Welcome April!  It doesn’t quite feel like it with the current weather we are having!  Last week seemed to fly by, we were busy with lots of things!

In writing workshop we are working on writing essays and supporting our answers with evidence from the text.  This week we focused on using meaningful transitions.  We created a class chart for transitions we could use at the beginning of an essay, transitions that we could use to show a second or third piece of evidence, and transitions to use for the conclusion.  We have also been practicing citing our evidence and stating exactly where this evidence comes from so that it really proves our ideas. 

In reading workshop we have been reading short passages and responding to questions about the text. We also did a close reading this week of the song “Wild Things” by Alessia Cara.  This is a song on the radio right now, which some of the students were familiar with.  It’s really eye opening when you stop to think about what the words in a song really mean.  We concluded that this song was all about being your own person, not following the crowd, and simply being who you are!  The students really enjoyed it.  April is national poetry month.  On Friday we also looked at a poem called A Bird Came Down The Walk by Emily Dickinson. 

In Math, we began Topic 13, which dives deeper into fractions and fraction concepts.  We learned how to multiply fractions by whole numbers using both models and symbols.  In addition, we learned about decimals and how we can name a fraction as a decimal, as well as how to show these values on a number line.

Glenmont Elementary is collecting cards for veterans that have been chosen to participate in the Leatherstocking Honor Flight down to D.C. for the day.  These veterans from WWII and the Korean War get to see the monuments and are also honored for their services.  This week with our buddy class, we learned about the flight, and made cards for the veterans to receive as their “mail call” while on the airplane.  We watched s short clip of some of the vets opening and reading their cards, many of which are from people they don’t know.  It is amazing to see how much gratitude we can spread with such a simple act!

A reminder that this week we have the NYS ELA test Tuesday-Thursday.  This is a chance for our students to show what they know!

Thanks for your continued support!