April 13th Update

Spelling

I am very happy with our new spelling program as I have noticed that since the revamp spelling test scores have improved significantly. In the future I will use the "spring spelling homework" version right from the beginning of the year. Thank you so much for your ongoing support at home. Please let me know if you have any feedback, questions, or concerns.

Art

Over the last few weeks students have learned special techniques to use when painting with water colour paints. This week we completed our water colour paintings to show a "water scene". Here are some pictures that capture the process and product!

Math

We have been exploring money in math class! On Tuesday we turned our classroom into a store! Here are some pictures:

Counting money and making change is a life skill that students will continue to learn about, and find strategies for over time. 

Grade Two students learn how to add and subtract (make change) money to one dollar.

Grade Three students learn how to add and subtract (make change) money to ten dollars.

When making change I focus on teaching the students how to do this mentally. Some students still choose to use the standard algorithm for subtraction but I try to explain that in real life situations when you are determining change it's more efficient to use mental math. We have been focusing on taking "leaps of tens". Here is a simple example:

Students will benefit from continued experiences with money at home. Here are some ideas to support this learning at home:

-count and sort loose change

- create a pretend store (have a cashier and a shopper and focus on determining the total cost and change)

-if the weather ever becomes nicer...have a garage sale!

-play 20 Questions with money (see the instructions below)

Non-Fiction Writing

Students have been working hard in our Writer's Workshop. They have been researching their topics and recording information to include in their own non-fiction books. This week students learned about different ways to organize their information. Here are examples:

Next Science Unit...

Today we had a jump start into our next science unit. Students enjoyed planting their own seeds! We are growing Tiny Tim Cherry tomatoes! It will be exciting to observe our plants grow. Here is the beginning of this journey!