Reading
Right now, we are reading Me and Uncle Romie. Uncle Romie is a story about the artist Romare Bearden. This book is written from the perspective of his nephew. He was known for collages and to put people of all backgrounds in them. Romare Bearden focused on the lives of African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement and expressed his emotions and beliefs surrounding this big topic. Students in 4K created collages based on letters we wrote to our future selves about the change we want to see in the world.
In read aloud, we are reading The Girl Who Could Fly. It is a story about a girl named Piper McCloud who goes to a school for students with special abilities. Piper has a special ability to fly. We are excited to continue reading to find out more about her and are keeping a watchful eye on the characters around her!
Math
In Math, we are switching classes and have eye-witnesses to share out what we are working on. So cock-a-doodle-doo with Miss Kennedy! We are working on the Farmer Wayne problem. This taught us area and perimeter, which we then transferred to using the area model. We are learning place value in Ms. McFarlane's room. It is the "place" to learn to "value" of numbers! We usually use numbers in the tens, and have now started exploring the hundreds. Ms. Joyce's math is learning place value, too! We use standard algorithm, partial products method, and area model to show our work. All three classes are working on place value and multiplication concepts.
Writer's Workshop
In workshop, we are writing our second realistic fiction story as independent authors. We are calling it our "fast draft," because our goal is to live the publishing process in a week! We use a flow chart to remind us of each step in the process. We begin a story by developing a strong story idea, character(s), and setting. Then we create a story arc until it "feels right," where we then draft our first piece. We also study other published authors to make our own stories better, and then reflect and revisit our piece with new meaning.
Science/SS
In Science, we are learning electromagnets and starting to build our designs . We are also learning about telegraphs and how to can communicate through them.
In Illinois History, we lived the voting process between The Bears and The Packers. We also delivered speeches about the planet and how to keep it clean. In Regions, we have packed up from The East and have moved down to the South, where the sun is warm and beaches are sandy.