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This coming week we start off with our three units of
study. Our first writing unit is the
Narrative where students take small moments from their own lives and write
about them as they learn more about how to write concisely and with flare. Keeping the reader in mind while we write is
an important aspect of learning to write since, other than a diary, there is no
time that we write only for ourselves.
It is always for someone else to read.
The lessons this week will focus on expanding our writing and writing
that makes sense.
Our first math unit is place value and decimal
fractions. It looks at understanding why
certain math concepts we take for granted really work. There is a lot of work that goes up to
millions and into thousandths, so this will have a lot of numbers that are both
very large and very small. Students
learn just how small and how big these numbers really are. We will also look at a problem that fits with
this unit involving exponential numbers.
Please note that the first unit family letter is attached to this
missive.
Our first reading unit is all about interpreting what the
author is trying to tell us. Just how do
we know what a book is really about.
Some are very specific, and others are built in as part of the story
that is being read. We signed out books
on Friday, so everyone should now have books at home to read each night of the
week. Please try as hard as possible to
make this a reality. Students are also
required to log their night reading in their journal.
Pretty much all the class routines are now in place so all I
need to do now is work with the students to cement them into their own
learning. Everything I do is to make
sure that learning is maximized and as fun as possible. All I ask parents to do is read and sign the
reading journal and planner once a week.
They are one of the ways I stay in touch with the families in my
classroom.
This week’s home-learning is a little different than normal
as I will doing it with the class on Mon, Tues and Wed just so they see what my
expectations are. Thursday will be the
first day they bring home their home-learning to do at home. Please note, all home-learning is marked the
next day so there is not really any such thing as late work. If not completed, then students will do it as
we mark it. A problem with this is going
to be that I expect students to share their work as we mark it. Since this is random, it is important to have
their home-learning completed each night in time for tomorrow as they may be
called on to share what they learned and did.
That is all for now, if you need to meet with me please
email me at hdaw@isb.bj.edu.cn and I
will gladly set a time up to meet with you.
Have a great week.
