Mrs. Van Gorder’s Weekly News May 4-8 Check out our class website! Math- This week we worked with composite shapes using tangrams to make new shapes. We did the same with 3-D shapes to make composite structures. We began working with fractions by taking shapes and partitioning them in half, learning that each equal part is 1 out of 2 pieces to make ½. Quarters are 1 our of 4 equal pieces to make ¼. Our last 2 units we be focusing on time and money. Next week we will cover time. In first grade we learn to tell time on the hour and half hour. It goes well with learning fractions and cutting the clock in half. Reading- We have been working on writing about reading with a focus on handwriting. We are making sure letters b and d are correct. We learned the phrase put your b’s and d’s to bed, forming the letters with our fingers. We reinforced that letters are formed top to bottom and left to right. Keep reading every night! Writing- In writing this week we continued to work on our all about books by learning to add non fiction text features including table of contents, heading, labels, captions, definitions, glossaries and drawing up close pictures to zoom in. We learned how to add comparisons to our writing so that readers get a better sense of what we are talking about, like a polar bear weighs as much as 10 men. We learned how to surf the internet safely by becoming digital citizens. We made a list of safe and unsafe things to do. We searched kidrex.org to find facts on our chosen topics at the computer lab. This is a great website, I strongly suggest checking it out. It is basically a kid version of google. Word Study- This week we focused on the 3 sounds of ed at the end of a word. t- liked, talked, walked, dressed, hiked, biked d- grilled, yelled, smelled, sailed, learned id- melted, landed, needed, added, surrounded We also made word chains by changing one letter in a word (beginning, middle or end) to make a new word like in ship, shop, stop, step, stem. By making connections from one word to another will help when decoding new words. Science- This week we did more exploring with air by making parachutes, learning that it falls slowly to the ground because air pushes against it. We made air and water fountains by pushing air with a syringe through tubing into a bottle forcing air and water up and out another tube and syringe, learning that air takes up space in a bottle and wont let water in if the air can’t get out, and air pressure can push on water to make it move. Scholastic Orders- online orders require an activation code NZW9J on the scholastic website: scholastic.com/readingclub Class Meeting -We had our final PARP assembly to recognize all the wonderful hard work that our students and families put into participating. Additional Notes - Closed toe shoes need to be warn in order to play on the wood chipped area of the playground. I would suggest sending in sneakers to change into for recess if your child wears sandals to school on an outdoor recess day.