Mrs. Rausch's Class

Friday, December 7, 2012

A Peek at Next Week:

Monday: Art

Tuesday: Music

* Mrs. Rausch gone to Cedar Falls for a Conference *

Wednesday: Food & Fitness

* Happy Birthday Brady *

Thursday: Library

* Special Snack: Landen's Family *

Friday: PE & Guidance

Earth's Treasures

In Lead 21, we have discussed "How do we use and keep Earth's treasures?" In order to answer that question, we needed to discuss what the word "treasures" means to us, and what it means to the Earth. Through conversations, we have decided that Earth's Treasures must be things that the Earth gives to us to help us survive. For example, water, food, trees, air, soil, animals, vegetables, fruits, etc. are all treasures!

Our vocabulary word this week was "natural resources." Anything that the Earth provides that we do not have to work for is a natural resource. For example, a lake is a natural resource. It provides us water. A swimming pool is not a natural resource because somebody had to construct it!

Our phonics instruction has taught us that the letter /l/ can make many sounds. Lion, barrel, bubble all have the letter l. The letter /l/ alone, /el/, and /le/ words all make the same sound! We also continue practicing the /er/ sound when it is spelled /er/ (her), /ur/ (curl), /ir/ (bird).

Observing the Moon

We have concluded our discussions on observing the moon. Students were able to conduct a few experiments using flashlights and light bulbs to demonstrate how the shape of the moon changes when it is circling around the Earth. We discussed that the changes occur when the moon moves closer/farther from the sun as well as the way the moon is tilted.

I hope you are all able to find the moon either in the afternoon or early morning! It has been absolutely beautiful this month! Students can turn in their moon observation calendars by the 19th of December for a prize out of my prize box!

Math

Measuring using a ruler, measuring tape, and non-standard objects has proven to be an exciting part of our math curriculum! Yesterday we began telling time to the quarter hour! This is NOT an easy task, as our math curriculum not only has us saying 9:15 and 9:45, but they also want us to use the terminology "quarter past 9" and "quarter to 10." Thank you for working on math boxes at home! This helps further your child's understanding of math concepts!!

Reading Strategies

Determine Important Information

When students read, they should pick out the most important ideas. The most important ideas are the ones the author wants readers to remember.

Compare and Contrast

When we compare certain things, we tell how they are alike or the same. When we contrast things, we tell how they are different!!

Make Inferences

Making inferences helps readers make sense of what they read. Sometimes the author doesn't tell us everything we need to understand. We can use clues in the story and what we already know to help fill in gaps which the author has left in the text. This is called MAKING INFERENCES!

Identify Text Structure

Stories are set up in different ways. They usually are told in sequence, or the order in which events happen. Knowing how a story is set up, or its structure, can help a reader remember the story.

Identify Details & Facts

Finding small bits of information that tells us more about important ideas.

Making Predictions

Using clues from the story and what you already know to guess what will happen next.

Summarize

Tell in your own words what has happened in the story or text.

Ask and Answer Questions

Asking questions and looking for answers in the text or pictures will help you to understand what you read!

Facts and Opinions

Facts and be proven! They are TRUE!

Opinions are people's thoughts. They might not be true! When giving an opinion, you might hear "I think...."

Monitor Comprehension

Stop and think about what you are reading. Are you understanding what you are reading? If not, use an accuracy strategy to help.

Recall and Retell

Tell about the setting, characters and most important events in the beginning, middle, and end of the text. Readers gain a better understanding of what a story is about when they can recall events from a story.

Make Connections

Use what you already know to understand what you are reading. We use text to text connections. We use text to self connections. And we use text to world connections.

Mrs. Rausch's Class

Friday, December 7, 2012

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