This week in Mrs. Zimmer's class!

In math we are beginning to focus on subtraction story problems and finding the unknown partners and totals.  We will be using counting cubes, Math Mountains, and drawings to help us solve these equations.  We have also been playing a number quilt activity, which helps students practice their addition and subtraction facts, so eventually students will move away from drawings and into numeric solution methods.

In our next science unit, we will be learning about how animals and plants change as they grow.  We will study the life cycles of frogs and butterflies as well as how other animals change and grow.  We will also learn that different types of plants have different life cycles.  In addition to learning how animals and plants change as they grow, we are learning new vocabulary words which include; tadpole, life cycle, larva, pupa, seed coat, and seedling.  Help your child to make these words a part of his or her vocabulary by using them when you talk about life cycles. The rest of this week we will be focusing on the life cycle of Frogs, and then possibly into the life cycle of butterflies.

We are finishing up our health lesson about relationships and helping building self-esteem.  We will complete our lesson about compliments, and students will be creating a compliment book for a partner in the class.