Goodbye October!

We had so much excitement this week at CJDS! The students participated in their first student council election and we saw an amazing performance by Tony DeBlois, a musical savant/piano virtuoso.  Mr. DeBlois is autistic and blind.  He plays 23 different instruments, sings in 11 different languages, and has played all over the world. The students were a wonderful audience and Mr. DeBlois even sang us some of our special requests in Hebrew!

Here are some of the students delivering their student council speeches!

Reading
Today we finished the third lesson in our Journey’s curriculum. Next week, the students will read The Diary of a Spider and study how to identify cause and effect relationships in what they read. Next week’s vocabulary words are: Rotten, sticky, insects, scare, judge, screaming, dangerous, and breeze. We will also learn about nouns (people, places, and things.)

Spelling
This week, the students learned that the long “e” or “i” sounds can be spelled with a “y” at the end of the word, like in the words pretty and why. We also learned that the long “a” sound at the end of the word can be spelled with “ay”, like in the words day and play. Next week, we will review how to spell words with the short “a” and short “i” sounds, like in the words mask and middle.

Writing
This week, the students began writing stories based on a real event in their lives. The students brainstormed ideas, created a plan for their writing, and then began drafting their stories. The students will have a chance to edit their writing next week. The students’ drafts will be used to establish their first writing goal for the school year.  Each student will have a chance to meet one on one with the teacher to determine the strengths in their story and then decide where they’d like to grow as a writer.

Math
This week, all of the students had the opportunity to visit the “CJDS Math Store!” The students practiced adding up the coins they would need to buy each item. They showed several ways they could make each price using coins. For example, if an item cost .50 cents, you could pay with two quarters, or five dimes, or even one quarter, two dimes, and a nickel! Students who were ready for a challenge practiced adding up the coins to find a total cost, paying for the items, and making change. The students noticed it is much easier to add up prices that end in a zero or five! We will continue working on this unit next week by studying time, place value, and basic addition and subtraction strategies.

Here are some of the students practicing shopping at the “CJDS Math Store!”

I will see everyone on Monday for more learning fun!