Academics (Summary of this past week's learning)

Math- Over the last two weeks students learned all about measuring length to the nearest inch, half inch, centimeter, foot, yard, and meter. They learned the lengths of each unit and practiced identifying reasonable units of measure for certain objects, for example "A car is about 5 (inches/ feet/ yards) tall." You would select "feet." Students learned units of measure in the customary system (in, ft, yd, mi) and metric (mm, cm, m, km). They were given ample practice measuring things around the classroom with rulers and metersticks. This past week students learned about measuring capacity with the American system (cups, pints, quarts, and gallons) and the metric system (liters and milliliters).

Reading- Students are reading to develop their background knowledge of soil. We are also reading poetry and learning how to engage in this type of literature. Students learned that there is often an underlying meaning in a poem and they have to dig beneath the surface to find it because the author doesn't explicitly state it. Also we discussed as a class how authors use poetic language and poems appeal to emotions and the five senses. 

Word Study- We learned some common irregular past tense verbs. 

Writing- Over the last two weeks students engaged in writing poetry. They created a poetry section in their writing notebook for poems. They started by writing couplets, a two-line poem that rhymes. They used templates to write poems with metaphors. Finally, students learned how to use similes in poems by writing a color poem and using adjectives and imagery to strengthen their writing. 

Science- Students have been learning how to protect and conserve soil. They will need to know these strategies so they can provide a solution to the soil problem outside in the schoolyard. Also, students learned about how organisms break down when they die and become soil. This is called decomposition. This past week we investigated soil. There were MANY hands-on investigations. Students segregated soil matter, observed soil components, and investigated how much water is held by different soil components. 

Field Trip Wed, April 19 to Frying Pan Park.

In the fourth quarter we will learn about simple machines and how they make work easier. Students will travel to Frying Pan park to participate in a guided tour and interactive stations for each simple machine. A tractor tour of the farm will also be provided. If you would like to chaperone please let me know! We plan to be back at school around 1:30 PM. Please make sure your child has a packed lunch to eat at the park. The cost is covered with our class funds.