February 26-March 1, 2024

As adults, we probably all have fond memories of visits from Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and even the Tooth Fairy. In the Elementary classroom, the world is full of magic and make-believe. This week, we worked on understanding the difference between fantasy and reality. After learning about clouds, we were given several sentences to read and determine whether it was fantasy or reality. We came to a sentence that stated that the cloud fairy created clouds. I was quickly reminded of the beautiful sense of innocence surrounding me as a student reminded me that the tooth fairy is real so a cloud fairy might have created clouds. I wasn’t about to argue with that!

In Science this week, we investigated how scientists classify animals. We learned about the difference between vertebrates and invertebrates and looked at examples of each. To celebrate the end of Black History Month, the students have each selected a person to research who has inspired change in our world. The students began gathering information and creating a biography about this person’s life. They were all very excited to pick a person who shares a common interest with them and seem eager to work on this project! In Religion, we looked at one of the miracles Jesus performed in his life. We learned about Jesus curing the blind man, which led to some interesting discussions about why people were skeptical about Jesus and what it means to be blind. In Reading, we continued our unit on figurative language by introducing onomatopoeia and personification. We have had a lot of fun learning these types of language through songs, games, and silly sentences. I have been impressed with how everyone in our reading group has picked up on figurative language and identifying different types of figurative language outside of reading class! In Math this week, we used our measurement skills as we made paper robots and completed a measurement scavenger hunt of objects in our classroom. I am so proud of how hard our class has been working and seeing them cheer each other on when someone is facing a challenge!

We wrapped up our Endangered Species Unit this week in Science. Groups 1 and 2 presented their species to the class, and Group 3 worked on completing our Conservation Board Game. We will be jumping into Chapter 5 on biomes starting next week. In ELA, Group 1 completed their first book report on My Brother Sam is Dead. Group 2 completed their study guides and took a final assessment of the novel on Thursday. Any student who feels they could improve on their score will have an opportunity to re-test on Friday, March 8. Group 3 is still in the process of reading My Brother Sam is Dead. We covered Chapters 9 and 10 this week and will continue with the next two chapters before the break. All three groups will be receiving an ELA Bingo sheet for the month of March on Friday, March 1s. Please encourage your students to work on them for a minimum of 15 minutes each evening. This will help build their academic stamina and increase their reading skills.

In the Independent Living class, we continue working on our career projects. We are working on specific information on the careers the students picked.

This week in Math Class, we worked on individualized programs in IXL. We also worked on individualized math from our math folder.

This week in Writing Class, we worked on simple sentences. We also worked on unscrambling words and putting the words into sentences.