In the Curriculum
During the week of March 28th-April 1st the students will be taking the Stanford Tests. This can be a stressful time for the children since they have never taken standardized testing before. Please help your child by making sure they get plenty of sleep and eat a good breakfast. We will not be giving any other tests this week. Also, written homework will be lighter than usual during testing week. We ask that your child reads for about 15 minutes each night.
Math:
We will begin our new chapter on subtraction sense and regrouping. Students will develop subtraction number sense concepts in preparation for two-digit subtraction, including subtracting multiples of ten and estimating differences. Also, students will develop more regrouping concepts and subtract two-digit numbers, including money amounts. It is important for students to continue to practice both addition and subtraction facts at home.
Reading:
We will be starting our new unit called “Courage.” This unit offers a selection of excellent children’s literature, including contemporary and traditional pieces that introduce students to story characters who act courageously or pretend to when faced with frightening situations. By reading these selections students will have the opportunity to think about ways of being courageous and investigate concepts of courage. As students proceed through the unit they should: broaden their notion of what counts as act of courage, understand what makes an act courageous, and recognize their own courageous acts and those of their peers.
Language Arts:
Spelling lessons will focus on the following: time indicators, inflectional endings –ed and -ing with double final consonants, consonant blends, antonyms, and homophones. We will continue to review prefixes, suffixes, compound words, and short and long vowel words. Students should be writing complete sentences in all their work. We have been working hard on adding details and adjectives to our writing. We continue to use graphic organizers to help students organize ideas and communicate more effectively.
Religion:
Students will explore storytelling and share some of their favorite stories with classmates. The students will recognize and appreciate the power of God’s word in the scripture readings.
Spanish:
This month we sing in three languages “Fraile Felipe, Frere Jacques and Brother John”. We continue with the vocabulary of color words and family members. As always, the classroom conversation continues with the weather, the seasons and the calendar. Culturally we will talk about the feast days of St. Patrick and St. Joseph.