We had a wonderful week back from break. The boys and girls worked hard and really connected with the problem solving strategies that were presented to them during math. We are working on using Ninja Math T.I.P.S when solving word problems. The T stands for Think. You are supposed the think about what the question is asking you to solve. The kids were taught to rephrase the question and then underline the question from the word problem. The I stands for information. The kids were taught to circle the “important stuff.” The “important stuff” could be words or numbers that help you comprehend what the problem is asking. The P means plan. Students were taught to make a plan about how to solve the problem and to write their plan in the upper right hand corner. The last step is S, solve. Once the problem is solved, students are taught to read the problem again, check their work and label their answer. Examples of Ninja T.I.P.S and other strategies we are learning are available on our website http://misspantalena.weebly.com/word-problem-tips and on Mrs. Aronson’s website, http://kornmath.weebly.com Please check these websites throughout the upcoming weeks. There will be examples of more problem solving strategies posted as we learn them.
The boys and girls have really been enjoying our myth, legend, fable, fairy tale, tall tale and folktale unit. We are working on sequencing, comparing and contrasting and identifying point of view with these wonderful, timeless stories. Please visit our website to view some of our favorite stories in movie form! http://misspantalena.weebly.com/educational-videos.html
We are starting our Ecosystem unit in science. We will learn about various habitats, food webs and food chains. We will also use this unit to further our knowledge about informative or explanatory writing. Students are learning about the “formula” used in informative writing. Students learned that they need to state the main idea or claim and then support the claim with three facts before wrapping up the main idea or claim again. We will continue examining examples of this type of writing before doing our own ecosystem informative writing.
We have some important upcoming days. Wednesday, January 21 is spirit day. The theme is sports day so students are encouraged to wear their favorite sports clothes. I am VERY excited to announce that we are in the lead with the Box Tops contest! We raised 871 Box Tops during the months of November and December. Continue sending in your Box Tops and maybe we could stay in the lead for January and February.
Room 2 is very pleased to announce that Gabriel is this week’s Star Student! Gabriel has been working extra hard to participate and make awesome choices. Congratulations Gabe, we are all so very proud of you. Keep working hard and keep being the great kid that you are!
Warmly,
Miss Pantalena