Newsletter Week of November 13th

Week of November 13th-17th

In the 3AH we have been busy with our non-fiction reading and writing unit. We will continue our work with this unit for the next few weeks. Next week we start our new math unit.

It was a wonderful week of learning and celebrations. Our international flag parade was a huge success and showcased how fortunate we are at Melawati to have such a diverse group of students. Check our class blog to see the pictures of the parade and assembly.

Thank you to all the parents who came into school to help with making our Christmas ornaments. These decorations will be placed on a Christmas tree and displayed in the hallway during the holiday season.

This week will begin on Day 6

Reading Students will begin to read biographies. Students will rev up their minds by asking and thinking: What sort of text is this? What will this most be about? What parts/subtopics? Recall prior knowledge and build expectations Students will also practice summarizing narrative nonfiction by including only important details and keeping the characters/subjects motivations and problems in mind.

Writing Students will work on connecting the information in their chapters by balancing facts and ideas. We will revise our work and use strategies that will focus on word choice and structure. If we do not have enough interesting facts, we will become researchers who can research and find more information to enhance their informational books.

Math Students will begin our new unit in math. This unit focuses on multiplication and division and the relationship that they have with each other. It begins with students solving problems that ask them to think of ways they can share into equal groups a given number of items. For example: “How many apples are in 4 baskets of 8 apples?” The students will work on grouping the apples into 4 groups of 8. Lastly, they will count all the apples to find the answer.

Science This week we will have composting and worm experts come to our room. Students will examine the concept of decomposition by looking at how worms play a vital role in the process of composting our food waste. Each class will have their own container of worms to study throughout the weeks. This investigations will help students better their conceptual understanding of the interdependent relationship in an ecosystem.

November 13th-17th ,2017- Choose 2 activities to complete before Friday to share in class.

Math: Solve this problem using pictures, numbers, AND words! Four children are playing tennis together. They all brought seven balls. How many balls do they have total?	Language arts: Read a few non-fiction text and write down your observations on what makes a great introduction.	Language arts: Pretend that you are either a plant or an animal in the food chain. Write a story about your life as either a producer, herbivore, carnivore, or decomposer.
Math: Solve this subtraction problem using at least 2 different strategies. 654-391=	Science: What did you learn about worms? What role do they play in our ecosystem? Teach someone!	Other: Have a conversation with a family member or friend that lives in another ecosystem. Ask them questions about how it is different?

Remember: Reading is just what we do. It is expected each night.