Week 11

 Dear Parents,

              For the last two weeks we have been hitting word problems very hard. There are a lot of steps to help your child understand a problem and solve it. We usually start with a B, M, E. We write the story problem in order from beginning to end. The first sentence is the B. It usually contains a number. Last week we learned it could begin with a question mark. In the middle Is the second and sometimes third sentence of the word problem. The E or end is always the question. The next step is to put the word problem into a number sentence. We stay in the order of the BME. If the Problem is : I have 26 pies. I sold 15 of them. How many are left? The Number sentence is : 26-15= ?. If the story was: I have some pies. I sold 15 of them. Now I have 11 pies. How many pies did I start with? The number sentence would be: ?-15= 11. Next the students put the information into a part/part/ whole box. That helps them decide how they would solve the problem. The first problem could be solved just as it  is. The second problem could be solved using the part/part/whole information. They could decide to add the two parts 15+11 to get the whole, 26. We do a problem every day the entire year, but in this unit we solved many problems. Due to this unit, I’m sure you noticed that there was no math homework. This unit is not in our math book.

            In writing we are continuing to write, revise and edit our independent narratives. Some are working on their final copy! They are doing a fantastic job! We also had lessons on digraphs, the prefixes un- and re-, and practiced changing the beginning sounds of words to make new words. 

           In social studies we finished our Texas State Books. We read the story Stella Luna and had a comprehension check. Due to swim this week we lost two hours in our day, for 4 days, but had a great time.

          In science we learned about how sound travels through the different states of matter and how our outer ear collects the sound, sends it through the ear canal and vibrates our eardrum. We learned that there are 3 small bones behind the eardrum which increase the sound and sends a message to our brain and the brain interprets the sound. They were amazed to find out that sound can travel 1,029 feet in a second!