Wednesday, September 30, 2015

September 30, 2015


In our Reading block we have been working on a variety of strategies that good readers use.  Throughout the year you may hear your child refer to the acronym “CAFÉ.”  CAFÉ stands for

          C  -  Comprehension (understanding what you read)

          A -  Accuracy (reading the words correctly)

          F -   Fluency (reading accurately with expression)

          E -   Expand Vocabulary (knowing, finding, and using interesting

 words)

We will be using the CAFE menu to learn reading strategies based on the Common Core standards that will help us become better readers.  To date, we have worked on Choosing Just Right Books, Making Connections, Predicting, Visualization, Voracious Reading, Check for Understanding and Summarizing.  Through a mini lesson and mentor text, we learn about and practice each new strategy. 

            In math class we have covered many skills during our focus on place value.  Some of these include:

  • Reading/writing whole numbers to the trillions
  • Reading/writing decimals to the thousandths
  • Comparing whole numbers/decimals using <, >, and =
  • Ordering decimals and determining the least/greatest decimal within a list
  • Expanded notation
  • Adding whole numbers/decimals using the U.S. standard algorithm

 

We continue to watch our monarch caterpillar, recording observations in a journal.  The class has been reading, An Extraordinary Life:  The Story of a Monarch Butterfly by Laurence Pringle.  This narrative captures the story of one monarch’s journey through migration across a continent.  The chapters we have read so far covers the caterpillar (Danaus) from her hatching on a single milkweed leaf in a Massachusetts hayfield and has continued through her metamorphosis into a butterfly. We have also heard about her journey south. 

On Tuesday we watched a short movie about Monarchs and their amazing migration journey.

          Thanks to all that participated in our Solmate sock fundraiser.  We are currently working to organize the sales and place the order with Solmate.  More to come on when we can expect to receive the orders.

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