Book Access Projects

Our culminating project for our first unit Building Strong Communities asked students to think about how they could increase book access to all children and families in Boston's neighborhood .  Check out the projects below!

 
 

 

 

What we have been learning...

In Reader's Workshop, we wrapped up our Building Strong Communities unit.  We finished the unit by synthesizing our ideas from each weekly question to answer the question "What is a community?"  Each student also wrote and drew about a community they belong to and explained what makes it a strong community.  This coming week, we will start our new unit!  Our new unit is Animals Surviving and Thriving.  Next week we will be reading two nonfiction texts;  A Bird Can Fly and Slither, Slide, Hop, and Run.  We will use these texts to answer the weekly question "What do animals do?"

In Word Study, we have been continuing to work on identifying and reading words with the digraphs sh, ch, and th.  This coming week, we will focus on words that end with these digraphs.

Last week we did not have any new weekly words.
Next week's weekly words: habitat, behavior, structure, function, travel, grassland .

In Writer's Workshop, we started our Friendly Letters unit.  We have been identifying parts of a friendly letter and students started writing letters to their teachers from last year.  Students have been working hard to include an opening in their letter as well as write the message/body of their letter in an organized way.  Next week we will work on wrapping up our first letters and will start writing letters to our buddies.

In math, we completed our geometry unit and started our next unit How many of each? How many in all?  Students are working on solidifying using counting on and counting back strategies to solve equations.  They are also working on building an understanding of place value specifically with teen numbers (18=10 + 8). 

In Science, students are continuing to record the weather and think about how it is changing as the seasons start to change.  We will be starting our new science unit next week and will begin to explore living things and habitats.

In Studios, students completed their Book Access Projects.  Next week we will begin exploring new materials and ideas in each studio.  Students will be working with clay in Art Studio and Legos in Building Studio to create animals.  They will also be exploring Field Guides in Science Studio.


Questions to ask your student!
- What animals did you learn about this week?  What structures help them move?
- How do you count on?  How do you count back?
- How is the weather changing?  How do these changes impact your plans?

Pajama Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Pajama Day!! Students may wear their pajamas to school. A $2 donation is suggested.

Save the Date!

We will be hosting our first community event on Friday, November 8th at 8:45am. We will be sharing the work we've been doing in our Building Strong Communities Unit as well as our work around identity.  Be on the look out for more information coming home with students this week! 

What we have been learning....

In Reader’s Workshop, we are continuing our unit on building strong communities. We have been thinking about different ways that we can create positive change in our Communities. We read the book Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed A Neighborhood and discussed how art can make a positive change in communities. We also learned about Speak for the Trees Boston, and organization that is committed to planting more trees in Boston and helping to create more green spaces. We talked about how taking care f the environment can also create positive change in one’s neighborhood.  This coming week we will read Wanda’s Roses and continue to answer the weekly question “How can we create positive change in our communities?” We will also read about Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks and think about how they positively impacted communities and the world.

In word study, we have been working on identifying and reading words that begin with consonant clusters. This week we worked with r consonant clusters and next week we will start identifying and reading words with consonant digraphs. We will begin with th.

Last week’s weekly words: volunteer, recycle, organization, charities, donate, empathy

This week’s weekly words: cultivate, perspective, identify, contribution, observe, evidence   

In Writer’s Workshop, we are continuing to work on writing personal narratives.  Students have been thinking about adding more details to their writing. We have also learned how to use carats and spider legs to make revisions to our writing.  Students will wrap up their personal narratives at the end of this week. Our next writing unit will be Friendly Letters.

In math, students have been studying 2-D shapes. We created shape posters and discussed what we have noticed about squares, rectangles, circles, triangles, and hexagons. Students have also been exploring how to put together smaller shapes to make larger shapes and designs.

In science, we have been studying clouds. We learned about cirrus clouds, stratus clouds and cumulous clouds.  We have also been thinking about how weather can impact/change our plans. This week we will learn about windspeed.

In studios, students have been planning and creating their book access projects. Students are thinking about ways that they can increase book access to families and neighborhoods throughout Boston. Some projects include little free libraries, letters to schools and authors, models of book bikes and book mobiles, etc. Be sure to ask your child about their book access project!

Questions to ask your student!

-       What are you working on during studios?

-       What are the 3 types of clouds and what can they tell you about the weather?

-       What shapes can you put together to make a rhombus? Trapezoid? Hexagon?

Picture Day is October 15th

This coming Tuesday is picture day! Please remember to bring in your order forms and checks if you plan on ordering photos!

What we're learning this week...

In Reader’s Workshop, we are continuing our unit on building strong communities. We are currently learning about leaders. We have discussed different ways that people become leaders and what it means to be a leader in one’s community. Our weekly question was “what are the qualities of a good leader?” We read the story Mama Miti, analyzed the lyrics of We’ve Got the Whole World in our Hands, and discussed slides about local leaders in our community.As we read a variety of texts, students worked on answering key questions using details from the text to support their answers.  Next week we will introduce our culminating project. Students will think about how they can create more access to books in their communities.

In word study, we have been working on identifying and reading words that begin with consonant clusters. This week we worked with s consonant clusters and next week we will work with l consonant clusters.  We’ve also been learning about nouns, proper nouns and adjectives.

This week’s weekly words: support, movement, environment, quality, decision and democracy

Next week’s weekly words: resource, budge, improve, access, impact, librarian

In Writer’s Workshop, we are continuing to work on writing personal narratives.  Students brainstormed story ideas from their lives and selected one to write about. Students have been working on writing interesting beginnings, adding details and using temporal words to signal new parts of their stories.

In math, students continue to work on solving story problems. We have been focusing on subtraction and learning efficient strategies for solving subtraction story problems. Students have been working hard on recording their work in a way that matches their thinking. Next week we will wrap up our first math unit and start a new unit on 2-D shapes.

In Science, we have been studying weather. We have been exploring temperature and thinking about what makes temperature change throughout the day and from season to season.

3 Questions to ask your student!

-       What is your personal narrative about?

-       Who are some of the leaders you learned about? What makes them good leaders?

-       At what time of day is the temperature warmest?  

Explore this website about temperature with your child!

https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/ma/boston/KB

OS/date/2019-5-13