Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then with Fairytales

We are reading different versions of Cinderella this week and answering our "W" questions- Who, What, Where, When, Why & How. We do this with a poster that sets any fiction story up like this... Somebody is in the story (this is the WHO).. Who are the main characters and what do we know about them? The next section is wanted... What does the character want or need? But there is a problem.. What is the problem and what created it? So what are the characters trying to do to fix the problem? Then... How do they eventually solve the problem? (This is the solution or resolution to the story.)

You are welcome to use this attachment to help guide your child's understanding of fiction stories at home. The back of their skills card is also a fantastic resource. Do not always let your child idley read a book... Stories should be an interactive experience! Each book they read is an opportunity to learn and explore story elements and structure.. Make it count! The more they talk about the books they read, the better they will understand them. 

More and Less

We are working on adding and subtracting 10 more and 10 less, as well as 100 more and 100 less. Some of the terminology can be tricky to students when they see it for the first time. We automatically think less means subtract and more means to add. This is not always the case in problems that are describing an unknown number. For example, 77 is 10 more than ______. In this type of problem, we have a "mystery number" that we need to find. 

What do we know already? We know that 77 is 10 more, or 10 greater than this number we are looking for. Therefore the missing number is actually 10 less than the number already given (77). So we must subtract (77-10) to get our answer (67). On a hundreds chart, we can move up one space to subtract 10. 

You should see problems like this on tonight's homework. We will continue to work with these, but please let me know if your child needs extra help.  

3 Digit Number Forms

Today we cut and matched 3 digit numbers represented in standard, word and expanded forms. Please practice by giving your child examples and letting them show 3 digit numbers in all of these forms (standard, word, short word, expanded and base ten). We will have a test on this tomorrow.

 

Writing Checks

Today we practiced writing the different number forms on checks. Ofcourse we only use the standard and word forms on real checks, but it was fun to do something relavant that connected math to the real world! I sent a blank "check book" home with everyone to use for practice. I will also attach the document below in case your child wants to write more.

Writing Checks for Word Form_1_.pdf

Station Time

Guided Reading stations are in full swing in room 202! I'm so proud of everyone for following procedures and taking ownership of their learning. We have independent reading, writing (book making), research and book club stations. In a few weeks, we will add an extra station where a group of students go to the computer lab each day. Here are some snapshots from this morning.

 

Zoology Reports

We are junior zoologist this week as we conduct research on the different animal groups! We rotate around in our science centers in small groups, and fill out our "zoology report" research. Once we finish with our research, we will fill out a real zoology report listing characteristics for all the different animal groups. 

Here are a few of the books we are using. We also use the iPads, videos, computers and articles. Below those are some sample zoology research that we have completed so far!

Fairy Tale Unit

We will continue our study of folk tales this week by introducing fairy tales. We will be reading different versions of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs this week. We will read Cinderella Stories next week (I will post on these next week!). We will look at fairy tale elements, along with theme and story elements to make comparisons of similar stories across cultures. Please help your child learn to identify these characteristics as they read fairy tales. You can also ask them to tell you about the books we will be reading below.