Moving on to China!

Spring is here and students are working hard and having fun.

You may want to send in an extra tee shirt or pair of shorts so that kids have a clothes that are appropriate for the weather. We have had several kids that have wanted to change into a short sleeve shirt when they have gotten hot and only have long sleeve shirts here.

In Katie's math we are working on addition, subtraction, and measurement. We learned a fun card game yesterday called "How Many Reds?". Ask your child to teach you how to play. Today we will play a game in the computer lab with our buddies to help reinforce fact families.

In Keri's math we have been concentrating on getting through reviewing of addition and subtraction. WE have forgotten how to regroup and borrow. We will play some math games to reinforce our math facts as well. When we have finished that we will begin the much anticipated "multiplication"!!!! Everyone is chomping at the bit to get to multiplication.

In Keri's reading groups, we are reading short chapter books and completing mini book reports to display in the classroom. They will continue to work on phonetics through Explode the Code and Word Study. Look for that to be coming home today. Please take some time to practice the word patterns with your child. They also are concentrating on writing in the morning and are in the process of creating a class bulletin board full of various things that we have written.

In Katie's class we are working on creative writing. Students have started writing short stories. We also are working in groups and using "story bags" to act out stories we create. Yesterday we took advantage of the warm weather. We played a modified version of 4 Square to review synonyms, antonyms, and contractions. Each student continues to read their own novel, meet with Katie, and write responses.

In Social Studies we are reading about China and learning about all of the inventions that come from China. We are making Kites, Lanterns and pictures from Tangrams as we learn about Asia. Each child will learn some important facts on China and we are going to visit the Mill Mountain Zoo to see Asian Animals on April 21st.

We have 2 more plays that we will see in May.