Week of January 25
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
This Friday is the end of the second quarter. There will be no school on that day, as teachers and staff are attending professional development.
The social studies and science quizzes will be administered on Tuesday, 1/26 and 1/27 respectively. We sent home the graded study guides last week. Please refer to them to assist your child.
Language Arts:
Independent Reading (35-40 minutes at the beginning of each day)
Teachers administer the DIBELS and the Reading 3D Mid-year Benchmark tests each day during this time.
Differentiated Instruction:
- Administer the Mid-year Benchmark for Reading 3D.
- Writing Conferences
- Guided Reading
Spelling Words for the Week: are, busy, finally, good, here, jump, last, mail, number, said
Day 1:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Poetry Unit:
Ingredients/Pattern in Poetry
Interactive Read Aloud: Read more Small Poems by Valerie Worth
- Teachers review the concept of recipes/ingredients for cooking to guide the students to understand that there are ingredients in our recipe for writing a poem.
The first ingredients are: Use the eyes of a poet to look at the world closely and carefully, and use the eyes of a poet to look at ordinary things in fresh a, new ways.
- Review with students the idea of patterns in poetry. Discuss how “line breaks” make up a poetic form, that poetry has music, and the music of poetry comes from how words are put on a page.
Writing:
- Students continue to write short poems based upon notes from the objects they explored previously.
Day 2:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Poetry Unit:
Ingredients/Pattern in Poetry
Interactive Read Aloud: A pyramid poem entitled “Hedgehog” by Mrs. Reino
Writing:
- Teachers explain the format for writing a pyramid poem through a shared-writing activity:
(1) Start with a noun on the first line. (2) Repeat the noun but add an adjective for the second line. (3) Write the same adjective and noun followed by a verb (ing form). (4) The next line is the adjective, noun, and verb followed by an adverb. (5) Students end their poems with a question or an exclamation.
- Students share knee-to-knee with a partner to brainstorm of ideas to write.
Interactive Read Aloud: Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert
- Teachers guide students to identify and chart “juicy words” from the story and from students’ input.
- Each student selects a subject for his/her poem and structures the poem on a graphic organizer as a rough draft. Students are reminded to utilize “juice words” for their poems.
Day 3:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Poetry Unit:
Understanding and Creating Mental Imagery
Interactive Read Aloud: “The Whale” from beast feast by Douglas Florian (Read a 3 or 4 times)
Writing:
- Students draw an image of how they see the poem and write text that inspires their drawing.
- Students buddy share their drawings and thinking.
- Reread the poem. Have students incorporate the feedback they receive from buddy sharing. Ask if they would change the drawing to reflect how they see it now.
- Students compose a poem about an animal of choice using the pyramid poem format. They may write additional animal poems using other formats.
Day 4:
Independent Reading
Morning meeting/morning message
Poetry Unit: Understanding “Voice” in Poetry
- Explain to students that voice is sometimes considered the “personality of the poem” and that using a “clear voice” is also an important ingredient in writing a poem. Add “voice” to the “Recipe for Writing a Poem” chart.
- Use the following categories to explain “first” and “third” person: (1) Person is telling a story vs. poem is about a story. (2) Animal is telling a story vs. poem is about an animal. (3) Object is telling a story vs. poem is about an object.
- Differentiate categories for students through interactive read-alouds illustrating each category. Make “Telling” and “about” charts.
Interactive Read Aloud:
(1)“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Day” by Robert Frost vs. “A Girl’s Garden” by Robert Frost (2) “Once I Ate a Pie” by Patricia MacLachlin vs. “Dog” by Valerie Worth (3) “Now You Need Me” by Virginia Hamilton vs. “Coat Hangers” by Valerie Worth
Writing:
- Teachers model how to write a poem using a first or third person “voice”.
- Students share knee-to-knee with a partner to brainstorm of ideas to write.
- Students compose a poem using a first or third person “voice” in pyramid poem format. They may write additional poems using other formats.
Math:
6.2 Comparison Number Stories
Objective: To introduce comparison number stories by using comparison diagrams
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Solving Comparison Number Stories (Whole-Class Discussion)
Differentiated Instruction:
- Solving Comparison Number Stories (Partner Activity)
6.3 Data Day: The Four Food Groups
Objective: To provide experiences with collecting, sorting, tallying, and graphing data
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Collecting Data on Favorite Food (Whole-Class Activity)
- Discussing the Favorite-Food Data Table (Whole-Class Discussion)
- Making a Bar Graph of the Favorite-Food Data (Whole-Class Activity)
Differentiate Instruction: Students survey and tally collected data to create a bar graph.
6.4 Mixed Addition and Subtraction Stories
Objective: To guide students in selecting and completing an appropriate diagram to help solve an addition or subtraction problem
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Selecting Diagrams and Solving Number Stories (Independent Activity)
Differentiated Instruction:
Under teachers’ guidance, students work in a small group solving number stories using manipulatives. Teachers tailor the numbers to meet the students’ ability.
6.5 Modeling Subtraction with Base-10 Blocks
Objective: To review solution strategies for subtraction of 2-digit numbers
- Mental Math and Reflexes/Math Message
- Math Message Follow-Up (Whole-Class Activity)
- Using Base-10 Blocks to Model Subtraction (Whole-Class Activity)
- Solving Subtraction Problems (Partner Activity)
Differentiated Instruction:
Under teachers’ guidance, students work in assigned pairs solving number stories using base-10 blocks.
- Enrichment: Analyzing a Subtraction Strategy
Science:
- Using the beam balance, students explore weighing to review for the quiz.
- Students take a multiple choice/true and false quiz about balancing.
Describing the Four Foods (Day 1)
For the next four lessons, students will apply their comparing and weighing skills to solve problems that involve four foods of varying weights, shapes, and sizes. Later, they will apply their observations to help explain why equal cupfuls of the four foods have different weights.
- Students observe and describe the properties of four different foods.
- Students record their descriptions of the four foods.
- Students share their observations of the foods and create a class chart.
- Students compare and contrast their observations of the foods.
Social Studies:
- Students will complete a multiple choice/True or false assessment on the Civil Rights Movement.
Thank you for your support.
Anh Tuan Hoang, LuAnn Lawson