Reading: 

Theme 3 : Around Town : Neighborhood and Community

During the next few weeks, we will be exploring the theme Around Town : Neighborhood and Community .  As we read we will investigate different neighborhoods and learn about some of the people who live and work in them. 

The reading strategies we will be practicing include summarizing, questioning, evaluating, and predict and infer.   These strategies are valuable tools that we use to comprehend our stories and monitor our reading. These strategies are explained in detail on the sub page entitled Reading Strategies.

Our comprehension skills will include practice in making judgments in Chinatown.  We will practice identifying the topic/main idea/ and details with the story A Trip to the Firehouse. Next  we will work on our problem solving skills with the funny story Big Bushy Mustache. In our final story of the theme, Jamaica Louise James we will make inferences from the information that we read.

Our language studies will include identifying and writing: naming words ( Common Nouns), special nouns ( Proper Nouns), singular and plural nouns, and nouns that change spelling in the plural form.  Our vocabulary work will include practice in ABC order in the dictionary, using context, and dictionary guide words.  We will complete study skill lessons on using and reading a schedule, phone book, calendar, and encyclopedia.

We will use the skills learned in each story to complete various writing activities.  The Writer's Workshop for this theme focuses on the traits of organization and sentence fluency.  During this theme we will be writing  a friendly letter.  All components of the Writer's Workshop will be utilized. 

Math:

Unit 4: Addition and Subtraction

In Unit 4, children will use addition and subtraction stories to develop mental-arithmetic skills.  Mental arithmetic is computation done in one's head or by drawing pictures, making tallies, or using manipulatives ( counters, money, number lines, and number grids).

In this unit, children will use parts-and-total diagrams and change diagrams to help them organize information in addition stories that either "put together" or "change to more".

Children will also develop estimation skills by solving problems that involve purchases.  In the last part of the unit, we will learn paper and pencil strategies for addition and will continue to gain hands-on experience with thermometers, money, tape measures, and rulers.

Science:

Our first chapter in Science is Comparing matter.  We will learn that objects can be described by properties such as size, shape, and color.  We will determine that matter can be classified as solid, liquid, or  gas.  By completing experiments we will discover that taking away or adding heat can cause matter from change states.  Finally we will recognize that objects are composed of small parts that may be seen with a magnifier.

Social Studies

Unit 3: Using Our Resources

During this unit we will find the answers to the following questions:

    What natural resources do people use?  How do they use them?

    What are some of the reasons people choose to live in a place?

    How do people change their environment?

    How have transportation and communication changed over time?

Vocabulary Terms:

Technology- helps farmers today by making the work go faster.

Fuel- a resource that can be burned for heat or energy.

Suburb- a smaller community near a city.

Communication- the sharing of ideas and information.

Transportation- the moving of goods and people from place to place.

Recycle Newspapers- one way to save our natural resources.

Technology- the use of new objects and ideas in everyday life.

Environment- all of the things that people find around them.

Rural- areas that are usually in the country.

Conservation- the saving of resources to make them last longer.

Natural Resources- something that can be found in nature that people can use.

Urban- areas that are in the city.

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