Literatura
This week we read La cancion del zapatero.
Our objectives were:
- to understand personal and possessive pronouns
- to use comprehension strategies such as predicting, asking questions, and summarizing to constrict meaning from the text
- To use the comprehension skill Author’s purpose as we read the story the second time
Next week we will be doing our second book report entirely in class!
Matemáticas
This week we continued working with Customary Measurement.
Our objectives were:
- Use inch, foot, yard, and mile as units of measurements for lengths
- estimate and measure given lengths
- Use referents to estimate lengths and weight
- use ounce, pound, and ton as units of measurement for weight
- read scales in ounces (oz) and pounds (lb)
- estimate and find actual weights of objects by using different scales
History & Geography
This week in our Native American unit the class did an amazing job on their projects and reports. Thank you to Paul who brought in Indian flat bread, wild huckleberry jam, local honey, and bison pemmican. The class got to hear Native American music, try the food, and design and play a tribal stick game. This week we also began our unit on European Exploration of North America.
Our objectives were to:
• present our reports and projects
• explain why kings and queens in Europe were interested in exploring the Atlantic and the area to the west of Europe
• identify motivating factors that led to the exploration of the Americas in different expeditions
• explain the significance of Christopher Columbus in the early Spanish exploration of the Americas
• locate on a map or globe key places explored and visited by the Spanish
• describe the encounters between early explorers and Native Americans
Social Studies with Ms. Laura We talked about President Abraham Lincoln’s election and his political views. We discussed which states were ‘free states’, which states were ‘slave states’. We started our posters and flags for the North and the South, comparing The Union and The Confederacy. We read Just A Few Words, Mr. Lincoln, a book about The Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. We read the ten sentence, 272 word masterpiece and compared it to other speeches given that day, one lasting two hours!
Science
This week in our science domain we learned about the life of Mae Jemison.
The class had an interesting discussion about what made her unique and how powerful following your dreams can be.
We also had a visit from Barbra and Russ. They helped us plant some seeds and talked about the growing table in our room. Just a reminder to everyone that Monday will be our space trip with the K/1 class. Our class will represent the Celestial bodies in space. Everyone should come dressed in their own representation of the ir cosmic body.
Our objectives were to:
• describe tools and methods used to study space and share information
• identify and use vocabulary important to the process of science
• Describe the life and contributions of Copernicus
• recall key details about the history of space exploration
• Describe the life and contributions of Mae Jemison
English Word Work
The class took their spelling test on Thursday. I have added No Excuse Words to all the tests. Each week there will be 3 of these words on everyone’s test. This is a way for the students to review the words that they should always spell correctly. In our journals we used the word of the week “timid” in one entry.
Specialists
Art with Ms. Kelly: We spent the month of April working on a Weaving Project for a Mother’s Day gift. This project
involved painting the Loom, putting the Warp yarn on the loom, and then weaving the Weft
yarn to create some beautiful designs. I don’t want to give you any more detail, but I know you’ll
be impressed with these beautiful weavings. All the students did a great job following directions,
choosing colors, and going “over and under” many times!
Some of the students also had time to start a paper weaving from painted paper. We’ll finish
these next month.
Music with Ms. Erin
In April we practiced singing and percussion skills, learned how to workshop songs using constructive feedback, and how to record songs. We wrapped up the songwriting project, getting final recordings of student written songs!
In May we will focus on:
- Reviewing music theory knowledge such as music notation and symbols
- Learning new symbols used in written music
- Drawing and writing notes and symbols on staff paper
- Learning about the composer Aaron Copland