Room 100 Happenings

Whew! The Mayflower Journey was an exciting one. Thanks to all of you for helping your child get in costume, get in character and learn about these pilgrims. Thanks also to those parents who built the ship and took pictures at our party. We are writing about our journey this week.
Reading
We read three different Cinderella stories this week. One was in our Open Court book and it is the traditional version that is most familiar to us. We also read Rough Face Girl, a Cinderella story from a Native American tradition. The setting is the shores of Lake Ontario. Finally, we read a Chinese version of Cinderella, Leh She. Ask your child how all these Fairy Tale stories are similar.
We are also reading a story, Molly's Pilgrim about a little girl who moved to a small town from Russia. After a homework assignment instructing her to make a pilgrim, she learns that she is a pilgrim, too. She dresses her pilgrim in traditional Russian clothes.
Writing
We are working on summaries from our Mayflower Journey. We are practicing capitalization and punctuation whenever we get the chance. We learned that proper nouns and dates need to be capitalized. We are also practicing commas in a series and commas in dates.
Math
Keep practicing those math facts! Practice telling time and counting money. This week we practiced making change. The students learned the strategy of counting up to make change. We used our number grids to help. If you need a number grid for homework, please ask!
PBIS Celebration
Next Tuesday afternoon will be our first school-wide celebration for successfully keeping office referrals less than 20 during the first trimester!!

Students can wear/bring paw-jamas to school and pawp-corn will be distributed to classrooms.

Room 100 Happenings

Mayflower Basics

We will sail on the Mayflower on Monday and Tuesday. Children should come in their costumes. They will wear the same costume both days. Do not wash it after the first day. We will leave the ship and "go up on deck" for lunch and special area classes only. Lunch count will be done like a typical day. Please make sure your child is on time both days.

Packing for the Mayflower
Children were given a supply request with their character description. Those supplies can be sent in on Friday or Monday morning. Children can pack a small bag of five items to take with them on their journey. It should be a combination of things to occupy them during the long journey and sentimental items. It is meant to teach them how difficult it must have been for the pilgrims to decide what to take to the New World. No electronics. No action figures.

Native American Play

Students put on a short play about the Iroquois League of Nations for Mrs. Fogg's class. Each table represented one of the Iroquois Nations that made up the League. Students learned this system of representation is a model for our United States Congress and the United Nations. Ask your child if s/he was part of the Seneca, the Cayuga, the Oneida, the Onondaga or the Mohawk Nation.
Reading
We continued with our regular studies in reading and math. Students did not take a test this week on The Story of Three Whales. We worked a lot on the reading skill of monitoring and clarifying. Ask your child what she does when she comes across an unfamiliar word or concept.
Math
Next week we will work on making change. This is tricky, tricky, tricky for some kids. Give your child an opportunity to "buy" things with coins and then get change back. Use the strategy of counting up!

Room 100 Happenings

We have had a very busy, short week. The students have come in with an abundance of energy. They used that energy to produce some great work!
Mayflower
Please look for more information about our Mayflower excursion in your child's folder next Monday. Also, please look for a note regarding building the Mayflower and taking it down in today's folder!
Reading
This week we read the story Corduroy by Don Freeman. We worked on the reading strategy of monitoring and clarifying. We also worked on describing the characters in the story by making a character pyramid poem. Look for it in the packet that will go home next week! Reading groups are working on summarizing, responding to literature and silent reading strategies.
Writing
Of all the great work the class did this week I am most proud of the wonderful writing. Each student wrote about a day in the life of an Eastern Woodland boy or girl. They included rich details and were able to summarize what life might have been like 400 years ago! We used the book Tapenum's Day as a model. I will display these stories in the classroom for a while.
Math
We finished Unit 2 last week in math and are currently working on Unit 3. The focus in this unit is place value and time and money skills. In order to keep our addition and subtraction facts fast we started taking a weekly timed test. We will take a 5 minute math fact test every Monday morning. You should see these tests in your child's folder. After a child masters a test she will move on to the next level.
Social Studies
We have been learning a great deal about the Eastern Woodland tribes. We are focusing on these tribes because of their interactions with the first European settlers, but also because they are often under-represented in the presentation of Native American life. We are learning that the Eastern Woodland tribes lived in wetus and longhouses, planted the three sisters and were hunters and gatherers. After Thanksgiving, when we learn about early colonization and the formation of our government, we will learn how the Iroquois Nation greatly influenced our system of a representative government.
Science
Alas, our worms have died. I was disappointed to discover last weekend a rather icky smell coming from our composter. Despite following directions very carefully, the worms were not happy in their little home. We are looking into other options and I will keep you posted. Please do not send in any more items to be composted until further notice.