Digging into the Next Nine Weeks!

Ending our week with a little rain puts us in a fall mode! Not to mention a shopping mode! Thanks to all the volunteers who worked tirelessly to put on a fantastic SBLC Store. Our kids enjoy the authentic experience of earning a salary and then getting to spend (or save) it! Thanks to all who made donations -- we LOVED the selection!

Report cards are heading home today...please sign and return those envelopes! Thank you!

Looking towards the next week quickly, remember that MONTHLY HOMEWORK is due on Friday the 30th. Don't forget to join us at the FUN RUN on Saturday the 31st as well! No costumes at school Friday, but they are allowed if they are comfortable and appropriate for the Fun Run on Saturday.

In reading, all grade levels have been working on paraphrasing and summarizing text. We've been taught to focus on the character and not get too lost with events...there is one main struggle that all the events tie into. Finding that and using that as a focal point in our summaries helps us keep them short and to the point. Second Grade learned CSERT (Character, Setting, Experience, Resolution, and Theme) to help focus the work. Third and Fourth are using that in a much more advanced mode, learning to say it in our own words, precisely and concisely.

In writing, we have been hard at work with narrative, and in Fourth, expository. It's exciting to see how we can learn to craft, not just write, our thoughts.

Fourth graders had fun this week using fraction strips to compare fractions. We learned two new strategies when comparing fractions. The first one is if the numerators are the same compare the denominators. The second strategy is if the denominators are the same compare the numerators. Have your child explain to you how to compare 3/8 and 5/8 and then have them compare 8/12 and 8/10.

Third graders enjoyed drawing arrays on dry erase boards and using tiles to make arrays. We reviewed what factors and products are. Third graders also have a turkey in disguise assignment that is due on October 30.

Second graders continued to practice subtraction with regrouping. We used dry erase boards to show our understanding and our regrouping strategies.

We continued our exploration of matter in science. This week, second graders deepened their understanding of the three main states of matter. We identified properties of solids,

explored the behavior of various liquids,

and were pretty excited when we observed the simulated molecules of each matter type.

Third graders measured the properties of volume, mass, density, and magnetism by making predictions and then testing classroom objects.

After precisely defining matter, fourth grade worked in teams to classify objects.

Fourth grade scientists also exlpored measurable properties of matter and after reviewing density, created their own density columns to demonstrate which liquids have greater or less density than water.