Huzarsky's Happenings Newsletter - 11-16-12

                                                                                                     
Dear Parents,


After all that happened with Hurricane Sandy, I sincerely hope that all of your families are safe, sound, and with power.  I missed your children so much during our time off and was excited to get back to work.  Seeing your children's smiling faces on the day we returned was priceless!  Since our return we have been extremely productive in Room 19.  Read on to learn about what's been taking place in our class.

In our Reading Workshop we have been learning the importance of Questioning while reading non-fiction.  During our mini-lessons, we have been reading short articles and discussing things we are wondering or questioning about the topic.  Ask your child what they can do if one of their questions isn't answered in the text...you will be impressed with their answers!  We completed our read aloud, "The Kid Who Ran For President" by Dan Gutman.  It correlated with the election and the children were able to learn some important facts about the process through this fun and informative chapter book.  We started our new read aloud called, "Dear Mr. Henshaw" by Beverly Cleary today.  Over the weekend ask your child to tell you about the main character in the book. 

We began our second Writer's Workshop unit of the year last week...Feature Articles!!! So far we have been immersing ourselves in interesting and thought provoking articles in order to understand the elements of a feature article.  We analyzed several articles as a whole class, in groups, with parteners, and individually.  Ask your child what makes up a feature article this weekend...I think you will be pleased with what you hear.

Our new Social-Studies unit was kicked off last week as well based on Native Americans.  Yesterday we learned how to take notes while listening to information about the migration routes of the first Americans. Once we have our notes organized, we are going to learn how to write a comprehensive paragraph using our notes.  Stay on the look
out for your child's final paragraph to come home with a parent comment sheet.  After the Thanksgiving break we will delve into the lives of the Iroquois and Algonquian Native Americans. 

In the Science-Lab we began learning about Weather!  We will be completing fascinating experiments in the lab over the next few weeks as well as learning important facts about different kinds of weather in the classroom.  You can further your child's learning experience by having them navigate throught the weather channel online and by looking at articles related to weather in newspapers and magazines. 

Multiplication is in full effect in Room 19!!!  We learned how to multiply two digit by one digit numbers this week and are moving on to two digit by two digit numbers next Monday.  We are learning how to multiply using two different methods - the Partial Products  method and the Traditional method.  Once your child has learned both methods they will be able to choose the one that works best for them both in school and at home for their homwork assignments.  Multiplication Mania!!!

I can't wait to view your child's Amazing Articles presentations!!!  The kids seem to be motivated by the project and I am looking forward to their oral presentations. 

Thank you for taking the time to read the Huzarsky's Happenings newsletter.  Please feel free to comment down below.  I just want you all to know how grateful I am to be working with all of your phenomenal children this year.  Each and every one of them is special in their own way and I feel lucky to be part of their lives.  Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Sincerely,
Ms. Huzarsky