Week of January 22nd

CONFERENCES ARE FEB. 5TH AND FEB 7TH.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:    

Math: Homework Lesson 4-7 due Monday

Reading: Read an average of 20 minutes each day.

MATH: 

  This week we moved into learning how the digits shift places to the right to get a smaller number when multiplying decimals. We related decimals to fractions and used 100'd grids to draw what decimals numbers look like, and related it to money. We are trying to remember to think about what makes sense- will our answer be larger or smaller than a factor and does the answer we get makes sense before moving on to the next question.

 If you go to the math tab there are many videos and online practice things to do. It can be very helpful!!

WRITING:  

  Students are choosing a topic to research, writing notes on a planning page, and will then draft a magazine-style article on google docs with related photos and links.

READING:

   We began our new genre unit, Sign of the Beaver. We have been reading as a class so far and working on comprehension and vocabulary strategies.

SCIENCE:

We have been investigating what makes day and night by observing shadows, viewing some video clips of the movement of the sun and Earth, and made a sky viewer model the movement. We now the sun does NOT move and that the rotation of Earth and it's turning away from the sun is what causes night and day. We are moving into investigating why we have seasons. 

 

Week of January 15-19

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/  
 

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Some students need to finish 4-5. Everyone has lesson 4-4 - all.

Reading: Read an average of 20 minutes each day.

MATH: 

  We began our Multiplying Whole Numbers & Decimals unit. Students have already had a lot of practice multiplying using various methods and we will add in using the decimals this week. We are reviewing past decimal concepts as well. Last week students took an interim assessment to check up on which concepts from units 1-3 they are retaining and which are necessary for them to work on. They will be receiving individualized assignments in order to practice as well as class review. 

 If you go to the math tab there are many videos and online practice things to do. It can be very helpful!!

WRITING:  

We didn't have time for writing this week because of swimming lessons. Coming up, students will choose a topic of interest and do some research and note-taking and use their information to write a magazine article using an online magazine template where they can add pictures and links to support their topic.

READING:

   We are going to begin our second genre unit. The book is Sign of the Beaver and the theme is facing a challenge. Friday we read "Teammates" about Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese. We discussed challenges they had and began doing a quickwrite about facing a challenge of our own.

SCIENCE:

Students have been doing a little research about a planet, creating a slideshow, and then presented them to the class last week. We will begin investigating constellations and more of our solar system next week.

 SPELLING/GRAMMAR:  This week we had a lesson about commas and did some practice. we will continue to work on comma rules next week and incorporate them into our writing.

JANUARY 8 - 12

SWIMMING BEGINS MONDAY, JANUARY 15TH!

CONFERENCES ARE FEB. 5TH AND FEB 7TH.

 

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Remembering 4-3 due Monday

Reading: Read an average of 20 minutes each day.

MATH: 

   Students took the multiplying & dividing fractions test on Wednesday. This is a more difficult unit and we typically see more 1's and 2's. We continue to review all year and students will be able to retest the standards that they received a 1 or 2 on when they are ready. 
  Next week we will begin our Multiplying Whole Numbers & Decimals. Students have already had a lot of practice multiplying except with decimals. 

 If you go to the math tab there are many videos and online practice things to do. It can be very helpful!!

WRITING:  

This past week students wrote a letter to two different audiences on the same topic, using a different tone and word choices. With swimming next week we will not begin a new writing project yet.

READING:

   We have been working on nonfiction standards such as main idea/detail, cause & effect, text structure, quoting text information, and writing complete answers to text questions in a specific, not vague, way.
We read about Mount St. Helens, the mystery of the Mary Celeste ghost ship, and treasure recently salvaged from a pirate ship off the east coast.

SCIENCE:

We have been investigating gravity which isn't completely new to students. We watched Felix Baumgartners 24 mile high free fall from space as part of this discussion. Students are also working on a basic slideshow about a planet. Monday will be the test over gravity. It is one question and they will write a letter explaining their thinking.

 SPELLING: This week we discussed the sounds that ou and ow make and their spelling patterns. The test was Friday and will come home on Monday.

WEEK OF DECEMBER 11th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Remembering 3-10 due Monday

Reading: Read an average of 20 minutes each day.

MATH: 

Weare reviewing multiplying fractions and now have added in dividing fractions. This is when it can become particularly confusing for them, so it's important to be able to understand examples of situations where we would use multiplication and division and be able to model it.We won't take the test until after we come back from Christmas break and review.

 If you go to the math tab there are many videos and online practice things to do. It can be very helpful!!

WRITING:  

  Friday we began reading our snowman stories to the class. I was telling them that it is so fun to see the growth they have made with sentence fluency, using better word choices, adding in conversation, and just being able to read someone's writing and hear their voice in my head which is wonderful!

READING:

Next week we will read a Christmas picture book and discuss theme, character, mood, etc. 

SCIENCE:
I will grade tests this weekend and return them to students on Monday

 SPELLING: Students will bring their spelling test home on Monday. We will review grammar concepts next week, but no new lesson.

Week of December 4th

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Remembering 3-7 due Monday

Reading: Read an average of 20 minutes each day.

MATH: 

We have added in multiplying fractions by a fraction as well as multiplying fractions as scaling- how to tell if the product of a fraction products will be >, <, or = to one of the factors. We continue to review all concepts along the way. Next week we will begin dividing a fraction by a whole number.

WRITING:  

 We continue to work on a narrative writing project about a snowman. Students are writing from the snowman's perspective. We are focusing on sentence fluency- using short and long sentences and beginning our sentences with a variety of sentence types.

READING:

We are reading an article, "Race Against Death" a true account of the dogsled teams in Alaska who covered 700 miles in 5 days to bring  antitoxin to the town of Nome, Alaska to save the lives of children with diptheria. We watched a short video that mixed in the animated movie with a verbal accounting of the event. We are working on finding text evidence, vocabulary in context, and summarizing information, and text structure.

SCIENCE:
  We have done some investigations with magnetic forces as non-contact forces as well as electricity as a non-contact force. The test will be next Wednesday. Students have study stacks on Google classroom science.

 SPELLING: The Lesson 11 test over  apostrophes for contractions and possession was Friday. Our next lesson covers homophones.

Middle School Website: This is the link for the middle school website.    

http://www.hamiltonschools.us/schools/hamilton-middle/   

HOMEWORK:     

Math: Remembering 3-8 due Monday

Reading:There is a text passage and questions due Wednesday.

MATH: 

We are continuing to work on multiplying whole numbers by a fraction and fractions by a fraction. We are working on problem solving with these concepts as well as creating visual representations of work.

WRITING:  

 We began a narrative writing project about a snowman. Students are writing from the snowman's perspective. We are focusing on sentence fluency- using short and long sentences and beginning our sentences with a variety of sentence types.

READING:

We will complete Literature Circles this week. We will move onto nonfiction articles through Christmas.

SCIENCE:
Students created paper airplanes, tested them, and then redesigned and retested after the lesson on forces of flight. We had a competition on Friday! Magnetic forces are next.

 SPELLING: Lesson 11 is about using apostrophes for contractions and possession. We will continue to learn more about this into next week and test on Thursday.