Classroom Update

Here's what we've been up to over the past couple of weeks:

In math, we have been working on graphing.  Students have learned about picture graphs, bar graphs, circle graphs and also about coordinate grids and ordered pairs.  We've also spent a lot of time analyzing and comparing data from different kinds of graphs.

The students had lots of fun doing an Author Study project during Reader's Workshop!  Each group had a different author and spent time reading their books and taking notes about similarities, observations, characters and illustrations.  They made some fabulous posters that are on display in the hallway outside of our classroom.  This week, we began a unit on visualizing.  Students are learning to pay attention to the mental pictures they are making in their heads as they read. 

We finished up our "Telling More" unit in Writer's Workshop and students chose one piece to edit and publish.  Now, we've begun our poetry unit, which the kids are having a lot of fun with.  They are learning what poems can be about and how to narrow down a topic for a poem.  We have also read many poems as a class.  Reading poetry is the best way to learn how to write poetry.  Next week, students will begin writing their very own poems!

In science, we've been exploring and experimenting with magnets.  Students have learned about how magnets work, about their poles and how to make magnets attract and repel.

During Power 1/2 Hour time, students have been in a reader's theater group!  There are three different groups and each is a different version of The Three Little Pigs.  Reader's theater helps build fluency and students do a lot of rereading and also learn to read clearly, smoothly and with a lot of expression.  They'll be performing their reader's theater next week for the rest of the Power 1/2 Hour students.