Author Mrs. Judy Young visited Crestwood to teach us about the writing process.  Jacob, Griffin, and Alondra help Mrs. Young to display some of her best known books.  

Mrs. Young calls on students during a girls vs. boys game of Missouri trivia.  

Social Studies
    We can't get enough of the Underground Railroad in Room 28.  This week, we learned so much about this network of secret routes that many passengers took to reach freedom.  Conductors helped fleeing slaves by providing food, water, disguises, direction, knowledge, and more.  Stationmasters provided a safe place to hide along the journey.  We learned about courageous people like Harriett Tubman and Levi Coffan, who together helped thousands of passengers find their way north.

Reader's Workshop
    We recently started Book Clubs and are loving our time together discussing our mysteries.  As a team, students decided their reading assignment and meeting schedule.  They completed specific tasks as well as the assigned reading.  Students took notes on each character, describing them in detail.  They recorded predictions about the plot, and they harvested unfamiliar and/or interesting words.  Talking about our reading together helps us to better understand the story and gives us practice communicating our thinking with others.

Mr. Norton teaches the class about an activity.  

Students practice yoga to cool down after working out.

Anina shows off her favorite book character.

"I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!" Alondra shared.  

Anina, Jacob, Alondra, Samantha, & Rachel show off their character costumes.

Jack, Maddie, & Anina get a little silly in Art.  

Gaby models a student-made mask with Mrs. Callahan. 

Gage & Anna show their excitement for their Art. 

Anina & Anna estimate how many hearts are in one box.  

Miles & his pic count conversation hearts.


Zach & Gage create arrays using candy.


Luis records the fraction for each color of heart.


Alondra & Mrs. Macko plan an array.

Henry writes the amount of his hearts in standard, expanded, and word forms.  

Writer's Workshop
     We are finishing up our Informational Texts using Google Slides.  We chose a topic we are passionate about and interested in and did some research to learn even more about it.  We organized our research into chapters using different structures.  Using Google Slides allowed us to present our teaching using text boxes, photographs, videos, a glossary (or word nerd, as some students are calling it), and more.  Swing by Crestwood next Friday, February 20th, and 9:00 to check them out!

Math
    In Math, we have been studying fractions.  We learned that wholes and parts can be shown as an improper fraction or as a mixed number.  We also practiced adding and subtracting like fractions.  Next week, we'll practice problem-solving and multiplying fractions by whole numbers.

Social Studies
    We have been learning all about the important events in Missouri's Statehood.  Missouri became a state in 1821, and it entered the country as a slave state.  We created a timeline to show this event, along with the Missouri Compromise in 1919, and the Gold Rush in 1848.  To prepare, students practiced writing test questions.  They used their knowledge of Missouri's statehood and wrote multiple choice, short answer, matching, true/false, and other types of questions.

Science
     In Science, students have been learning about electricity with Mrs. Branding.  They learned what materials conduct electricity effectively.  Students also conducted an investigation using a circuit.

Reader's Workshop
    This week, students read The Day Rosa Parks was Arrested, a play from our StoryWorks magazine.  The historical fiction text allowed us to grow our knowledge about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.  Students also learned about cause and effect.  An effect is "the WHAT" happened, and the cause is "the WHY."  Authors use signal words like "Because of...," "As a result..." and "Therefore..." to signal a cause-effect relationship.  Partnerships practiced identifying different effects that resulted because of Mrs. Parks actions on the day she was arrested.

Jake & Henry work together to find text evidence from Scene 6.  

Zoe & Gage study the play's epilogue to learn about Montgomery's decision to do away with segregation laws on it's city buses.  

Ben & Anina show their highlighted proof from the text.  

Writer's Workshop

    In Writing this week, students created different structures of Informational Texts.  Authors use a Box & Bullets to plan "all about" writing and Problem & Solution to show the relationship between an issue and a way to resolve it.  Writers use a Pro & Con list to show the positive and negative aspects of a topic.  They can Compare & Contrast two topics to show how they are alike and different.  We'll use these structures in our upcoming Informational Presentations.  

Math

     Students began a new unit in Math this week.  They practiced creating factor pairs for given numbers.  They learned that a prime number has exactly two factors (ex: 5, 17), and composite numbers have three or more factors (ex:  4, 22).  The exceptions are 1 and 0; these numbers cannot be classified as prime or composite.  Students also practiced naming fractions of a shape and on a number line.  They used multiplication and division to create equivalent fractions, or fractions of the same size or value.  

     

Social Studies

     Students learned about pioneer life in the early 1800s.  We read You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer to learn about the hardships pioneers faced on their journey:  bath weather, some Native Americans, sickness, lack of food and water, buffalo stampedes and more.  

Social Studies

     In Social Studies this week, we started the new year with Mrs. Jardon.  Mrs. Jardon used to teach in Lindbergh, and she was a docent at the Museum of Westward Expansion.  She taught us all about the expedition of Lewis and Clark as they explored the Louisiana Purchase.  

Zoe shows off her Lewis & Clark journal.  The peace medal on the front represents the way Native Americans often introduced themselves to explorers, in peace and friendship.  

Mrs. Jardon brought many items for us to look at and touch throughout the week. 

Students pretended to be some of they key people in the expedition.

Math

     We focused on numeric (numbers) and nonnumeric (figures, shapes, symbols) patterns this week.  Numeric patterns are present in Input/Output tables.  We must carefully study the table to find out what kind of change is occurring.  We can show they change using an equation like ax4=b.  

Writer's Workshop

     We got back into the swing of things by practicing building our writing stamina.  Students listened to some of Miss Dausmann's favorite picture books including Owl Moon, The Relatives Came, and Owl Moon.  Students then wrote about the topics of each story and shared with the class.  

Reader's Workshop

     This week, we used the NewsELA website to find some nonfiction articles to read.  Students loved combing through the different categories of news stories and selecting pieces they wanted to read.  They also completed and article review on an article of their choice.  

Writer's Workshop
      We've started a new unit of study: Persuasive Essays!  We learned that an essay must have a thesis, or strong opinion.  It also has to include reasons that support the thesis.  Essays are written in first person, and we plan them using a box & bullets.  An essay usually has 5 paragraphs, and it's important that the author is passionate about the topic.  This week, we wrote an essay about a person that is inspirational to us.

Reader's Workshop
     In Reading, we've been studying Informational Text.  Informational Text, A.K.A. nonfiction, gives us true facts and teaches us new information.  Informational Text includes a variety of features like labeling, photographs & captions, cut-aways, special bring (bold, italics, highlighted), and more.  We also practiced finding the main idea of a section of Informational Text.  We recorded the main idea along with three supporting details.  This format reminded us of our essay box a bullets (a thesis & three supporting reasons).

Math
     We have been studying multiplication for quite some time, and students are really getting good!  Thank you for continuing to help your child practice his/her facts at home.  This is making 2 by 1 and 2 by 2 digit multiplication a cinch.  Parents, I also have to compliment your bravery and willingness to learn new methods of multiplication.  Most of learned math in a very different way 20+ years ago, and I appreciate you understanding the importance of our young ones understanding the process of multiplication.

Social Studies
      Students have been learning about Missouri's culture.  We discovered that jazz music is an important part of our state's history as many jazz musicians got their start in Kansas City and in St. Louis.   Missouri also boasts many visual artists, people who create jewelry, sculptures, paintings, and other art we can see.  Many writers are a part of MO's literature, including Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mark Twain, and T.S. Elliot.  We also celebrate sports & recreation.  Many of us love watching football, baseball, and hockey, and Missouri offers many outdoor activities for us to do.