Weekly update, October 7th

We had our MAP tests this week on Monday and Wednesday. Teachers use this as one set of data points when we look at how students are doing. We will be sharing this data with families during conferences in November, but if you would like to see your child's results sooner, just let me know.

Reader's Workshop
- We read Knuffle Bunny and made story maps to chart out the characters, setting, problem, and solution.
- We did a sort of short and long a sound words.
- We got our first spelling lists of the year, and we are starting to learn our word study procedures.
- We read The Snowy Day and identified what Ezra Jack Keats does so well.
- We wrote sentences for eight of our spelling words.
- To connect with our work in writer's workshop, we started making a chart of techniques that authors use in our favorite stories. We can learn a lot about writing by reading the work of authors we love.

Math
We were thinking a lot about math facts and fact fluency this week. We did a lot of practice with combinations to make ten. We stared Unit 2, about addition within 1,000. We will be working on this for the next month, and students will end up with fast and accurate strategies for solving three-digit addition problems.

We also made videos to teach others about math games we know. Check out our webpage to see them.

Science
- We studied milkweed!
- We harvested tomatoes and husk cherries from the garden, and made scientific illustrations of some of the plants we saw.

Social Studies
- We thought about what to do if a friend is sad. We read Mo Willems' book My Friend is Sad, and brainstormed ideas for how Piggie could help Gerald feel better, and also came up with reasons why Gerald might feel sad. We talked about asking other people if they are okay, but that they might not want to talk about it right away.

News and Other Information
We had five different exercises to do during the morning announcements. Here is us doing ten sit-ups:

News from the PTO:
Visit the PTO website and Facebook page for more information: @lowellelementarypto
lowellpto.org
Coming up on the PTO calendar:
Oct 3: Fall Box Top Contest - 10/3-10/21
Oct 11: PTO Meeting 7pm Library. Agenda
Oct 20: Lowell Night at the Chateau. Flyer
Oct 25: Pre-orders due for Diary of Wimpy Kid. Order Form
Oct 28: Halloween Event 6:30 - 8pm

I thought this article about emotional agility in children was an interesting read: http://nyti.ms/2duEjVv

Have a great weekend!