DECEMBER 3RD - DECEMBER 7TH
We ended the week with some Christmas music, candy canes, and an art project. Then we had an impromptu competition with Mrs. Maxson's class to see who could sing Jingle Bells the loudest!
Eloquence Day: Notes went home on Wednesday for Eloquence Day volunteers. Be sure to get that in if you want to help out with this event. This will be on Friday, December 21st from 11-1. Our location is always a SECRET! Students are expected to dress up- girls skirts or dresses if possible. Boys wear khakis/slacks and a nice shirt. We prefer no jeans, but I would NOT expect anyone to purchase something new for this. Wear the nicest ones you have if you don't own dress pants. This should be fun, not stressful!
Reading at home: There
will be no project for December, but I expect students to read. They
will be able to give me a short summary, written or verbal, and receive a
certificate to Pizza Hut.
HOMEWORK: There are 8 division problems for review.
Math:
We will take our first division test on Tuesday. We have been doing quite a bit of review. Our next unit is division as well, dividing by 2 digit divisors among other concepts.PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD PRACTICE MATH FACTS! Flashcards, computer program, just practice. This is a year where more steps are required for many concepts and knowing the facts is going to save your child some frustration and time.
RTI: As you know, this time is spent reteaching concepts that students should enter 5th grade with. We have begun focusing our attention on fractions; comparing fractions, converting improper fractions to mixed numbers, adding and subtracting fraction and mixed numbers with like denominators. I will expect them to not only be able to work the algorithm, but be able to draw and explain it as well.
Reading: Sign of the Beaver is our new genre unit and the class is thoroughly enjoying this book. It ties in well with our social studies unit. The class chose to read it as a class- they like to stop and discuss along the way and ask questions! Students are also doing some written comprehension work.
We keep reading about cornmeal, corn cakes, corn mush, corn pudding- so I brought in cornbread and molasses so the kids could try it. Corn bread- most liked it. Plain molasses- not so much!
Log Cabins: They are OPTIONAL: These are due December 18th. I sent home the information and we have all discussed it. FYI: I talked with the kids about the fact that this is OPTIONAL. We talked about being respectful of your time- students should be planning now, making a list of materials, going over this with you and beginning soon. We talked about how this should not be a last minute thing that gets thrown at you. It is Ok to work on this project with your child.
Writing:
Monday students will begin presenting their campaign speeches for their fruit or vegetable. They are making campaign posters as well. I will video these and put them on my fusion page- kids should place them on their websites. (Have you checked out their websites from infotech??)
I am now requiring the kids to perform a lot more revising and editing on their own. Complete sentences, main idea with details that support only that idea in the paragraph, paragraphing, punctuation... some of the things we talk about frequently.
Spelling:
I will send lesson 12 and 13 spelling lists home on Monday
Science:
This week students have been working in groups to make a marble take the longest amount of time to go from one end of the table to the other. They are designing and testing various set-ups. Each group read their driving question and then taped their trials. In infotech, they began making these into an iMovie to place on their sites. Monday we will wrap up by discussing more about the forces involved, what went well, and what didn't.
This week students have been working in groups to make a marble take the longest amount of time to go from one end of the table to the other. They are designing and testing various set-ups. Each group read their driving question and then taped their trials. In infotech, they began making these into an iMovie to place on their sites. Monday we will wrap up by discussing more about the forces involved, what went well, and what didn't.
This is a long unit with A LOT of vocabulary. Science vocabulary can be more difficult for kids because these are not words they regularly use or encounter. Students can study the vocabulary online in Study Stacks. I have shown them this and how to use it. It is on their science Edmodo account. I will continue to add more vocabulary as it comes up.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
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