Important Dates & Reminders

• October 31 - Literary Character Day 
• November 3- End of Quarter - 2 hour Early Release
• November 6/7 - No school (Election Day, teacher work day) 
• November 22-24 - No school (Thanksgiving)

What are we learning?

Language Arts

• In reading and writing, we are beginning nonfiction units. 
  • In reading, we will be thinking about the topic and main idea (the what and the so what) of nonfiction texts. We will also be using text features (table of contents, images and captions, etc.) to help us understand how a text is organized and what the author wants to teach us.
  •  In writing, we will be writing our own nonfiction books about various topics. We will practice writing in different ways (e.g., how-to, compare and contrast, etc.) about our chosen topics. 
• In phonics, we will be working on initial R blends (broom, cry, friend, etc.) and initial L blends (class, blue, float, etc.)

Math

• We are continuing our Base Ten / Place Value unit, with a focus on 
  • understanding the value of digits in the ones place and tens place;
  • thinking about numbers that are 10 more or 10 less than a given number;
  • rounding and comparing numbers up to the tens place. 

Science

• We are wrapping up the first part of our monarch butterfly unit and moving into a unit about weather. In this new unit, we will be learning about the characteristics of certain types of weather, such as hurricanes; different types of precipitation; and how to look for patterns in weather data. 

Social Studies

• We are building our geography knowledge (continents, oceans, maps, etc.) as we move into a unit about different indigenous American groups. 

Questions to ask your child at home.

• Reading: Is this a fiction book (a story with a beginning, middle, and end) or a nonfiction book (a text that is teaching and explaining about a topic)  that you are reading? How do you know? 
• Writing: What topics do you know a lot about? What could you teach others about _____? 
• Phonics: Can you tell me how to spell the red words (when, has, our, they) you have been practicing? Can you spell _____? (Here is a list of R and L blends you can use.)
• Math: Pick a number between 10 and 100 and ask your child, “What is 10 more than ___? What is ten less than ____? Which decuples (multiples of 10)  is ____ between? Which decuple is it closer to, and how do you know?”
• Science: What are the four phases of a monarch butterfly’s life cycle? What happens first, next, then, and last? 
• Social Studies: Can you name the continents and oceans of the world? Can you show me a continent (north/south, east/west) of __________?  What can you teach me about the Powhatan of the Eastern Woodlands?