Dear families,

The excitement of the quickly approaching holiday season is in the air! Speaking of air, was it chilly enough today? Brrrrr..... chatter, chatter....
We have been busily working on developing graphs, reading about pumpkins, and learning about "How To" proceedural texts. In fact, we are currently trying our own hand at writing proceedural texts. I am excited for the children to teach me how to do and make many things! :)
And finally, here is our joke of the week. What do little children ride in? Mini vans!!!! lol Why didn't I see that one coming?

Reading Workshop

During Reading Workshop this week we will explore Halloween Fiction!  We will identify procedural parts of texts as we read fun stories such as It’s Pumpkin Time, The Biggest Pumpkin Ever and Hallo-wiener!  We will read Time for Kids: Boo to explore non-fiction text that includes current events in and around our community!

Writing Workshop

During Writing Workshop we will continue to learn and practice writing procedural text.  Last week, we wrote “How to’s” as a class to illustrate the steps of a procedure.  This week the students goal will be to independently choose a subject and write a “how to”.  They will use the writing process to complete their own piece of procedural text.  We will also explore the world of adjectives.  We will brainstorm a list of adjectives, describing words, as we complete our writing projects.

Math

This week in math we will be reviewing skills/concepts taught during the first nine weeks of school.  We will apply all the skills/concepts to Halloween problem solving.  Each child will be encouraged to choose a strategy, sometimes two and use their own words to explain their thinking for the problem.  Although this may seem easy, to some it is very difficult to put their thoughts on paper and explain how to solve the problem step by step!

Science

Next week, we will be learning that heat, light, and sound are three types of energy, and that energy makes things happen. In addition to learning that heat causes air to expand, we will also learn that light travels, and that sound is made from vibrations that travel through the air. There is so much to learn that this unit will continue through to next Tuesday.

Thanks to you…

Tuesday Folders: Alina Postelnicu

Copies and cutting: Alina Postelnicu

Computer Lab: Carl Alagar

Homework Helpers: Jen VanMetre and Santrupta Bhatia

Thursday Chores:

Friday Reader: David Horsey 

And a continued thank you to all of you who are working with your children at home with their homework packets. You make a HUGE difference in their lives and mine! I appreciate you!

Reminders:

Tuesday, October 30th (from 10:00 to 10:45) Pumpkin Carving with Dads

Saturday, November 3^rd Harvest Festival

Wednesday, November 14^th  Thanksgiving Lunch in the Cafeteria