Dear Families...We are off to a great start to the 2009 - 2010 school year.  The students are actively engaged in learning and are making great connections.  I am enjoying getting to know all of the students: what they like and how they learn. 

Our first read aloud this year is House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  We believe it is an example of quality literature and provokes wonderful discussion and serves as a model for good writing.  In class we have been modeling good discussion and what good readers do when the read.  We have been using role sheets for literature circles to help facilitate discussion. 

Our school wide theme this year is Perspective, Evidence, and Explination.  Students have begun to develop an understanding of perspective and how that influences decisions and also how we can change our perception.  Students have a "Private Eye" journal which is a reflection tool that is used in the classroom.  We record observations from nature, make connections, and ask good questions.  As a class we developed a rubric that we will use to assess observations.   It focuses on written description, illustration, and reflections. 

For math we are looking at our understanding of numbers (number sense).  We have had multiple learning events around the concept of factors and parts of a number.  After the events the students generated a definition for factors.  Next, we will move into mulitples and division and multiplication strategies. 

Upcoming events:

Dickinson Plantation field trip September 29th

Fort Delaware field trip October 6th

Scholastic Book orders are due back September 25th

If you ever have any questions please feel free to stop in or contact me!

Shana Noll