May 20th

Dear Families,

Here is an update on what is happening in our team:

Chicks due date: Next week!!! Tuesday, May 24th!!! Whoop! Whoop! Be sure to stay tuned for pictures of our chicks. We'll be tweeting out the news as well as putting pictures on our blogs and this blog! 

Important Upcoming Dates:

• May:  NWEA testing this month. We will have our next test on Monday, May 23rd 
  for math. 
• May 27 and May 30: Memorial Day,  No School
• May 26: Bike to school day
• June 7- 2nd Grade Field Trip to Greenfield Village- Thanks for returning all slips!
• June 15 Field Day/June 16th rain day for Field Day
• June 17th half day of school-Last day of school

Language Arts: This week we worked on researching the answers to our questions about our new class pets to-be, praying mantis Oothecas. Ask your child all about it! We read articles on line and in books about these interesting creatures. We also have started a google slide show on both praying mantises and Venus Flytraps. Some students are writing about the praying mantis nymphs, while others are working on general information about them.

We'll share our information when we're finished!

Writing:  We ordered and received a new class plant called a Venus Fly Trap. We're researching how to care for it, because our teacher tends to kill plants very quickly. We've begun our writing and organizing of our informational piece. Some students are writing about the specific plant while others are writing about general plant information. There are some interesting websites on our class Symbaloo page. 

                                    A model of a Venus Fly Trap

Math: This week, we started our final unit for the year, Unit 9, which focuses on Equal shares and Whole Number Operations. We finished lessons 9.1-9.4, which discussed naming equal parts, number lines, and fractional units of length.  Next week, we will be working on lessons 9.5-9.8.

WIN/Social Studies:  Our Driving Question: How can we, as citizens of our community, explore the past and share our learning with others?

We worked on writing an editorial on the past about our city. We invited in an "expert" on our city. She grew up here in the 1900's.  She came in on Thursday afternoon and talked to us about  the past. We learned lots of information about what our city used to be like. Did you know that our city had lots of farms and orchards? We are writing informational articles about our city's  past and hopefully will share these articles with our community. 

We also planted seeds and have a little green house and light for our seeds. Next week, we'll begin studying plants and their needs. 

Learning at Home:

*Math Homelinks

*IXL math, Everyday Math and Xtra Math Websites

*Read (15-30 minutes per night)

*Wordly Wise (vocabulary practice)

*Blog (great writing practice)!

*Don't forget about IXL Language Arts!

Don't forget:

Community Service Summer Activity Packs Drive at Deerfield: Together, the DCC, Student LightHouse Team and local charity COE1, asks for your help collecting items from May 16th - May 27th to assemble Summer Activity Packs for children living in area shelters.  Click here for more information.  Have your child put items in the labeled bins in their classroom wings.  Each grade level is asked to donate the following items:

• Kindergarten: Bubbles, Beach Balls & Play Dough
• 1st grade: Coloring books, Crayons & Markers
• 2nd: grade: 25-50 Piece Puzzles & Jump Ropes
• 3rd grade: Sunglasses & Lip Balm
• 4th grade: Spray or Stick Sunblock & Kids Card Games (UNO, Spot It, etc.)

Have a great weekend!

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