Kinder Block
Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and break! I am so glad to be back! Beginning a new year is so exciting! I wanted to thank everyone for their generosity with our Pennies for Presents drive! We were able to help several children have a blessed holiday!
We will be focusing on blending letters into words and our reading skills. In math, we will be working on addition and subtraction. There is so much to learn!
Your student will be bringing home readers to practice. Please read with your child, sign the book, and send back. We are practicing good homework skills!
First Block
We are half-way to second grade! Here is what we will be working on:
Math-ordering and comparing length measurements as numbers, graphing, and continuing addition and subtraction fluency up to 10. Then the last week of January, we will begin Unit 4-adding and subtracting numbers up to 40.
ELA-determining Main Idea and Details in Informational
Text ask and answer questions about a text, goods and services, wants and needs, and writing our opinion and stating a reason for that opinion. We will continue to work on Long vowel sounds and compare them to short vowel sounds, reading fluency, and our Unit 3 sight words.
Social Studies and Science are integrated into Math and ELA lessons.
Second Block
Second grade has been reading informational text about how to change the world and make a difference as well as writing informational text. We are practicing reading words with long vowel sounds as well as identifying the different spelling patterns of these long vowel sounds in words. In math, we are still using place value strategies to solve 3 digit addition and subtraction problems up to 1,000. Students are very excited about their music program coming up later in January.
Third Block
This month starts a new unit in reading. We will be discussing how to find the moral, lesson, or central message of a story by reading three texts throughout the next several weeks. Students will be learning to write an opinion piece and the differences between facts and opinions. Another important piece to the writing is being able to support their opinion. In math, we are continuing area and will begin fractions before the month is over.
We will be moving on to the next Social Studies unit to cover the history of Dodge City. We will be watching videos in class to fill out a timeline about Dodge City. To help students understand timelines and make it relevant, we will be asking them to create a timeline about their life. Keep an eye out for the note!
The spring semester is very busy with KELPA, state testing, and our end of the year Fastbridge testing. We will keep you updated on when all of this will be happening. We are so excited for this semester!
3rd Grade Team
Mrs. Stefan, Mrs. Carmona, Ms. Connolly
Fourth Block
Math: -We will be completing the following topics for Module 5: Fraction Equivalence, Ordering, and Operations. Topic A: Decomposition and Fraction Equivalence. Topic B: Fraction Equivalence Using Multiplication and Division, and Topic C: Fraction Comparison.
Reading: We will be starting Unit 3 Module A. In this module, readers will understand that different types of texts that can be used to analyze similar topics and ideas. Writers will understand that evidence can be drawn from both literary and informational texts to state and support opinions about a topic. Learners will understand that science is a newer method of explaining natural phenomena. For our performance based assessment, students will analyze two of the texts they have read in this module—Earthquakes and Quake!—and state and support an opinion about which text more effectively portrays the impact of earthquakes on human beings.
Social Studies: We will continue with our unit where students will investigate settlement patterns to draw conclusions about a sense of place, first in Kansas, and then in relation to five geographic regions in the United States. Students will compare and contrast the Kansa with one prominent tribe from each of five geographic regions in the United States in the context of their geographic, cultural, political, and social characteristics. We will also highlight Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Science: In our unit this month, students will investigate the science of sound. Students will construct physical devices to feel the vibrations that allow us to communicate across distances. Students will also use digital devices to visualize the characteristics of different sound waves that cause us to hear different things.
Thank you for your continued support at home!
-4th grade team (Mrs. Egger, Miss Blankman, and Miss Gleason)
Music Class
Kindergarten: The students will do a unit based on the seasons and they will sing songs, work on movement/dance, creating, play instruments, and learn music theory. They will also learn and perform a different focus song they sing each week.
1st grade: The students will be working heavily on rhythms, along with learning music theory, playing instruments, and learning dances. They will also learn and perform a different focus song each week.
2nd grade: Will be practicing for their music program. After the program they will learn dances, work on rhythms, identifying meters, and play instruments. They will also learn and perform a different focus song each week.
5th grade: The students will learn and perform a different focus song each week. They will be working on the 6/8 meter practicing rhythms and performing, working on rhythms, and learning about different genres of music.
Book Club
The Library has some exciting news starting this month! We are back to being open every day. Mrs. Sue Groth, a retired librarian who worked at Soule Elementary as the librarian for years has joined me and we are splitting the full time job. I will be working the first part of the week with doing classes with the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd Grade, while Mrs. Groth will be doing the end of the week with the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade. We have open check out times and the library is now accessible again five days a week. Mrs. Groth and I are excited to work together and share our love of reading and books with all the students. The 2nd grade will be focusing on research using World Book Online, the first grade on Non Fiction Books, and the Kinder is going to finally get to check out books! The older students will be learning about Research and ways to use Technology to be accurate.
