Week of Nov. 12 - 16th

Please visit the fusion page to view the iMovie trailers the groups made for Pumpkin Day! They are so fun! I can't put them on the blog because they won't work as a URL- and if it does, I haven't figured it out yet! You can use the directions I sent you to get to the fusion page or click on the link in the email reminder I sent.
    Once you get to the page, scroll down to the "videos and podcasts". Click on what you want to watch- there are 5 of them, you just need to click "more" to see them. Once you view one, you'll most likely have to click on "fusion page" and "homeroom" to get back to the others.
ALSO ON THE FUSION PAGE are the digital books some students did. They will be under "Student work" - click on it and you will see the names.

November Book Projects: Students should be reading their November books. Everyone has chosen their project and have rubrics. They know that they should bring their books home over Thanksgiving and get any materials needed from me. This is due December 3rd.

HOMEWORK:  Students have a math review page due Monday and should read the article and respond to comprehension questions sent home.

 Math:   

   We took the Algebra test on Thursday. We will continue to review theses concepts weekly with decimal review pages. We began our multiplying whole numbers unit. We have been giving multiplying and dividing a lot of attention during RTI. Students are working on the working the problems using the regular algorithm. Teachers at all grade levels can't impress upon kids and parents enough how important it is that students know their facts. We will be using them constantly with the math they are doing. It also allows students to perform better on timed tests such as the Delta.
 

Reading: The students are really enjoying the book, "A Long Way from Chicago" a novel set in the 1930's. Students are working in small groups reading and practicing comprehension skills and fluency. I meet with 2 of the 4 groups each day to read and work on comprehension skills and reading strategies. Some topics we are focusing on are author's purpose, genre, word study/vocab. inferencing,event mapping, & comprehension strategies such as rereading, asking questions, being aware when we are confused, retelling and summarizing.

Writing: 

Students presented their "Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups" project based on a book of that title.  We have 3 more to go on Monday. They had fun working on this together. We also read an article about junk food commercials. Students needed to choose whether or not they thought these commercials should be banned, use examples from the text to support their choice and write a persuasive paper.

Spelling: 

There will be no spelling test next week due to the short week. Friday's test will be sent home on Monday.

Science: We have been reviewing all week for the test which is Monday, November 19th.   The students have a study guide to study for this test.