Happy New Year!  Welcome back to our busy classroom.
This week we welcomed a new boy, Nyle, to our class.  He fits in beautifully.  We are lucky to have him. 
Many thanks to all of you who encouraged your children to read and practice math facts over the vacation.  The results really show!  Don't forget...Read to Succeed sheets are due by January 30th for those attempting to earn Great Escape passes.
Slingerlands kicked off our "One School, One Book"project this week.  There were clues throughout the building about friends, fairs, and farms.  Today the mystery was unveiled.  Each family in Slingerlands will receive a PTA purchased copy of the book "Charlotte's Web".  We are asking that parents read one chapter each night aloud to their children as a way to encourage reading fun and fluency. We will be having activities to coincide with the book at school.

Reading:  Students chose biographies this week.  Each child will be reading their books, taking notes, making connections and writing a report.  They are learning so much!
Math:  We did our timed tests this week and also completed Topic 6.  We are currently beginning Mental Subtraction.
Writing: We are continuing our work on writing Lab Reports.  The children wrote questions, hypotheses, procedures and built catapults.  They are testing and recording results and making conclusions next.
Social Studies:  This week we began our work on simple geography.  The students are identifying continents, oceans, equator, directions and legends.  Next week we will work on the US map.

Thank you for all your help and support.  I hope you have a great weekend.