Starting a New Year

Welcome back to the start of the 2013-2014 school year! We've had a solid start to the school year and we are starting to transition from introductions and technology boot camps to our core curriculum. Hopefully we will see many of you at our Back to School Night tomorrow at Horizon. We will cover each subject in more depth and have time to answer questions that you may have. 

Student's working with the mathematical practices - figuring out what each one means and how to explain it to their classmates.

 In reader's workshop we have been establishing our classroom environment, as well as setting up and getting used to the notebooks that we will be using all year long. Responding to reading is a big part of reading this year, and it isn't just retelling the story any longer. Students will be pushed to make deeper connections to the text, explore questions that they have, cite evidence to back up their reasoning (because Mr. Finn doesn't accept 'cuz' as a reason!), and find ways compare and contrast a variety of texts. 

In social studies we will begin with a mapping unit to help front load some information. Not only will this prove beneficial on upcoming WKCE tests, but maps will be part of each ancient civilization we study this year. Having those skills will go a long way to helping the kids understand some of the challenges that each civilization faced from a geographic and political standpoint. 

Student's explaining how using diagrams is a viable mathematical strategy that one should use during the year. 

You've obviously found our blog if you're reading this. Feel free to keep our school fusion page bookmarked: http://goo.gl/tH4pB8 and follow us on Instagram @MrFinn42 for some more visual updates from the classroom.