Themes, Concepts and Objectives for April 2-6

Reading- In whole group reading we will discover the wonders of the water cycle in our selections  A Water Cycle Story and Grandma's Ring. We will focus on the skill of summarizing as we continue to look for the main idea  and supporting details in a story.

Spelling- Word study patterns this week will be -ier and -iest. We will be learn the rule of "drop the y and add the i" this week in spelling. Test will be on Friday, April 6th.


Cougar Reading- We will use critical thinking skills this week as we identify "cause" and "effect" this week by playing a card game and creating a flip book.

Math-  The students will continue to identify and count coins this week. Topic 13 test will be given on Wednesday, April 4th and then we will begin Topic 14 in which we will add and subtract money.

Writing-  In writing this week we will write a humorous story about a class trip to Hawaii and work on recognizing and writing lowercase cursive letters.

Science- Your child will become a cloud expert this week as we learn identify types of clouds, create and diagram cloud models and conduct an experiment where we make a cotton ball rain!

Themes, Concepts, and Objectives for March 26- March 30

Reading- This week we will reread the selection A Breakfast Story as we focus on the comprehension strategy of main idea and details. We will conclude this theme on Friday the 30th when we take our theme test. In reading groups are continuing to work at our instructional levels on various comprhension, fluency and vocabulary skills. Your child's book as well as a written assignment will be continue to be sent home as weekend homework.

Spelling- This week we will study adjectives with -er and -est suffix. Test will be Friday, March 30th.

Cougar Reading-  We will read various non-fiction articles this week as we practice the critical thinking skill of comparing and contrasting. We will compare and contrast various topics such as bats and rats and type so bikes.

Math-  In class we will introduce coins half-dollar, quarter, dime, nickel and penny and practice sorting and counting out change. Continue to practice on xtra math as part of homework.

Writing& Science- This week we participate in a cross-curricular unit on severe types of weather. We will define  the weather words: tornado, hurricane, blizzard and flood. We will learn about what causes these types of weather as well as developing safety plans in the event the we should encounter severe weather. In Writing we will create safety posters as well a writing a report on an assigned weather related topic.

Concepts, Themes and Objectives for March 19-23

Reading-  This week in reading we will enjoy two selections Emma and The Silk Train and  A Breakfast Story. The comprehension skill is determining importance by differentiating between interesting and important details in a story. There are some details in a story that are interesting but not vital to the overall meaning of the text. We will practice picking out which details are vital and which are extraneous.

Cougar Reading-  This week we will read various passages and work on picking out the main ideas and supporting details. We will create a picture book about ants to showcase our knowledge.

Math-  We will conclude our topic on geometry this week as we divide rectangles into square and anaylze shapes as we divide them into equal parts. Our Topic test will take place on Thursday, March 22nd.

Writing- This week we will sharpen our writing skills as we critique paragraphs that have been poorly constructed. Some lack adjectives and interesting details, others are too wordy! We will rewrite givens selections so that they are JUST RIGHT:)

Social Studies- We will conclude our unit on the Plains Indians this weeks as we read legends, review facts and learn about some local tribes in the KC area. We are looking forward to our field trip on Friday, March 23rd.

March 5-8,2012

Reading-  This week we will read the novel Flat Stanley as we participate in a variety of literary and geography activites. We will also read two Irish stories by Tomie DePaulo featuring the famous and hilarious character Jamie O'Rourke and practice writing story retellings. Reading groups will not meet this week so that students can be benchmarked.

Cougar Reading-     Prefixes and Suffixes will be studied and practiced this week. We will begin by learning about prefix and suffix meanings and  than apply them to basewords and analyze their meanings.

Math- The students are enjoying their geometry topic. We have learned the difference between plane shapes and solid figures and have been counting faces, edges and vertices on shapes. We will continue to explore geometric figures this week.

Writing- We will appreciate the life and works of Dr. Seuss this week as we learn about his life create out own Seussian characters.

Social Studies- This week we will participate in a Native American naming ceremony and learn about how Native Americans educated their children through storytelling.  We will watch two legends on video and discuss the life lessons portrayed in each story and how they can be applied to every day life.