WEEK OF OCT. 8-12

DATES:

Friday, Oct. 12.............Outdoor Discovery Center Field Trip
Oct. 16th and 17th.......MEAP Testing  (math and science)
November 1st..............Field Trip 2

MEAP Testing is Tuesday and Wednesday. Please be sure your children are well-rested, have a good breakfast, and a snack. I keep animal crackers at school all of the time for those who need snacks!


Field Trip- I will post pictures from the Outdoor Discovery Center on Sunday with some information about our trip.
 
MORE Field Trip: Normally we don't have two field trips so close together, but we will be going on November 1st to the Planetarium and to a play about native Americans and the museum. We will be putting in a WISH request for parent volunteers for this trip.

Math:We continue in our Place Value unit and are now working on decimals. This will include place value , rounding and comparing decimals. We have been working in centers most of the time this school year. This consists of a few minutes of introducing a concept to the whole class, then groups where students work with me, watch a video tutorial, work on a paper assignment, practice on a website, play a game focused on that skill, etc.


MATH FACTS: Please practice math facts with your child. Keeping a set in the car may be a good idea. A few minutes frequently during the week will be quite helpful. Division is something most students need to work on.

Reading:
We began reading Guests this week. This novel is a little more difficult read as it contains quite a bit of inferencing. We are having a lot of discussion along the way. We have been noting the author techniques of  personification, metaphors, and similes as there so SO many of them! We began a story map and worked on vocabulary. (MEAP was two days of our reading)

HOMEWORK: Reading at home: I am hoping students have been reading at home frequently. Monday, October 1st we began our first monthly reading assignment. Students chose a novel and will read this over the month of October. We discussed the assignment again Thursday to remind and review.   


Writing:
 Students have completed their plans and are drafting their river tour pieces. Students will be able to choose how they wish to share their final drafts- write it, put it on a google doc, Power Point, digital flipbook, or some other digital format. Anything digital will be uploaded to their personal websites.

Spelling:  This week's spelling test will be given on Monday!
  Spelling tests are every Friday. Monday begins the new lesson. The skill for Lesson  is there, they're and their. The spelling list will be sent home Monday.  If you go on my fusion page, there are directions to get to Spelling City where students can play games and take practice tests over the spelling lists for each week.


Science:
We reviewed the moon phases eclipse, and tides information we have been learning about. We will have a quiz on Wednesday and will be reviewing each day in class.
Students will be beginning research projects on the solar system, working in pairs or threes to research it and present their information in a poster or digital format.