December Curriculum Update

Dear Families,

Although Winter Break is just a few weeks away, Class 4-312 continues to work very hard across all subject areas. Please take a few moments to read through each section below for an overview of our current curriculum plans.

Math
We have transitioned from multiplication into our division units. Students are learning how to divide numbers with 1-digit divisors, and we are dedicating a lot of time toward interpreting and evaluating word problems. Please encourage your child to show his/her work for math on all assignments. We have reviewed many strategies that students can use to understand word problems: underlining important information, rewriting the important information, drawing a picture, drawing a tape diagram, and checking for reasonableness.

As division heavily relies on students' fluency with their multiplication facts, please continue to review multiplication and division facts with your child when you have spare time.

Writing

This week, we entered the publishing stage of the Personal Essay. The personal essay is a five-paragraph essay that incorporates argument and narrative writing elements. The children were asked to write a thesis statement, or a personal opinion/claim about a topic or person in their lives. The goal is to support the thesis with three concrete reasons, along with accompanying details and personal experiences.

Furthermore, our students are learning how to structure an essay by using paragraphs (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion) to organize ideas and to support a thesis statement. Ask your child about "TEEC," an acronym that helps us remember how to structure a strong body paragraph: Topic sentence, Evidence or Examples, Explain the importance of the evidence, and Concluding sentence.

The students are asked to apply various writer’s craft moves they have been learning since the beginning of the year, including descriptive language, dialogue, figurative language, sequencing phrases and transition words, similes, metaphors, and show, not tell. Additionally, students continue to practice all they know about the mechanics of good writing, which includes writing with correct punctuation and capitalization. We are excited for you to read your child's personal essay the next time you visit our classroom! 

Social Studies
We are continuing to learn about the theme and essential question of what it means to be free by studying the European migration to the New York area. As you know, we are currently learning about the Native Americans who lived in the New York area 400 years ago. After researching various aspects of Native American life, the class was broken up based on interest groups. Each group chose a different topic to research; the different group topics are food, family life, government, creation myths, and the European explorers. Our culminating project will be a series of dioramas, teaching the audience about the Native American way of life and the explorers who “found” the new land.

Thank you to all families who sent in supplies. We look forward to presenting our projects to you during the holiday party on December 20!

Reading
We continue to push students' thinking about reading through our daily read-aloud book, The One and Only Ivan, and by providing feedback to students based on their independent reading books. Please see today's other blog post about Weekly Reading Responses. Once the New Year rolls around, we will launch our first set of book clubs for the year, which provides the students with an opportunity to read and discuss a book with a small group of their peers and a teacher. More info to come in January!

Important Dates
Our publishing party/holiday celebration will be on Thursday, December 20, at 8:30am. We look forward to seeing you there!

Best,

R & L