Book Reports Are Due Thursday, March 27

This week we will be learning about customary and metric units of measurement.  We are measuring our smiles to the nearest 1/2 inch just to see how happy we really are.  After that we'll combine our individual measurements and see how big our classroom smile is!

We are continuing to work in practice stations with a focus on fractions as well as passing off multiplication/division facts.  Yes!  We love math!
In Language this week we will be reading the story Jalapeño Bagels.  Our narrator is trying to decide what treat to take to his class at school. As he helps his parents make food items in the bakery shop, he goes over his choices. Able to draw from his mother’s Latin American heritage and his father’s Jewish heritage, he has an unusual array of choices.
Our comprehension strategy that we will focus on this week is Drawing Conclusions.  When we draw conclusion we take what we read, and add it to what we know and then the mixture becomes our conclusion.
We will also be learning about comparative and superlative adverbs.  Some adverbs compare action.  To compare two actions, add -er to many adverbs.  to compare three or more actions add -est to many adverbs.
Our book report trains are due this Thursday, March 27.  I look forward to seeing all our fabulous work!

TOp O' THe MOrNinG!

Happy St. Paddy's day to all of you!  We've sure got our green on today :)  Our watchdog dad came to class today ready for the celebration- he even had a neatly trimmed green mustache!  Thanks for your help!
Just a little reminder… our traditional literature book reports are due March 27.  Don't forget we are completing a train project that focuses on name, title and author, a picture of your favorite part, and a paragraph that describes the setting. Good luck with your reading and project!

Parent/ Teacher Conference Week

Our new unit in Reading Street asks the question:  What happens when two cultures come together?  We will be looking specifically this week at the influence culture has on our dress.  So far we've decided that customs, climate and tradition directly influences what we wear.  We will be learning about synonyms, adjectives, and articles as well as learning how to compare and contrast and visualize for our comprehension skills.
In our math groups this week we will be pushing forward with multiplication/division timed drills as well as introducing fractions as equal parts.
I look forward to seeing you for Parent/ Teacher conferences this week.  See you then!

A Week At A Glance

Welcome back from a nice long weekend!  We got right to work today and WOW! We are superstars!
This week we started our language by asking some questions, What behaviors are unique to different animals?  What  behavior is unique to your favorite animal? Why do you think the animal behaves that way? So if you haven't guessed we will be talking about animals and their unique adaptations.  This week we will be reading about magnificent birds in the selections, Fly Eagle, Fly; Eagle Watching; and  Birds of Prey.
We will also be learning about prepositions, cause and effect, and multisyllabic words- not to mention reviewing suffixes, generalizations, summarizing, and fact and opinion. Bet you wish you were in 3rd grade!
We are still moving on with our multiplication and division drills this week as well as introducing geometry in our whole group math.  Please encourage your student to continue to practice math facts every night.  So much to do and so little time! Remember we will be celebrating our great thinking with a multiplication party after spring break.  Good luck students- you can do it!
Parent conferences are just around the corner- please take a minute and sign up for a convenient time.

. Click the following icon:

2. Scroll down to "Altara Elementary" and click "go."

3. Type in the school password (altara) and click "login."

4. Type in your student's ID number.
(hint: The student ID is the username for Envision Math found on the sticker inside of your child's homework folder.)
5. Select an available time slot that works best for you.

If you have any problems or would like support setting up your schedule, feel free to visit the office or call Susan Taylor, our school secretary, for assistance. 

Hope to see you there!

Our question we will be discussing this week is, "What unique traits does it take to be the first to do something"?  Today we read a story about the first Female Hispanic- American astronaut.  Dr. Ellen Ochoa became an astronaut in 1991, but not before she earned 3 degrees in physics, science, and electrical engineering.  She became part of the Discovery crew and also helped develop the International Space Station. We decided it would take imagination, creativity, determination, intelligence, skills and bravery to do all that Dr. Ochoa did to be the first in her field.  We will be reading about other unique individuals this week who were the first in their own field.

We Are Awesome!

Great work for all those that have turned in book report projects last week.  Awesome job of not only caricatures, but also understanding the biography that was read. We are in the process of our oral reports and presentations to our class and will be finishing them up over the week.   I will post a picture of our fabulous  work in the next few days!
This month we will be presenting current events instead of book reports.  We will begin our presentations next Tuesday and will continue through the month.  A calendar will be coming home this week with your student.  Remember...current events mean that the news is current and recent.  Forms for current events are found inside your homework folder.  Good luck students!
This week in our literacy study we will be asking ourselves, "Why is it valuable to have unique interests?"  We will be reading about hobbies and interests and individuals who shine.  Today our journal prompt was, "What do you like to do most when you have free time?"  It was fun to see how we are alike and different with our thinking.
Our spelling pattern for the week is studying the meanings of the common prefixes, pre__, out__, mid__, over__, and de__.  We will be having a spelling test this week to check our understanding of meanings as well as how to spell the word.
We will reviewing cause and effect as well as fact and opinion this week. 
Because it is a short week, we will be turning in homework on Thursday.  Please remember to track your reading minutes and turn your while slips in on Thursday.  Keep up the great reading!
in math we are still passing off multiplication facts and focusing on division facts.  We will be using fact families to help us find missing quotients.  Multiplication progression reports are coming home today in your students's homework folder.

We will be having a Valentine's Day party on Friday, February 14 at 11:00.  This is a great time to feel someone's bucket!  Please make sure that if you are handing out cards or treats that day that you are including everyone in our class.  I will be sending home a note with student names included.  We will also be collecting our valentines in a container.  You can be as creative as you wish, but the container needs to fit on your student's desk.  Please bring containers on February 14 and not before- unfortunately we just don't have the space for storage.
Thanks for all you do for your student.  Have a great week!

Who's Who At Altara!

We are continuing to learn about people who have made a difference in the world through biography reading.  Last week we read about Snowflake Bentley, and Martin Luther King.  Snowflake Bentley had a passion for learning, and nature, and discovered that no two snowflakes are alike.  He spent his whole life preserving their beauty and uniqueness.  You can see all of his art in his book, Snow Crystals.  Martin Luther King believed in dreams.  He spent a good portion of his life trying to create equality for everyone.  We read the book, Martin's Big Words together and discovered that it is using peaceful words and not powerful demonstrations that can make important changes in our world.
There is so much for each of us to learn from history and the lives of people who have impacted our world.  We are all getting excited to share what we are learning from our own look at biographies.  Just a reminder that biography book report projects are due January 30.  Projects can be turned in for display anytime before 1/30.  Great Job, students!

We took a trip to the library and guess who just happened to be hanging out by the biographies!

This week in Reading Street we will be reading a story about James Naismith, The Man Who Invented Basketball.  Did you know basketball started by shooting balls into peach baskets? The question we will be answering this week is how do talents make someone unique?
Our spelling pattern this week is irregular plurals (ex: wolf-wolves).
We will be focusing on generalizing, and summarizing for our comprehension studies.  Using what I know, and what I am learning I can make statements using key words: most of the time, most, all, few, etc. to make a generalized statement.  When I summarize a text can I do that in 1-2 sentences?  Can I do it in 20 words? Summarizing is a brief statement focusing on the most important events or details.
We are beginning math this week with a look at division meanings and how  that connects to multiplication.  We are also working hard to pass off multiplication timed drills in anticipation of our Sundae party celebration after spring break.  Please keep practicing at least 5 minutes every day to work on fluency.  
We held our classroom spelling bee last Friday and everyone did a great job of participating!  Congratulations to Lauren Shirley, Brianna Rees, and Brooklyn Davis who will be moving on to the school spelling bee!  Good luck girls!