Optional Math Assignment 2

Write the numbers which complete the pattern.

• 23, __, __, 32, 35, __, 41
• 11, __, __, 23, 27, __, 36
• 17, __, 37, __, 57, __, 77
• 42, 40, __, 36, __, __, 30

Make up your own recursive pattern puzzle for someone else to solve.

Thank You

Thank you to those parents contributing treats for our Holiday Celebration. The children seemed to have a great time ("this is the best day ever"). A special thank you to our parent volunteer who not only helped set up and clean for our affair but also assists every morning for our Breakfast in the Classroom, as well as helping out in the Parent Center.

Optional Math Assignment 1

Dora has 3 cards each with a single digit printed on the face. The cards read 3, 5, and 7.

1. What is the largest two-digit number (the number of greatest value) Dora can make with her cards?
2. With the same cards what two-digit number can Dora make that is closest to 66. Show how you found your answer using pictures, words, and numbers.

Rather than showing your child how to solve this problem, provide a variety of tools (e.g. number line, hundred chart, counters) and observe their strategy. Assist them in articulating their explanation.

Eighty-Fifth Day of School

December reading logs due tomorrow.

Eighty-Third Day of School

No homework today.

Optional homework will be posted intermittently during the winter holidays. It will mainly consist of math problems incorporating skills necessary for quickly approaching assessments.

Hold on to the Hundred Chart recently brought home. Another useful tool will be a number line.

Day Eighty-One Homework

With your Hundred Chart, find the missing number for these equations using the following format:

65 + __ = 80

answer:
65 + 15 = 80
Down 1, forward 5

OR think
80 - 65 = 15
Up 6, back 5

Homework:

1)  75 - 23 = __

2)  50 + __ = 71

3)  65 - __ = 23

4). 18 + 66 = __

Holiday Celebration

If you would like to donate a treat to our holiday celebration, contributions are greatly appreciated. District guidelines dictate that treats should be store bought. Setup for the occasion will begin around 11:30 on Friday.

Notes From the Week

A quote lifted from Room 11 Blog from a previous year:

"FYI: I read a book about Santa Mouse (a treasury from my childhood) to the children. A child asked me after I finished story 2 the other day, 'Are you sure that's true?' Hmm....So the legend goes, that if you should happen to find a small (tiny) gift tucked somewhere in your tree, perhaps tied with a yellow bow, then you will know that Santa Mouse has been to your house. *Shrugs* I don't know, it's just what I heard. Who knows how these stories get started?

The same book was read again this year. The comments were quite different than in the past and varied. A debate ensued. The teacher neither confirmed nor denied the accuracy or truth to any of the claims made in the book or the comments made by the students. The management would simply like to advise all tree displayers to carefully check the branches of their holiday trees before proper disposal or storage for any possible gifts wrapped with a yellow ribbon."

The book was read again this year to nary a comment.

From the subset of literary techniques, we explored the literary device of alliteration. We contrasted it to the device of rhyming and tried our hand with a partner.

Topic 7 Math Test

Of 22 students taking the test on Friday, 16 students passed with a score of 12 or better. Five students achieved a perfect score while 8 students scored 15 out of 16 possible.

Unit 3 Week 2 Preview

This week we ask the question: What do family members do with one another to have fun? Our comprehension skill focus will be to make and confirm predictions using the strategy of analyzing story structure. We will take a brief look at alliteration (consonance). We will continue our exploration with long vowel spellings in particular: long vowel-u spelled 'u_e' (cube, fuse) and 'open syllable with u' (future, amusing). In grammar we will examine present-tense verbs.

Our oral vocabulary words are typical, possessions, connections, relief, and support. Our high-frequency words are call, funny, how, more, so, there.

As you read with your child at home, please continue to predict and confirm as you read (What do you think will happen? Do you think Goldilocks will get caught?). When finishing a fiction selection or chapter, ask your child to confirm predictions and summarize what happened. When reading a nonfiction selection, have your child state the main idea and details.

We will learn the second of the five stanzas of our vowel poem this week; so, we will have completed learning the poem this week and will begin our in-class solo recitations.

In Social Science we will continue to compare the past and the present. We will also work towards understanding our location in the world while learning the continents and the oceans (tested). We will compare globes and maps.

We will also have a test on Topic 7 Math.

17th Week Preview

This week we will review long-vowel spellings learned so far and focus on several writing projects. We will be taking the District Writing Exam on opinion writing. We will also be learning the basic form of a personal letter by writing to Santa Claus. If parents would like to see the letters before they are sent to Santa (*wink*) just come to the classroom at the end of the week or before winter break. Additionally, we will be working on our Unit Project of writing instructions for a game we will invent.