February 19-March 5

Hello Families! We have had a great couple of weeks. Here is what we have been up to:
Biographies: We have been reading lots of biographies and have started our biography reports. As a reminder, the rough draft is due next Wednesday and the final copy along with the presentation dressed as the famous person will be next Friday. Your child may need some time at home next week to write their final copy (the rough draft will be edited in class and ready to be published) They will only need to copy the edited draft in nice handwriting. A blank final copy will be sent home Monday. The kids have been working hard and are excited about the report! I can't wait to see the presentations!
Writing: We are almost done publishing our How To books. We created a slideshow in KidPix. We created 6 pages of text and illustrations then put them into a slideshow. We will have our Author's Celebration next Friday
Math: We just had our Unit 7 test. You should see the test in your child's red folder. We continue to work on double digit subtraction. Ask your child to show you how he/she learned in class. We just started a new unit on fractions. The kids are doing well with the new concept. We continue to take math facts tests twice a week. This quarter we take addition tests on Tuesdays and subtraction on Thursdays. I encourage the kids to take the tests home and complete the rest of the problems. It's a great way to practice. If your child is having a hard time with facts, try flash cards, orally quiz your child in the car, while making dinner or have your child practice facts online (see the links to right).
Science: We got to see our amaryllis bloom into three flowers last week. This week we learned that plant cuttings can be used to start a new plant. So we put the cuttings in water, making sure at least one node on the stem was under water. We are now carefully observing to see if the cuttings start growing into a new plant. Ask your child what he/she would need to observe to know that the cutting is growing into a new plant (roots and leaves).
Keyboarding: We have been typing for a couple weeks now. The kids are doing well. It is a hard skill to learn, as the kids have to break their old habits. You can support your child at home by encouraging them to use the correct hand positions when typing at home.
Reminders:
Domes field trip next week Thurs Feb 25. We will leave at 9am and return at 12. The kids will eat lunch at school (bag lunches are not necessary).