Math
This week, Ms. Andrea’s math group dove into Unit 3! We’re going to focus on addition and subtraction through the end of the year, highlighting and practicing strategies as we go! This week we practiced “making a ten.” By the end of the week, we were attempting this feat using mental math.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|
Ms. Kelly’s math group reviewed and practiced adding two 3 digit numbers on a number line as well as using the standard algorithm. We added a Math Power Journal this week to squeeze in just a little more challenge for those few extra minutes we have left during our math block if we finish our work early. Inside has review from our place value unit as well as some extreme place value challenges! We ended the week discussing the commutative property of addition, made examples on the board, turned to the person next to us to explain what it is and its importance, and then practiced what we learned.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|
Literacy
Book clubs have started and we couldn’t be more excited! The book club experience is social and a great way to motivate kids to read, get them talking about books, and have them share ideas and perspectives. We are also continuing with our regularly scheduled program- phonics, spelling and word work!
In writing, we are learning about what makes a good sentence, well, a good sentence! Because once you can write a quality sentence you can write many quality sentences, and those sentences can turn into a quality paragraph and so on. We discussed fragments vs. complete sentences and turned those fragments into lots of examples of great sentences. We also learned about/reviewed subject and predicate. Every sentence needs a subject and predicate. Then the kiddos practiced sorting Egyptian themed subjects with their appropriate predicate. We also created subjects on index cards, traded subjects with a friend, and wrote predicates for our partners’ subjects. It was surprisingly fun, especially when you mixed up the subjects and predicates to make silly sentences when we were finished!
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Theme
New quarter, new theme! Over the next several months we will be touring Ancient Egypt! We were getting acquainted with Egypt this week, locating Egypt in the very big continent of Africa and labeling a map with some important places we plan to “visit” this quarter. We came upon an unexpected twist as we studied the map of the area surrounding the Nile River, where most of the Ancient Egyptians settled. Upper Egypt was in the narrow river valley in the south. Lower Egypt was in the north, in the broad delta (triangular piece of land) where the river flows into the sea. What? Lower in the north and upper in the south?? Well it’s because of the way the river flows! Most rivers in the world flow downhill, often South, due to gravity. The Nile River is an exception to this rule, flowing from South to North!! How cool is that! We read about the importance of the Nile River to the people of Egypt. They used it for everything to survive! Drinking, washing, fishing, transportation and irrigation.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
