Dear Families,
Mrs. Kramer
Monday, February 28, 2022
Blog: February/March
Friday, January 7, 2022
January Blog
Month: January 2022
Word Work: Home Support Letter
Writing:
Students finished up their informational writing. We concluded our unit with a Google Slides gallery walk. Students did a great job. You may view your child's presentation by having your child login to Clever, go to Classroom, and then go to Kramer's Digital Backpack.
We just started our unit on persuasive speeches. Students will select a topic and write a persuasive speech in order to make changes in the world, community, school, or neighborhood.
Reading:
This week, we started our Mystery unit. Students have been learning about what a mystery is and the vocabulary that they will use with our class read aloud (The Absent Author) as well as in their own self-selected mystery. They will be learning different reading strategies in order to solve the mystery before the crime solver. Strategies and skills will be modeled using mentor texts and teacher modeling/demonstrations. Students will have time to practice with their own mysteries. Students will also be asked to use evidence from the text to support their thinking using "Thinking Stems." This will help students elaborate in order to prove clues, suspects, as well as other mystery elements.

Science: Weather and Climate
We are finishing our unit on the impact of natural hazards with an experiment. Student groups had to build a prototype that would withstand a flood. They first planned, then made a drawing, and constructed the prototype. We then poured water (flood) to determine if their prototype would work. Students discussed possible problems, went back to redesign, construct, and finally test their prototype again. Our next unit will be maps skills, geography, and regions of the United States.
Upcoming Dates:
January 17th - No School (MLK Day)
Saturday, November 27, 2021
December Blog
Month: December
Word Work: Home Support Letter
Writing:
Students have been working on informational writing. Kiddos selected a topic they knew a lot about. The goal is for students to teach someone about that topic stopping along the way to explain key information, details, and examples. They will take the writing they have completed and begin working on a Google Slideshow this week. All work will be completed in class.
Reading:
Students have been learning different reading strategies in order to read nonfiction well. This has been modeled using mentor texts, teacher modeling, and then students have time to practice with one of their nonfiction texts. One strategy is using Boxes and Bullets (big idea/details). In addition, students construct a summary using this strategy. Students are also using "Thinking Stems" in order to elaborate and share their thinking. As students read multiple texts on the same topic, they are practicing synthesis using sticky notes to jot down similarities and difference between the texts. Our unit test will be the second week of December.

Science: Weather and Climate
We have concluded our unit on communities and government. We will begin our unit on Weather and Climate this week. We will look at the difference between Weather and Climate, as well as understanding the impact of natural hazards.
Upcoming Dates:
December 17th-January 3rd - Winter Break ❄
Tuesday, November 2, 2021
Thursday, September 16, 2021
Mrs. Kramer's Blog
Word Work – Students are working on and practicing drill sounds of consonants, short vowels, digraphs, blends, and closed syllables. Part of our Word Work program involves tapping out the sounds of each letter, learning to write the words with breve', scoops per syllable, and dictation. Please ask your child to show you what they are learning. The goal is for your child to transfer the concepts they are learning into their writing and use the skills as they read. They will have their first unit assessment next week. Please keep in mind that this is new for the kiddos.
Writing – We are wrapping up our narrative writing unit. Students chose a small moment that they shared with someone who really matters to them (approximately an hour of time). Students are currently finishing their writing and typing their story in Google Docs. They continue to work on showing instead of telling, sharing bit by bit using descriptive language. Lessons covered include: using our checklist to set goals and monitor our writing, writing paragraphs, punctuating our writing with capitals, end marks, commas, quotation marks, transitions that show time is passing, incorporating figurative language, and writing an ending paragraph. Each day I go over the lesson, model for the class, and then students have time to practice what was taught and implement those skills into their writing. These narrative stories are due the end of next week. All work will be done in class. The following week, students will take their summative narrative writing assessment.
Reading – Currently we are wrapping up our first reading unit using our progression. The progression focuses on key concepts such as character traits, envisioning/predicting, and retelling/summarizing. In addition, students continue to understand the characters, setting, problem, and solution of their just right text.
Math – Students are working through Unit 3 (Apply Properties of Multiplication). We continue building the foundation of the how and why, providing multiple strategies, and ways to look at multiplying 3's, 4's, 6's, 7's, and 8's. Students are learning and practicing the distributive property of multiplication. This concept helps students to break numbers apart (working with numbers that are easier to multiply). We will be covering the associative property of multiplication in the near future.
Social Studies: Students Then and Now projects look great. They will be presenting their projects in small groups.
Science: Our next unit of study is science. This unit covers electric and magnetic forces.
Upcoming Dates:
Sept. 24th-No School
Oct. 1st-Digger Dash (11:00-11:30)
Oct. 5th and 7th - Conferences
Oct. 18th-22nd - Fall Break
I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend. As always, my door is always open. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Kindly ~
Kathryn Kramer
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Kramer's Blog
Dear Parents ~
Good morning! I wanted to give you a quick update of the learning which has been taking place.
Word Work – Students are working on sounds of consonants, short vowels, digraphs, and blends.
Writing – We are well into our narrative writing unit. Students chose a small moment that they shared with someone who really matters to them (approximately an hour of time). Students are writing about that small moment showing instead of telling. The goal is for students to show through descriptive language (juicy words), explaining bit by bit, and using actual dialogue/conversations. In addition, students were working on leads to their story (beginning paragraph focusing on who, what, when, where) and drafting. Each day I go over the lesson, model for the class, and then students have time to practice what was taught and implement those skills into their writing.
Reading – Currently we are working on Building a Reading Life. We are selecting books at our independent reading level, building our stamina for reading, setting goals using our progression, stopping to check our comprehension, envisioning (making a movie in our head of what is taking place/connections we have), and predicting. I am also discussing with students that readers often revise their thinking and predictions. We are using phrases such as: I think … because … or I use to think … but now I predict …
Math – Unit 1 and 2 focus on basic multiplication and division. We are building the foundation of the how and why, providing multiple strategies and ways to look at multiplying and dividing. Students are learning to use number lines, arrays, bar models, drawings, repeated addition, and repeated subtraction to divide.
Social Studies: As mentioned in previous emails, we are focusing on communities. We took a look at Parker’s history (past to present). Students are also reading about and looking at different items then and now (school, tools, transportation, technology, homes, clothing, etc.). Students should be working on their Then and Now project (specifically the interview). The interview is due in class on Wednesday, September 8th. Your child received their project packet with all directions and examples on Monday of this week.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend. As always, my door is always open. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Kindly ~
Kathryn Kramer