Week of February 20 - 24, 2012

Math - In math this week we will continue with 2 digit subtraction practice. The students will be reading story problems and learning to recognize key words which indicate if they will need to add or subtract to find the solution to the problem.  Words or phrases in the question such as in all, altogether, and total tell them they should add.  Words or phrases such as how many more, how many less, what is the difference, how many are left, and how many remain tell them they should subtract.

We will also practice adding to check the answer and estimating or rounding to check the answer. Finally the children will be subtracting with money amounts.

Spelling - In Unit 23 the focus is on /ou/ as in ouch and  /ow/ as in cow.  We will also practice with these vowel digraphs in the phonics book.

Reading - We will be reading a chapter book about the Statue of Liberty in our shared reading lessons this week.  It is a very interesting story about our friendship with France and how the statue was actually created in France and shipped to America to be erected in New York Harbor.

Writing - The children will be learning about the 5 steps in the writing process: 1. Pre-Writing, 2. Writing, 3. Revision, 4. Editing, and 5. Publishing.  They will use these steps to complete an expository writing project about Abraham Lincoln.