Thank You Veterans
On behalf of our entire community, Winsor would like to thank the veterans that joined us today for our Veteran's Day assembly. Service is of paramount importance. We are thankful for our freedom and appreciative for the sacrifices made by the brave women and men in our armed forces.
Keeping Up With Kindergarten
It has been another fun week! Thank you to Room Parents that came in to help us celebrate fall and Halloween. We made some creative crafts, read spooky stories and played some fun games!
We also had a great time on our first field trip to the Greenville Public Library! We took a tour around the library, listened to Mrs. Bab read, got our very own library cards, and took out a book! Please return these library books to the Greenville Library by November 29th. Thank you to parents that took time out of their day to join us.
This week in Math, we finished up our chapter on Measurement. We learned how to describe weight, length, height and capacity. We also began the next chapter on sorting. Please ask your child about different real life examples where sorting would come in handy. (Perhaps, they can help you sort laundry one day? :-)
This week’s/last week’s Fundations letters: lowercase p, j, l,h,j
This week’s/last week’s Sight Words: play, big, little, can, in, with
Learning and Fun in Grade One!
The past couple of weeks in Math, we have been working on various Addition Strategies. Students learned to count on using the larger number. We also counted on with pennies, using a number line,
doubles strategies, doubles plus 1 or minus 1, and making 10 to add. This latest math strategy was very challenging for our firsties; therefore, we are continuing to review this concept. Be sure to ask your child to sing the “doubles” song. Continue to practice math facts, especially doubles, at home to aid in your child’s math fluency.
Also, we have been administering F & P (reading) assessments including sight words, and STAR testing (next week) in reading and math on the computer. If your child is not comfortable with the computer, be sure to practice some games such as ABCya.com, Math Magician, Starfall.com, etc.
This week in Fundations, we completed our work on glued sounds: -am and -an. Our trick words are: from, have, do, and does. Our next unit will concentrate on base words and suffixes.
In writing, our classes worked on Veteran’s Day letters/cards to thank a vet for all they do for us and our country. The cards were given to our guest veterans at the school-wide assembly.
Last Wednesday, we had an autumn/Halloween celebration. We listened to a variety of seasonal books and also made a craft with the help of our room moms. It's always so much fun when parents join us for a special activity in class! A wonderful time was had by all. Many thanks to Mrs. Burt, Mrs. DiSciullo, and Mrs. Mrs. Morrissette of 1D and Mrs.Marshall, Mrs. Pierpaoli, Mrs. Taibi and Mrs. Vingi of 1K for taking the time to organize such fun activities.
Have a great long weekend and be sure to thank a Vet!!! God Bless America!!!
What's New in Grade Two
As a grade two team, we brainstormed a list of
"What can we write to thank our United States of America Veterans?"
These are the wonderful words of appreciation and respect that our second grade superheroes have for our United States Veterans!
Not all superheroes wear capes!
Past, Present, and Future...Thank You!
Remember, Honor, and Respect...Today and Everyday!
Home of the Free because of the Brave!
Thank you for serving our country!
Thank you for fighting for America!
I appreciate all the sacrifices you've made!
We are lucky to have people like you!
It must have been hard protecting the USA!
You are important to us and our country!
We love our American Veterans!
You make me proud to be an American!
You are an American hero!
As always, thank you for everything you do at home!~
Thrills in Third
What a week it has been in 3rd grade! We started division, and students are seeing it’s not as difficult as they originally thought. We continued learning the tools that good writers use during our writing time. Students really enjoyed “Pass the Sensory Story”. In reading, 3B finished The Wild Robot. Ask your child what his/her favorite part was. As always, your child will probably say science was the highlight of their week. This week we observed owl pellets and began extracting rodent bones from them. We will continue next week trying to put the skeletons back together. We hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!
Learning More in Grade 4
It’s been a very productive week here in Grade 4!
In Math, students have been learning different ways to communicate multiplication. They started by working with manipulatives. Then, they created area models showing partial products. The traditional way of multiplying 2 digit by 1 digit is last in the lesson line-up. We are trying to build the concept of multiplication through this progression. They get it! Have them explain it to you!! It is probably different from the way you were taught!
Students completed their first trimester writing assessment. This assessment asked them to read a short story and then write a response from the other character’s point of view. We practiced with a similar task and students followed a “recipe” for completing the task.
In Social Studies, students took part in a simulation that helped them to understand why we need rules. They played the “Eraser Game”. Then we read a play that followed Ben Franklin’s time at The Constitutional Convention. These lessons helped to build the foundation for our next unit called Rights and Responsibilities.
Parent Teacher Conferences will be Thursday, December 5th. Be on the look-out for the link to sign-up or check your time. We will send out an email with the link soon.
The Fabulous Five
As we conclude our Character Unit in reading workshop, the students have been working on building theories and gathering evidence about our characters in our novels. The students worked in their guided reading groups to find evidence in the text that demonstrated how the character dealt with their struggles and strengths throughout the novel. We then created a “theory ladder” for the main character(s) in the story to show the pattern of behavior the character exhibits.
In math, the students have been working on developing a deeper understanding of division by using the Distributive Property and partial quotients. This property allows them to divide each place-value position by the same factor. They have extended their conceptual understanding to using the division algorithm to divide greater dividends by 2-digit divisors. The students have also explored the concept of estimating quotients using compatible numbers and how rounding makes division easier.
As we continue to study planetary systems in science, the students are learning about the Moon, Earth’s only natural satellite. Like the Sun, the Moon rises and sets every day but, unlike the sun, it rises and sets on a rotating schedule. As a result, at times in can be visible at night and at other times during the day. They are also learning that the Moon’s appearance changes throughout the month and that these changes or phases follow a predictable pattern.
In social studies, we have moved onto our Pangea and Ice Age Unit. The students worked in small groups on a Pangea STEM activity. For this activity, the students had to piece together how the continents began as a large mass and then had to demonstrate how the continental drift separated the seven continents. Some groups presented their findings through a puzzle, while others designed a land mass model, and one group demonstrated their thinking by moving the desks around the room! We had many creative minds at work!!
The fifth graders were very lucky to experience an exciting science show put on by our superintendent of schools, Dr. Judith Paolucci. Her spooktacular demonstrations wowed the students as they learned about science concepts such as physical and chemical changes, index refraction, and the difference between flourescence, phosphorescence, and chemiluminescence.
We look forward to the return of our students on Tuesday, November 12th. Have a nice weekend.