February 26th Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Last week was an exciting one as we were finishing up our narrative non-fiction writing pieces and their new understandings of how to figure out unknown words!  Many of us are very excited about bringing home books from the library that we can read on our own!  We are working on bringing home one book we can read on our own and one that our parents should read to us.  Remember, both are vital to growing readers!

This week we are beginning a fairy tale unit.  We will be reading fairy tales during our read alouds, creating a fairy tale during community writing, and writing fairy tales during writer's workshop.  We will be discussing the elements contained in a fairy tale (characters, setting, problem and solution).  Don't be surprised if your son or daughter brings home a fairy tale writing piece!  Embrace their excitement and try it with them!   

This week in math the students will learn more about fact families and fact triangles, explore time to the minute, review "What's My Rule", talk about place value to the thousands place, and use math language to communicate our thinking during Number Talks.

We are currently working on our social studies unit called Our Country.  In the next two weeks we will be taking a closer look at a map of the United States and we will be locating different states.  We will also learn about the locations of the continents and the oceans.  Additionally, we will be learning about important symbols of the United States.  We will be learning about a few of our presidents and taking a close look at George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.  We will also be comparing and contrasting George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Special Points of Interest

• Read Across America is this Friday - See the Thursday folder for more information
• No School Friday, March 9th - Professional Development for Teachers