Week in Review: October 19th -23rd

We had another wonderful week in Lower Elementary! Students enjoyed many activities - both indoors and out!

For language jobs this week, first grade students were introduced to syllables, had further review of articles, and matched pairs of homophones. Second grade students reviewed syllables, explored "helping verbs", and had further work with prefixes. Third grade students were introduced to possessive pronouns and reviewed the meaning of various prefixes.

For math jobs this week, first grade students completed large addition/multiplication problems, counted sets of quarters and pennies, explored fundamental concepts of geometry (point, line, surface, solid), compared fractions, and interpreted bar graphs. Second grade students worked with large multiplication problems, solved addition word problems involving money, found various types of lines (diverging, converging, intersecting) in our classroom environment, converted improper fractions to mixed numbers, and review multiplication facts. Third grade students worked with all math operations, completed money word problems which involved making change, converted improper fractions to mixed numbers, found factors of a number, and identified the missing numerator or denominator in a fraction.

For cultural jobs this week, students heard a story describing the earliest humans during a history lesson. In geography, students further explored map skills. In science, students continued their study of chemistry with an introduction to acids and bases. Students used a red cabbage indicator to determine if common household items were acids or bases.

REMINDERS  

Old Baker's Farm- Lower Elementary students will take a trip to Old Baker's Farm on October 27th and October 28th . Please be sure to send in the permission slip and money for the trip!  Students will need a sack lunch from home on this day!

Halloween Parade- Students will participate in the JBMA Halloween parade at 9:00 on October 30th, 2015. Students will complete a short writing prompt in order to tell about their costume. Students are invited to dress as a book character,  cultural representatives, or a historical figure.

Make- Up Pictures will be made on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015.

No School on Wednesday, November 11th due to the Veterans Day holiday.

Week in Review : October 13th-16fh

Lower Elementary students had a wonderful week learning and working together! We will be glad to return to a more normal schedule this week!

For language jobs this week, first grade students reviewed articles and were introduced to homophones. Second grade students explored verbs of being (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been) and looked up the meanings of various prefixes in the dictionary. Third grade students explore objective pronouns and looked up the meanings of various prefixes in the dictionary. 

For math jobs this week, first grade students used triangles to create various quadrilaterals, solved large addition and multiplication problems, compared fractions, counted mixed coins, and reviewed tally charts. Second grade students solved large multiplication problems, solved for unknown variables, began a study of lines, and changed improper fractions to mixed numbers. Third grade students identified the different types of triangles need to make quadrilaterals, solved for unknown variables, changed improper fractions to mixed number fractions, and explored the concept of squaring numbers. 

For cultural jobs, students researched another animal from the Timeline of Life for their history job this week. In science, students began a unit on chemistry. Students discussed matter, atoms, chemical vs. physical reactions, and the periodic table of elements through videos and a powerpoint presentation. Students then completed a science experiment where they combined vinegar and baking soda in order to produce carbon dioxide. 

Next week, students will explore syllables, articles, pronouns, and verbs of being. Students will also have further practice with math operations, counting coins, working with fractions, and prefixes. We look forward to another great week! 

REMINDERS 

Picture Day for Lower Elementary students is October 21st, 2015. 

Old Baker's Farm- Lower Elementary students will take a trip to Old Baker's Farm on October 27th and October 28th . Please be sure to send in the permission slip and money for the trip!  Students will need a sack lunch from home on this day!

Halloween Parade- Students will participate in the JBMA Halloween parade at 9:00 on October 30th, 2015. Students will complete a short writing prompt in order to tell about their costume. Students are invited to dress as a book character,  cultural representatives, or a historical figure. 

Week in Review: September 28th - October 2nd

We had another fantastic week in Lower Elementary! Students were busy at work on quarterly reviews in the areas of Language Arts and Math. Students also self-selected jobs in the areas of word study, grammar, numeration, geometry, and math operations. For cultural jobs this week, students explored the Clock of Eras in History. For geography, students identified the parts of a river. Students explored various facts about some prehistoric animals such as what they ate, what period they lived in, their physical characteristics, and their length in feet during a science lesson.

We look forward a wonderful week next week which will include our first field trip of the year to the Children's Theater. Students will also be working on writing a friendly letter, comparing fractions, identifying parts of speech (articles and pronouns), counting coins, geometry (polygons and quadrilaterals), prefixes, and editing.

REMINDERS

No school for students on Monday, October 12th due to the Columbus Day holiday.

Progress Reports- Progress Reports will be sent home Wednesday, October 13th. 

Conferences: First quarter conferences will be held Thursday, October 15th and Friday, October 16th.  Students will be dismissed at 1:00 on these days.

Children's Theater- Lower Elementary students will be visiting the Children's Theater on Wednesday, October 7th for one group and Thursday, October 8th for another group. Please be sure you have signed the permission slip and have returned it to school. 

Halloween Parade - JBMA Halloween Parade is one of our annual traditions where students have an opportunity to dress up as a character and learn from each other. This year the Lower Elementary students are looking forward to the Halloween Parade on Friday, October 30th .   

Students are invited to dress up only as a character from a book, a historical figure, or cultural representatives.  We aim to keep Halloween light-hearted and fun for everyone, and therefore will not allow weapons, blood, or anything scary.  Our costume parade brings all ages together and we need to respect the needs of the younger children.