fun with our De un lugar a otro theme. We read and sang El trencito cañero.
Our learning objectives this week were to:
Identify when the letter C makes the /k/ sound and when it makes the /s/ sound.
Use the letters C, Q, Ch and G in class dictation.
Identify common and proper nouns.
Identify and change nouns from singular to plural.
Write a diary entry in their journal using three sentences to describe their day.
Matemáticas
This week we completed our unit on Ordinal Numbers and Position and jumped right into our unit on Addition and Subtraction facts to 20.
Our objectives were to:
identify right (derecha) and left (izquierda)
use different addition strategies like doubles facts and doubles facts plus one to add 1-digit and 2-digit numbers.
read and write numbers 0-20 using: dice, tallies, tens-frames, doubles, and number words
identify place value of numbers 0-20
History & Geography
dramatization of our story
This week in our Early American Civilization unit we finished reading about the nomads and began learning about the Maya. The class compared and contrasted the two groups of peoples. On Friday we read a couple of books about Martin Luther King Jr., did a demonstration about equality, and worked on a craft and writing piece related to MLK’s “I have a dream” speech.
Our objectives this week were to:
• locate the continents of Asia and North America on a world map
• understand that prehistoric Nomads followed the animals they hunted
• understand that the first people in North America arrive by crossing a land bridge between Asia and North America
• comparing contrast hunter gather societies in Mayan Society
• understand the importance of extended family to the Maya
• understand that the Maya farmed
• understand that a shift occurred from hunting and gathering to farming among early peoples
• identify Martin Luther King Jr and explain why we celebrate his life.
Science
This this week in our science unit on matter we talked about liquid and solid. The students did two investigations, one measuring mass of solid, the other looked at how liquid takes the shape of the container it is in. Friday.
Our objectives this week were to:
• understand there are three forms of matter; solid, liquid, or gas
• understand that hey solid is the only form of matter that has a shape of its own
• identify that solid matter can be measured by mass
• understand that liquids take the shape of the container that they are in
• identified that liquid matter can be measured by mass and by volume
English Word Work
This week we got our new sorts for spelling. Green group is working on e,i,o,u short vowel sounds in easy CVC words, blue group has blends cr, cl, fl, fr, and the red group is working on t, g, n, b beginning consonants. Our word wall words this week: were, about, would, word, their, time, tell, than. Our vocabulary words for the week were: retreat, weak, solid, mass, hurricane, harvest, equality. In our journals we wrote about the proverb “The more the merrier,” and how it related to our social studies readings for the week. We also wrote about Martin Luther King Jr and what our dream for the a better world means to us.
This week in our Early American Civilization unit we continued to read about the Maya and began to learn about the Aztec civilization. They heard the legend of the Eagle and the Serpent. We found the Yucatan Peninsula on the map. The class had fun drawing some Maya glyphs.
In early January we looked at Ezra Jack Keats’ book “The Snowy Day” and also the US Postal Service stamps honoring this book.
