Week of January 23

Week of January 23

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      HOMEWORK:                                                                                                                                                      

Book Report Project: This is due January 31st. Students have several options on how to present their projects which focus on character study.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------   
MATH:    
 There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab
 We have been reviewing all concepts for multiplication. The test will be Wednesday.
  
 LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing:  Students are writing a persuasive speech running for Fruit/Veggie of the Year! Each student chose a fruit or vegetable. They are researching nutritional facts and reasons their fruit/veggie should be voted for. We will also be discussing campaign slogans ans they will be creating slogans and posters. Students will present speeches later and are encouraged to bring in the fruit or vegetable to show the class - students are NOT expected to provide a sample to the class.
 
READING: 
We continue in our genre unit working in groups and as a class reading The Sign of the Beaver. Students are working on comprehension strategies for finding text information, vocabulary, point of view, and how to cite text evidence using a quote. Monday we will take a break from this book to read and then compare and contrast 2 articles about invasive species.

SCIENCE: 
We have been investigating the moon and its phases. We will continue this week and also investigate the solar and lunar eclipses.
    
Studies:- Mrs. Custer

Social Studies - This week we learned about a fictitious slave family in the story Now Let Me Fly.  We compared and contrasted this story with Molly Bannaky, the true story of an indentured servant who marries her own slave and becomes the grandmother of Benjamin Banneker.  We also started partner work reading Enemies of Slavery to learn about some incredible people in American history who fought against slavery.

Word Study 
 Students took the skill part of lesson 15. Next week's skill lesson is making plural words. The lesson 17 word list is on the blog which can be helpful for the proofreading section.

Week of January 16

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      HOMEWORK:                                                                                                                                                      
MATH: Homework Lesson 4-11 All
                                                            
Book Report Project: This is due January 31st. Students have several options on how to present their projects which focus on character study.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------  MATH:    
 There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab
 This week we continued to review previous material. We began multiplying decimals times decimals. The test will likely be Tuesday January 31st. Working on accuracy when multiplying (45.3 x 23 for example) and multiplication patterns with decimals ( .01 x 45 for example) seem to be what students need to focus on the most. We are really working on not just memorizing the algorithm but the reasoning behind it which helps us retain what we learn.  We continue to review fraction operations and other past concepts.
  
  LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing:  Students are writing a persuasive speech running for Fruit/Veggie of the Year! Each student chose a fruit or vegetable. They are researching nutritional facts and reasons their fruit/veggie should be voted for. We will also be discussing campaign slogans ans they will be creating slogans and posters. Students will present speeches later and are encouraged to bring in the fruit or vegetable to show the class - students are NOT expected to provide a sample to the class.
 
READING: This week we took the SRI and Dibels tests. I'll share results at conferences. We continue in our genre unit working in groups and as a class reading The Sign of the Beaver.

SCIENCE: 
Friday was the test over lessons 1-4. We will begin our study of the moon and its effects on on planet Earth.
    
Studies:- Mrs. Custer

This week we continued reading from chapter 9 in our textbook and discussed more details of the Triangular Trade Route, and the slave trade in particular.  We also read the story of Molly Bannaky, who became the grandmother of Benjamin Banneker.

A reminder of the website we have used for the Triangular Trade Route:  http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/index.html#top

Word Study 
I accidentally jumped ahead to Lesson 16 so we studied blends this week and took that test on Friday. So  next week we will go back to lesson 15 will focus on spelling diagraphs at the beginning and endings of words. (wh, th, sh, ch)

Week of January 9th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/      HOMEWORK:                                                                                                                                                      
MATH: Remembering Lesson 4-7
                                                              
Book Report Project: This is due January 31st. Students have several options on how to present their projects which focus on character study.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------  MATH:    
 There are math tutorials and practice in the order of lessons in the MATH Tab
 This week we reviewed multiplying whole numbers by powers of 10
Example: 4 x 10x 10 x 10 = 4,000 = the 4th power of 10 (which is an exponent that I'm unable to type in this document.)  We also reviewed multiplying whole numbers. New this week was multiplying whole numbers times a decimal. We watched a video that was a visual reminder that decimals are LESS than one and what multiplying decimals times whole numbers looks like. We will multiply decimals times decimals next week.
  We continue to review fraction operations and other past concepts.
  
  LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing:  We are working on writing with an appropriate tone for the situation.  This week's letters will be graded for tone. Students are writing 2 letters - one letter is to Grandma thanking her for the pencils they got for Christmas and the other is to a friend about receiving only pencils so the tone would be different between the 2 letters.
 
READING: This week we began our new genre unit reading Sign of the Beaver. We will be working as a class and also in book clubs that I will sit in on. Monday Mrs. Dobb will be giving a lesson about Martin Luther King.

  SCIENCE   We continue our unit "Objects in the Sky" investigating what causes the seasons: the tilt of Earth on its axis and the amount of direct sunlight an area of Earth has at a particular time. We watched video clips and used models to demonstrate and discuss the reasons.
These video do a good job explaining:
 Bill Nye explains seasons
  Reason for Seasons
 
Studies:- Mrs. Custer

This week we reviewed the test on Africa and then began our study of slavery, including the Triangular Trade Route.  This website is a great way to review much of what we talked about this week: http://www.eduplace.com/kids/socsci/books/applications/imaps/maps/g5s_u3/index.html#top

Word Study 
 Students will take the Lesson 14 test about the spelling patterns for 'ou' and 'ow'. They have a spelling page to study. They know they will have to sort 15 words into categories just like on that page of work we have worked on.


Next week lesson 15 will focus on spelling diagraphs at the beginning and endings of words. (wh, th, sh, ch)

January 4th -6th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.   
http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/    
 
HOMEWORK:                                                                                                                                                      MATH: There is one math review page due Monday.
Book Report Project: This is due January 31st. Students have several options on how to present their projects which focus on character study.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  MATH:    We began our unit over multiplying whole numbers and decimals this week. We are also doing regular review of past material as well as short morning work that includes previews to upcoming units. 
  LANGUAGE ARTS 
Writing:  We are working on writing with an appropriate tone for the situation. Students are writing 2 letters about being late for school. One letter is to the principal and one is to a friend so the tone would be different between the 2 letters.
 
READING: This week we discussed empathy. We read an article about this and discussed it. We also focused on what respect looks and sounds like and how this is an important value for kids and adults alike. Students also began work on their slide show for conferences. Your student will present the slideshow to you at conferences and include goals, things they enjoy about school, and things they are proud of.
  SCIENCE   We began our unit "Objects in the Sky". Our first lessons focus on what causes the seasons: the tilt of Earth on its axis and the amount of direct sunlight an area of Earth has at a particular time. We will compare Alaska, Michigan, and Florida by looking at a data chart and graphing this information. 

Studies:- Mrs. Custer

Friday students had a test over the last unit. After finishing our unit on early African Empires this week, we will be learning about the Triangular Trade Route and slavery beginning next week.

Word Study  Another short week, so word study begins Monday again.