News for the week of 12/3

Notes from Ms. Rau:

• Holiday Celebration: Our Holiday Celebration will be on  Friday, December 21st from 10-11am. This is a half day for students. Dismissal will be at 11:30.

• Oakland County Animal Shelter Service Project: This holiday season we would like to teach students the power of giving. We have collaborated with Oakland Animal Shelter to help provide their animals with some basic needs. We will collect and create items to help make the lives of homeless pets more comfortable as they await their forever homes. We know that there are many demands on your time and budget this time of the year, so please keep in mind that participation in this project is completely voluntary. You are welcome to consider a donation to the Animal Shelter instead of a class or teacher gift this year. We will collect the above donations until the class holiday party on December 21. You may donate the following items:
• Cat and dog toys
• Cat and dog treats
• Cat litter
• Kitten formula (dry milk that we use to bottle feed kittens)
• Bottles to feed the kittens 

• Kindness Elf - We will have an elf in our classroom that will come visit us on 12/3. He will be our kindness elf. Each day our elf will be hiding in a new spot and will have a new random act of kindness for students to do. 

• Snow Gear: Please send in snow gear in a separate bag. Large reusable bags work best. Students will be asked to take their boots off in the hallway so please make sure they are labeled and that you send in an extra pair of shoes for them to wear during the day. Please send me a note if you want your student to leave their snow gear in their locker instead of taking it home each day. If there is snow on the ground and your student does not have snow pants they will be asked to play on the black top during recess. If you are in need of snow gear, please let me know! Thank you!

Important Dates:

• 12/3 - Reading Celebration (please bring a stuffed animal and your favorite 5-10 books from home!)
• 12/21 - Holiday Celebration 10:00-11:00am
• 12/21 - Half Day for Students, Dismissal at 11:30
• 12/24 -1/4 - Winter Break, No School for Students
• 1/21 - MLK Day, No School for Students

Learning This week:

• Writers will...
• Teach using pictures AND words
• learn that including specific information is important such as size, color, number, and shape
• be brave enough to spell fancy, domain specific topic words
• use readers to add and subtract information
• Readers will...
• celebrate their hard work during our reading detective unit
• begin a nonfiction reading mini study to immerse
• look closely, point to the pictures, ask questions, and talk about their nonfiction books so they can become experts on topics
• learn that nonfiction readers use the same strategies as fiction readers do when they are getting ready to read
• learn that they use the whole page and their whole brain to learn as much as possible about their books
• teach their partners what they have learned while reading NF books
• Mathematicians will...
• solve mixed story problems and figure out which number is the unknown (either the partner or the total)
• apply story problems in real word situations
• complete the unit 3 review
• complete the unit 3 assessment
• In social studies we will...
• learn ways in which families change over time
• name responsibilities and activities that change as a child grows older
• identify two reasons for change in a family size
• look at families then and now
• In phonics we will...
• solve the compound word puzzle
• track down the look alike word part (use parts you know to solve words)
• play the I Spy Sight Word game
• look for words that have similar parts

Photos from the week:

Researching topics on pebble go for nonfiction writing immersion

Solving the case of Twin Letters in phonics

Solving the case of contractions in phonics

Working on our fine motor to create a ripped paper snowman craft as apart of our shared reading extension :) 

News for the week of 11/26

Notes from Ms. Rau:

• Holiday Celebration: Our Holiday Celebration will be on  Friday, December 21st from 10-11am. This is a half day for students. Dismissal will be at 11:30.

• Oakland County Animal Shelter Service Project: This holiday season we would like to teach students the power of giving. We have collaborated with Oakland Animal Shelter to help provide their animals with some basic needs. We will collect and create items to help make the lives of homeless pets more comfortable as they await their forever homes. We know that there are many demands on your time and budget this time of the year, so please keep in mind that participation in this project is completely voluntary. You are welcome to consider a donation to the Animal Shelter instead of a class or teacher gift this year. We will collect the above donations until the class holiday party on December 21. You may donate the following items:
• Cat and dog toys
• Cat and dog treats
• Cat litter
• Kitten formula (dry milk that we use to bottle feed kittens)
• Bottles to feed the kittens 

• Snow Gear: Please send in snow gear in a separate bag. Large reusable bags work best. Students will be asked to take their boots off in the hallway so please make sure they are labeled and that you send in an extra pair of shoes for them to wear during the day. Please send me a note if you want your student to leave their snow gear in their locker instead of taking it home each day. If there is snow on the ground and your student does not have snow pants they will be asked to play on the black top during recess. If you are in need of snow gear, please let me know! Thank you!

Important Dates:

• 12/21 - Holiday Celebration 10:00-11:00am
• 12/21 - Half Day for Students, Dismissal at 11:30
• 12/24 -1/4 - Winter Break, No School for Students
• 1/21 - MLK Day, No School for Students

Learning This week:

• Writers will...
• use pebble go to research topics that interest them to immerse into nonfiction writing
• get ready to write by teaching all about a topic
• tell information across their fingers, sketch, then write
• keep readers in mind, writing to answer their questions
• Readers will...
• break off the endings of words (ing, ed, s)
• look out for vowel teams
• use word parts they know to read new words
• watch out for unusual words (compound words)
• smooth out their reading
• Mathematicians will...
• relate addition and subtraction stories
• solve mixed story problems
• create their own story problems
• Scientists will...
• record their grass growth
• learn about parts of a plant and their specific job
• learn why some seeds die
• In phonics we will...
• learn to break apart words with twin letters 
• find 3 letter tricksters in words 
• learn about contractions
• learn about compound words

News for the week of 11/12

Notes from Ms. Rau:

• Webber Student Council is hosting a Food Drive November 12^th through November 16^th. All donations will go to the Lake Orion Lions Club. We are accepting the following donations: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, muffin mix, mushroom soup, evaporate milk, turkey gravy, canned pumpkin, pie crust, canned fruit, Jell-O, and any other non-expired, non-perishable food.
• Lake Orion Book Drive   Do you have outgrown or unread books clogging up your shelves at home? You can put those books into the hands of young readers by donating them to the annual Lake Orion book drive! Simply bring ANY used or new books, from infant to adult, to the collection bin at your child's school. Staff will collect and sort donations and Preschool through 12^th grade teachers will be invited to select books for classroom use. Books not adopted into classrooms will be donated to local literacy programs. Our book drive has placed thousands of books in to the hands of Lake Orion students over the years! Bring books anytime now through November 28.  Thank you and happy reading!
• Snow Gear - Please send in snow gear in a separate bag. Large reusable bags work best. Students will be asked to take their boots off in the hallway so please make sure they are labeled and that you send in an extra pair of shoes for them to wear during the day. Please send me a note if you want your student to leave their snow gear in their locker instead of taking it home each day. If there is snow on the ground and your student does not have snow pants they will be asked to play on the black top during recess. If you are in need of snow gear, please let me know! Thank you!

Important Dates:

• 11/13 & 11/15 - PT conferences 
• 11/21-11/23 No School
• 12/21 - Holiday Celebration (more information to come)

Learning This Week:

• Writers will...
• think about their audience and write like they are talking to them
• add on introductions
• be bossy, using the word "you" in their writing
• add tips and warnings
• act out stories with partners to make sure they have all their steps
• Readers will...
• turn new words into snap words
• take known words off the word wall to make more room for new words
• scoop up words to make their reading sound smooth
• break words into parts
• pay attention to the beginning of words
• Mathematicians will...
• play the unknown partner game
• practice with unknown partners in story problems
• review all subtraction strategies (count on, math mountains, circle drawings)
• Scientists will...
• observe food that we eat
• investigate what part of the plant we eat
• investigate where seeds come from
• learn that parent plants provide offspring through the apple lifecycle

News for the week of 11/5

• Notes from Ms. Rau:
  • Webber Student Council Invites You to Help Honor America’s Veterans! On Wednesday, November 7^th, we will be raising money for GI Go Fund. Students that donate $1 or more can wear a hat to school on this day. Staff members that donate $5 or more get to wear jeans to work. Each participant will receive a sticker that recognizes their participation in this event. For more information check out this site: https://www.gigo.org/
  • Webber Student Council is hosting a Food Drive November 12^th through November 16^th. All donations will go to the Lake Orion Lions Club. We are accepting the following donations: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, muffin mix, mushroom soup, evaporate milk, turkey gravy, canned pumpkin, pie crust, canned fruit, Jell-O, and any other non-expired, non-perishable food.
  • As part of our new phonics program our class acquired Rasheed the lion, a mascot who helps us with our word work. Rasheed will take on many roles this year (including detective, construction worker, and super hero, among others) as he helps us learn to read and spell. To help Rasheed look the part, I am asking for donations of any clothing or accessories that may fit him. He is a stuffed animal about 13 inches tall, with a torso about 5 inches high and 5 inches wide. Most clothing for infants, Build a Bear animals, and American Girl dolls should fit Rasheed. Even small dog outfits might work! If you have any bits and pieces at home that you would be willing to donate, the class would enjoy dressing him up. This is just for fun, so please don’t purchase anything new for Rasheed. Thank you!
  • Lake Orion Book Drive   Do you have outgrown or unread books clogging up your shelves at home? You can put those books into the hands of young readers by donating them to the annual Lake Orion book drive! Simply bring ANY used or new books, from infant to adult, to the collection bin at your child's school. Staff will collect and sort donations and Preschool through 12^th grade teachers will be invited to select books for classroom use. Books not adopted into classrooms will be donated to local literacy programs. Our book drive has placed thousands of books in to the hands of Lake Orion students over the years! Bring books anytime now through November 28.  Thank you and happy reading!
• Important Dates To Remember:
• Nov. 6th - Election Day, no school for students. 
• Nov. 13th & 15th Parent Teacher Conferences. You can view your date and time on the sign up genius link here . I will send a reminder note at the end of next week.
• Nov. 27-29th No School, Happy Thanksgiving! 
• Learning For The Week:
• Writers will...
• learn that they are experts in day to day tasks (i.e. brushing teeth, making bed, getting ready for school)
• think about every single step
• count steps across fingers to plan how-to books
• learn from mentor texts
• Mathematicians will begin Unit 3. They will...
• explore unknown partners using math mountains
• solve story problems with unknown partners
• solve equations with unknown partners
• Readers will...
• read words in a snap
• receive mini word walls in their book bag
• use snap words as clues to think about what makes sense
• solve mystery words by thinking of similar snap words
• Scientists will begin a new unit called Feature Factor. They will...
• explore types of seeds and notice differences and similarities 
• review what plants need in order to survive 
• observe fruits and vegetables from plans 
• investigate what the adult plant looks like from the seed 
• Photos from last week:

 Students completed a high demand math task in partnerships. They showed their work in pictures and words.

Science Experiment inside of our pumpkin that we carved!

Learning to read AND write words that have silent e's at the end.

Teaching students how to make popcorn for our How-To writing immersion. We used the air server on the ipad so students could see above the popper on the projector. 

Scientists observe apples.

Happy Halloween from Room 6!