Reading
This week in reading, our essential question has been, how do landmarks help us understand our country’s story? We read two argumentative pieces, “America’s Landmarks and Memorials” and “Preserve and Protect.” While reading, we continued to work on asking and answering questions, along with understanding the central idea.
Writing
This week, we discussed the importance and purpose of peer feedback. The kids worked on providing specific, positive, and helpful feedback. We used a protocol called two stars, and 1 wish to help us think more deeply about the feedback we gave. Besides giving feedback, we discussed how to accept feedback and the next steps.
Along with peer editing, the kids used their highlighters to help detect three different areas. They used their green highlighter to check for capitalization, pink highlighter for punctuation, and yellow highlighter for adjectives. They were also encouraged to reread their story individually.
Social Studies
This week, the kids reviewed different types of communities. Also, how cultural celebrations contribute to a community.
Math
This week, we continued to work on Unit 3, applying properties for multiplication facts 3, 4, 6, 7, 8. We spent a significant amount of time understanding distributive property. This refers to breaking a multiplication fact into the sum of two other multiplication facts. To help us understand this strategy, we used arrays and counters. This made solving multiplication facts more manageable for many as they could see the relationship between the different facts. For example, when completing multiplication facts for 3s, we can use 2s and 1s facts to help break the problem down.
We also discussed the Associative (Grouping) Property of Multiplication. This property says that the order of the factors does not alter the product. This coming week, we will be reviewing for our test on Wednesday. The kids will bring home their unit review on Monday.
Pack PRIDE
During Pack PRIDE, we focused on random acts of kindness, making mistakes, and risk-taking. The kids received the name of a classmate they were encouraged to show kindness to throughout the week. The kids loved the challenge, and some extended their kindness to others, demonstrating the impact of their thoughtfulness.
We also discussed the importance of making mistakes and taking risks. Both can be very uncomfortable, but the more you step out of your comfort zone and attempt something new or different, the more opportunity there is for growth.