Oakview South Newsletter
October
The Leaves are Changing
Important Dates
10/20 Redwing Rave
11/21 Early Release @ 12:35 pm
11/22 Early Release @ 12:35 pm
11/23 No School
11/24 No School
Math Celebrations and Halloween Parties
We are planning our first academic celebration for Tuesday, October 31st. This is an opportunity for you to engage in some math activities and games with your child and to learn more about what they are working on at school. Halloween parties will take place in the afternoon after the academic celebrations in each classroom. We are asking that costumes are kept in their bags until it is time for the party, so please do not have your child wear their costume to school. Remember that costumes need to be school appropriate. Costumes that have blood, weapons, scary masks, etc. are not allowed.
Below is a list of times for each grade level.
5th Grade: 1:15 - 2:15 Math Celebration, 2:35 - 3:07 Halloween Party
4th grade: 12:45 - 1:50 Math Celebration, 2:10 - 3:00 Halloween Party
3rd Grade: 12:30 - 1:20 Math Celebration, 1:45 - 3:00 Halloween Party
Title 1 Resources
If you get a chance, check out the resources we have for families on our Title page.
Suggestion Box
If you have any feedback or suggestions for Oakview, click the box below. Thank you!
3rd Grade
Third graders have been hard at work this past month! In math, students have been exploring the meaning of multiplication through story problems, games, and activities. A variety of different strategies to solve multiplication may include: drawing a picture, making equal groups with objects, skip counting, making an array, finding a smaller fact to solve larger problems, and using known facts. By the end of third grade we would like students to be fluent with knowing multiplication facts up through 10x10. Students practice learning the facts through games and using known facts to help them solve unfamiliar facts. One way that you might help your third grader at home is practice skip counting. A note will be sent home soon about this.
Third graders have been learning about Michigan in Social Studies! Ask your child what fun facts they have learned about Michigan so far!
In whole group reading, we’re enjoying hearing different stories and are using these stories to practice different reading strategies. We’re enjoying a variety of books during independent reading time, too. Teachers have finished 1-1 reading assessments with students so that we can start our small group instruction with reading groups.
We will have a math celebration to showcase our great learning in math so far this year! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 31 in the afternoon. We will have two different rotations, students will have recess, and then we will have our class Halloween Parties to end the day.
4th Grade
4th Grade has been hard at work reading Opinion Texts. Students have been reading about different opinions, examining evidence, and coming up with their own opinions as they read. We will eventually be writing about one of our own opinions and using evidence to support what we think! In Social Studies, we are continuing to learn about how our government is structured. We are also talking about the Bill of Rights and how that can impact how we solve Public Issues.
5th Grade
SCIENCE
The 1st week of science was exciting. We went over expectations and rules of our classroom. We begin the unit by understanding the importance of observations. Observations are strong because they are the building blocks to help us begin the process of understanding. Observations in science can’t have value or judgment that could lead to bias opinions. We began by watching the video “Upside down and Inside out” by OKGO. The video is very creative and it allows the students to observe controlled chaos inside of a plane that experiences zero gravity. Don’t worry it was not crashing, there is a ton of science behind the concept. We discuss the process of how observations lead to questions and questions lead to research and possible solutions. The students were engaged and had so many great responses from the video. It can be found on youtube if you are interested in watching it.
Social Studies
5th grade historians have been learning about how a historian studies the past. We have been exploring the questions historians ask (What happened? When did it happen? How did it happen? Where did it happen? Why did it happen? Who was involved?) and how historians use multiple primary and secondary sources to answer those questions. We are now starting to practice thinking like a historian by looking closely at informational text passages and answering questions about the text to put together stories of the past.
Math
In math, students were introduced to the new BenQ board in Mr. Ferden’s classroom. This 86-inch interactive screen will allow for students to share their thinking simply by the use of writing on the screen with their finger. Students are super excited to use the BenQ board this year. Our first unit in math this year is on multiplication and division. Students will be learning how to multiply and divide multi-digit numbers.
ELA
5th graders are underway with beginning of the year reading assessments. This valuable information will allow us to better meet the needs of all students. Looking forward to knowing your child as a reader.
Art
The Harvest Still Life is back for fourth and fifth graders to work at an advanced level! Fifth graders are creating a Still Life with EMPHASIS making one item a colored focal point and the rest of the work in grayscale using charcoal and chalk. Fourth graders are using their knowledge of color theory to use CONTRAST for shadows. Third graders are learning the parts of a landscape and atmospheric perspective. Hard work pays off!
Capturing Kids' Hearts
Here is a link to our monthly newsletter from Capturing Kids' Hearts.