Science

We have been witnessing many different insect life cycles. The mealworms have grown into a Darkling Beetle. Our last insects are here and we are waiting for them to hatch. Ask your child about the stages of these insects. Students are working on adding specific scientific details to their journals. From now until the new year the children will be creating their own non fiction book on an insect that they choose.

Writing

Organization is the next writing topic. Students will work on putting information into an order that makes sense. We will begin with a focus on leads and conclusions, and then move in to using transition words in order to create a fluid beginning, middle, and end to their stories. I foresee authors in the future! We will also complete a narrative response on what it is like to be a pilgrim child and the hardships that they faced. Finally we will begin our non fiction study, where they will be asked to write their own non fiction piece.

Reading

The students will be reading many different books about Thanksgiving. The lessons will focus on strategies to improve their comprehension and define difficult vocabulary words. Book clubs are underway and the children seem to love the discussions, so impressive to watch! They should still be reading for 20 minutes every night (including weekends) to improve accuracy and fluency. PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD BRING HIS/HER READING FOLDER IN EVERY DAY EVEN IF HE/SHE HASN’T FINISHED THE BOOK.

Social Studies

Discussing the hardships of the Pilgrims and Native Americans is our focus for Social Studies. Thanksgiving’s history will be discussed and shared in our musical. We will also be going on a field trip and role playing colonial life for children in the 1700’s.

We will continue to read current events from Scholastic News.

Math

The focus of instruction for November will be on units of measurement. They will be asked to measure and make estimates with tools such as rulers, yardsticks, measuring tapes, etc. We will talk about the metric and standard units of measurements. We will also be creating, reading, and interpreting graphs in this unit. We will continue to review place value and addition strategies. FLASHCARDS!!!! Need to be fluent on addition facts up to 100!