Jan Brett, Decomposing and Life Cycles

For the past two weeks, we read books by Jan Brett for our author study. If you're not familiar with her work, it is certainly worth checking out at the library. A lot of research and detail goes into each book she writes.  Visit the website www.janbrett.com for more information.  On Friday, we watched a video of her teaching us how to draw a hedgehog! Each day, we wrote to express our ideas after the story.  For example, on the day we read Hedgie Blasts Off, we wrote about what we would see if we visited another planet.  On the day we read The Hat, we wrote about how we can keep warm on a cold day.

We started new guided reading groups last week, and I'm sure you'll be proud of your child for all of the progress they have made so far this year.  I have completed my testing, and if you'd like more information about their reading level or reading performance, please feel free to contact me and I can share that information via email, phone, or we can set up a meeting in person.  Please remember to return all guided reading books and library books every Monday.  Check out these readers makig and confirming predictions.

 

In math, we are wrapping up our unit on decomposing.  We know how to build a number with two or three other numbers.  For example, you can make 10 in many ways including 6 and 4, or 3 and 3 and 4.  The visual of a number bond, as well as using manipulatives such as links, blocks, or even something edible like goldfish crackers, really helps make the concept concrete.  

In science, we've been stuyding the life cycle of our class pets, the mealworms.  By now almost all of our mealworms have turned into a pupa.  We are patiently awaiting the arrival of the darkling beetles. We even can compare the life cycle of a mealworm to other animals, such as the frog, and the butterfly.