Loopy Learner News
December 4, 2015
Pictures
December's Precept...
SNOW!
Continent Studies
Our European holidays unit is in full swing! In order to make sure these projects are done before Christmas, we did not do Genius Hour this week and instead focused on research. Students may teach the class a game, song, dance, etc. that is celebrated during their holiday. They can also bring in a treat that is eaten during their holiday. They may choose what they want to do. They should decide what they are doing by next week. If your child will be bringing some type of food treat in, please email me and let me know. Thanks for your support on this project!
Wonders
In Wonders, we learned about voting and elections. We are read a story called, "Vote!". We learned that women and African Americans were not always allowed to vote.
We took a class vote on which movie we would watch (if we were going to watch one today, and we are not!). The class got into 2 groups: boys and girls. Each had 2 minutes to pick a movie. We came back together as a class and voted. EXCEPT, the girls weren't allowed to vote. Neither were boys with blue eyes.
I asked them how I felt...
"Really angry!" - Natasha
"Really, really sad." - Bowen
"I feel like this was not fair at all." - Jason
"I felt really disappointed." - Hayden
"Even though I got to vote, I didn't like that other people didn't get to vote." - Cole
"I don't like the people who made that decision." - Trentin
"It was a horrible law." - Natalie
"Pretty sad." - Johnathan
Very insightful activity!
We also studied possessive nouns. The rule is, if it is a singular noun it ends in -'s. If it is a plural noun that ends in -s that the word will end -s'. If it is a plural noun that does not end in -s (such as men or women) then the word will end in -'s. Practice this at home with your child by asking simple questions. For example, "Santa's sleigh - does that end in apostrophe s or s apostrophe?"
Next week, our concept is "Survival" and our Essential Question is:
How can people help animals survive?
READ! READ! READ! Please have your child read at home as much as possible. Even 20 minutes per night will make a big difference in increasing their fluency and comprehension. Thank you for your support!
Don't forget to check out Wonders online (log in information is in the "Usernames and Passwords" document that was shared with you). You can reread the stories that we read in class together.
Envisions Math
We are wrapping up Topic 3 and will be taking our test early next week. Please have your child practice subtraction with borrowing. I emailed a copy of the test home earlier this week. Feel free to work on it with your child if you'd like to practice. As I told the kids, I am not trying to trick them and want them to have all the help and support that they need.
Don't forget to keep practicing multiplication facts! The kids also began climbing their multiplication mountains! I will buy them lunch from McDonald's or Dairy Queen when they "climb" all 12 mountains. They must be able to go through all of the fact flashcards with me - fluently! This is a high goal, but I know they can do it!