This week was the start of the 3rd quarter! This year seems to be flying by. As of now and if no snow/cold days (!!!!), our 100th day of school will be on February 1st. With the start of the new quarter, we had the start of new ideas and topics. In language arts, we are starting a 4 week Fairy Tale Unit. These week was an introduction to the history of fairy tales and their story elements. We learned about how the Grimms Brothers and Hans Christian Andersen wrote the first tales and how their tales are still popular today. To practice the story elements of fairly tales, we made a yellow brick road to retell the 3 Little Pigs. This fairy tale has good & evil characters, 3 settings, a problem with a solution and some magic! We also read other versions of the 3 Little Pigs including the Wolf's version. Students wrote about whose version they believed. The majority of the class believed the Big, Bad Wolf! Poor little piggies!
Topic 8 in math is money & time which is a nice break from addition & subtraction. We will keep reviewing these skills so they are not forgotten. With money, students will learn to identify the value of coins and bills and find the total value of a coin collection. One coin counting strategy is to start with the coin of greatest value and count on to the coin of least value. Here is an example: If you had a quarter, a nickel and 2 dimes, start with the quarter- 25 cents. Then add the dimes- 35 cents and 45 cents. Finally add the nickel- 50 cents. The total is 50 cents. 25, 35, 45, 50. Spend time having your child count change and help pay bills! In the second part of the topic, students will write and tell time to the nearest 5 minutes using a.m. and p.m.
The Wax Museum is next Thursday, January 28th at 6:30. A following post and email will provide needed details for that evening. Students will be bringing home a copy of their biography to practice reading before the event. We are so excited to share our biographies. To coincide with math in social studies, we will talk about people using money to buy goods and services. We read two books as we began our economics unit- Give, Spend and Save with the Three Little Pigs & Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday.
Important Information
* The Wax Museum is this upcoming Thursday, January 28th at 6:30 p.m.
* Report cards come home next week and I wanted to share a small note. You may see that some of your child's scores may have changed. Consider this- The first quarter was much review and teacher-directed and guided instruction. In the second quarter, new concepts were taught. Instruction went from less teacher and more student as they have learned routines and structure. If I had concerns, we would already be talking. Conference are not until March so if you have questions or concerns, please contact me.
* Look for an email from Mr. Ebert reminding all parents about the dismissal schedule. 2nd grade car riders should NOT be in the parking lot until 3:15 to allow LEAPS, K & 1 dismiss quickly and safely.
* The Valentine's Day Party will be on Friday, February 12th at 2:15.
* The Valentine's Day Party will be on Friday, February 12th at 2:15.
Can't wait to see you all at the Wax Museum next week,
Marissa Wilhelm
