Explorers - 10/14/22

 Hello Explorer Families!

What a great week it has been! Everyone is enjoying the warmth of afternoon recess. We hear giggles and laughter as students play in the leaves. 

We wish everyone a relaxing and restful fall break. 

Halloween is almost here. We would like to serve a snack of cider and doughnuts on the afternoon of Halloween. If your child has any food allergies, feel free to send in a safe snack to eat. A Sign-Up genius link is below if you are able to help. Thank you for your support.

https://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=w.manageSignUp#/38239166/publish/

Reminders

The weather is getting colder, please remember to send your child with a  jacket.  We will go outside every day weather permitting.

Please send a water bottle each day with your child. Being well hydrated improves mood, memory and attention.

A Peek at our Week

Language Arts

Please continue to encourage your child to read at home either from his or her personal library or from online sources such as Vooks or Get Epic. If you are in need of books, please let us know and we can suggest some additional online resources.

We continue to build stamina to work independently for 15-ish minutes. We are also practicing using our “quiet spy voices” during our daily rotations. Ask your child to tell you some of the activities we do during our rotations. Students work on writing, manipulate letters to spell words during word work, listen to reading, and practice reading both independently and with a partner. 

Science

As an extension of our matter unit, we took a closer look at pumpkins this week. We created KWL charts - in other words, “What I know”, “What I want to learn” “What did I learn?” We determined whether or not a pumpkin could float, we

estimated its circumference, sequenced life cycle pictures, and we created beautiful pumpkins with abstract designs. We also sorted sentences into groups of facts and opinions.

Math - Our first grade level mathematicians worked with using picture clues and dominoes to solve addition problems.  We have been having fun reviewing our addition skills playing games such as Splat and Pop!

Our second grade level mathematicians worked on place value strategies including showing a number in word form, divided into tens and ones and showing numbers in a place value model.  We had lots of fun strengthening our addition skills playing the game Splat!

Our third grade level mathematicians continued to work on their rounding skills as well as finding ways to create an easier number when adding such as making a group of ten and adding on.  We also had fun playing Mathelogical Liar which asks us to use clues in order to solve a math mystery.

Social Studies - 

First graders talked about the many ways our school is like a family.  We discussed how we play together, take care of each other and work together to make sure everyone can be successful and feel safe.

Our second graders listened to a story about events that often take place in a community such as drivers following the laws established for being on the road and why construction crews fix potholes.  We created a think board showing the many ways community workers help us each day and who actually is in charge of these jobs as well as what would happen if communities did not follow the laws put in place to keep members safe.