Weekly Update
Read about What We're Doing in Room 142!
Science and Social Studies
Salt and Flour Maps
I'm sure you've heard at least something at home about the landform maps we've been working on this week. On Thursday, with the help of Mrs. Krause, Mrs. Newman, Mrs. Nimmo, Mrs. Schreiner, and Mrs. Shukla, we made dough by carefully measuring salt, flour and water. After mixing up the dough, each student formed their own United States landform/elevation map. Right now we are letting the maps completely dry out. Later on we will paint them to correspond with our elevation map keys. To see photos from this project, click on "social studies" under the photos tab.
Mixing the Dough
We helped measure and mix the salt, flour and water to create dough.
Molding the Landforms
We covered the maps with dough creating mountains, rivers, peninsulas, and lakes.
The (Almost) Final Product
Once the dough is completely dry we will paint our maps.
Caterpillars!
Our Painted Lady caterpillars arrived this week! They are so tiny right now! We are going to watch them eat and grow, as well as research to learn more about Painted Ladies. This week we watched a time lapse video of a butterfly life cycle and read a book called Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly. Next week we will divide in small groups to research more about the life cycle of a butterfly.
Reading
Determining Importance
Our reading strategy this week was determining importance. We were on the hunt for "important information" and "interesting details" in the text we read. Sometimes it is hard to figure out which is which, so we've been working hard to practice differentiating between the two! We also just finished reading the book The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. In small groups, the kids are working together to retell the story using only the important information/main ideas of the story. We will continue that next week as well.
Guided reading is also underway! The kids are doing an excellent job practicing the reading strategies in small groups. There is so much enthusiasm to read, share connections and find new information in these groups. I am very proud of everyone!
Math
Measurement
In the upcoming week we will begin a new math unit on measurement. This is a fun hands-on unit! We will begin by reviewing yards and meters. Learning about linear measurements continues as we review inches, feet, and centimeters, as well as explore measuring to the nearest half-inch and half-centimeter. We wouldn't want to get rusty on those fractions so we'll also look at 1/8 of an inch and 1/16 of an inch. Lastly, we will learn about perimeter.
Writing
Spelling
New spelling groups started this past week. Please have your child continue to practice the words by completing spelling homework each night. Spelling choice boards are due this Wednesday. Assessments will be on that day as well.
Country Research Project
All the research has been collected, facts have been sorted, and information has been compared to the United States. On Tuesday we learned how to log into Google Drive and practiced making a Google Presentation. Our final project for the country research will be made using Google Presentation. We will begin working on the final project next week. Continue to check Ivy Hill LMC Twitter page for updates on the progress too.