Math - The yellow group is working on missing partners in story problems up to 10.  The green group is working on comparison bars.  Comparison bars are similar to math mountains.  They are used in comparison story problems.  The red and blue groups are working on 2D and 3D shapes.

A creation made out of 3D shapes

Science - We have been busy!  The guppies and snails have arrived.  They are now living in our aquariums.  We learned facts about both organisms.  For instance - guppy males are colorful and guppy females are bigger.  Guppies are vertebrates.  Snails lay eggs.  They are gastropods - which means stomach footed!  Today our new shipment arrived - pill bugs and bess beetles.  Today we had our pill bug lesson.  We learned that pill bugs have gills, not lungs.  They have 12-14 legs.  They molt.  The pill bugs are now living in our terrariums.  The next lesson will be about the bess beetles.

An aquarium

Working in our organisms book

Holding a pill bug

Holding a pill bug

Holding a pill bug

One of our volunteers, Mrs. Gordon, is making caterpillars with us.  Caterpillars out of grass seed!  We put soil and grass seed inside hosiery.  Then we divided it into sections so it looks like a caterpillar.  We are watching it grow!

The day we made the caterpillars

After a few days - the grass seed is starting to grow

One week - The grass is filling in

I bought a venus flytrap plant for our class.  It fits in well with our organisms.  :)

Reading - This week our word work center is contractions.  We have been busy making contraction caterpillars.  In writing two fun centers have been tongue twisters and fantastic facts.  We read a few tongue twister books.  Now we are writing out some of the tongue twisters on paper plate tongues!  In fantastic facts the students are looking through non-fiction books.  They choose four facts to write and illustrate.  The students are doing these activities, as well as read to self, read to someone, and listening while others are working in their guided reading groups.

We also got to watch a play during daily 5 reading groups.  One of our groups worked on a play.  It was a lot of work.  They started by reading the story in their group.  They had to create their puppets.  They had to practice, and practice, and practice reading their lines and using their puppets.  After all that hard work, the group put on a show!  It was called - Do You Live In A Nest?

Social Studies - We did it!  We have learned all fifty states and capitals!  We have a US puzzle on the Smart Board that we filled in as we were learning each state and capital.  We learned a fact or two about each state.  We know the song Fifty Nifty nearly by heart.  We're learning a new song - The 50 states that rhyme.

Religion - This week we finished our chapter - Jesus Show's God's Love.  Tomorrow we will read our Promise Paper about the weekly Gospel - which is actually also about God's love.  We'll also be learning about May being the month of Mary.

Writing - This week in writer's workshop we are finishing up some poems.  Some kids also worked out of their writer's workshop notebooks.  In handwriting this week we reviewed the letters Xx, Zz, and Kk.  We are almost to the end of our handwriting book!

Discovery Day - Last Friday we had Discovery Day.  Here are a few pictures of one of our sessions - boot camp!  :)

*Next week - Thursday, May 10th - Muffins For Moms

*Reminder - Please return permission slips for The Building For Kids.  

*Spring Concert - Monday, May 14th

*Field Day - Friday, May 25th

Weekly Spelling Lists -

Phonetic List - v-e (including suffix s)
tape
dime
hope
rule
whale
slide
spoke
tune
grapes
notes

High-Frequency List - Trick Words - Words 141-150
again
off
went
old
number
great
tell
men
say
small

Math - The yellow group is working on adding and subtracting up to 10.  The green group is working on organizing data and interpreting data, the red group is working on telling time, and the blue group is working on fractions.

Reading - Our word work focus is synonyms and antonyms.  We have so many choices in centers.  The students also work on read to self, read to someone, listening, and writing.  While they are in centers, students also work in their guided reading groups  - reading and working with stories at their reading level.

Practicing spelling words

Phonics - We are learning about long vowels.  We now have letter-keyword-sounds for the short vowels and the long vowels.  We are also learning about v-e...which is vowel consonant e.  This happens when there's a word with one vowel and then a silent at the end.  The e makes the vowel sound long.  Ex. - safe, Pete, pine, home, mule.

Social Studies - We are up to 45 states and capitals.  We're almost there!

Religion - The chapter we are reading out of - Jesus shows God's Love.  We read two Bible stories this week.  One where Jesus cures a paralyzed man.  One where Jesus brings a sick girl back to life.  Both examples of Jesus showing his love.  On Friday we will work out of our Promise Paper to learn about this week's Gospel.

Writing - This week in handwriting we are reviewing the letters Xx, Kk, and Zz.  In writer's workshop we are writing color poems.  The students had to write a rough draft.  After the poem was edited, they wrote a final copy neatly.  We are also finishing up our acrostic poems.

A few acrostic poems

Working on the final copy of a color poem

Science - We are waiting on our next shipment - guppies and snails!  We put our two water plants in our aquariums.  They are called elodea and cabomba.  We drew and described the water plants in our science journals.  We also drew the aquariums.  We took home our seeds on Tuesday.  Hopefully they made it home in one piece!  The plants can be transplanted into bigger pots - and eventually even planted outside if you'd like!  (If we ever get rid of this snow!)  We made planting cards - where we drew pictures of our seeds growing!

Pea Seeds - They started slow - but once they started, they grew and grew and grew!

Pumpkin Seeds - These had the hardest time growing.  

They took the longest time to start.  Some of them didn't grow at all.  No worries,

we planted extra seeds.  If a student's didn't grow, they took an alternate plant home.

Sunflower Seeds - These took a while to start at well.  They are just starting to grow now.  

The stems are very skinny and fragile.  Soon enough, they'll be the tallest plants in the garden!

Kidney Bean Seeds - These were the quickest to grow roots.  

They popped up above the soil quickly!  They grew very tall!

Working on our planting cards -Drawing how the plant is growing.  

Writing about what we found out with our seeds and plants.

And Aaron - His pumpkin seed didn't grow.  He asked if I could take a sad picture with

him and his seed.  He ended up taking home a kidney bean plant instead.  :)

Last Friday we celebrated Grandparents / Special people.  When the students visited our classroom with their special people they had a chance to make a God's Eye.  Here are a few pictures.

Flat Stanley - This week Aiden received his Stanley in the mail.  So far, his Stanley went further than any other Stanley we've gotten back.  His Stanley traveled to Canada to visit his grandparents.  We have had 20 returned so far.  We love getting Stanley mail and reading about his adventures!

A few pictures of our class working on morning tubs -

Art - This year our school will have one all school art show in the St. Matthew Campus Gathering Space.  Our show will open May 10th, the morning of Muffins for Moms.  It will also be open for viewing around the following weekend mass schedule.  All students select 2-3 pieces to display.  Please plan on attending and enjoy their beautiful art work!  Mrs. Ihlenfeldt