This Week...

December 2- December 6, 2013

Reading:  We began Unit 3 in our Treasure’s book!  The weekly theme focused on foods around the world.  Students practiced making inferences with a variety of texts, including Family Feast and Stone Soup.  We learned how important it is to use text clues and our own background knowledge when creating an inference.  Synonyms were another important topic.  Students learned there are often synonyms within context clues, which can help when figuring out unknown words. Reading Logs are due Monday, December 9.  (100 minutes)

Math:  We began unit 5 this week!  Students reviewed place value up to the hundred millions.  They also practiced writing large numbers from dictation, as well as saying numbers aloud.  We also learned a new game, “Number Top-It”, which helped us compare large numbers in a fun way!  Towards the end of the week, students discussed the U.S. census and applied their knowledge of large numbers to interpret city populations.  Pictographs were another focus.  Xtra Math practice is due Monday, December 9. (3 sessions)

Social Studies:  Students began their state research projects!  Students applied various research skills with books and online resources to find out key information about their Midwest state.  A note also went home today describing our upcoming state float project.  Students will be creating a miniature float showcasing the information they learned about their state.  These floats will be created in class in a couple of weeks.  Our Midwest unit test will be next Friday, December 13.  A review guide and flashcards were will be going home at the beginning of next week.  The unit test will also cover the Midwest states and capitals.  Please let me know if you need extra practice sheets and/or blank maps.

Writing:  In writing, we began unit 2 in our WEX writing program!  Unit 2 focuses on a response to literature.  We started the book My Name is Maria Isabel and students identified showing details that helped develop the main character.  Close reading is a skill that we will be using to carefully analyze the text.  In grammar, students worked on identifying action verbs in various sentences.

Cursive/Spelling:  Today, we had our week 13 test.

Miscellaneous:  I had a wonderful time meeting with each of you at conferences!  Thank you again for the commitment to your child’s learning experience!  I also hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving break.  This week, students showed great character by donating coins for the tornado victims in Illinois…thank you for your generosity!  I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  Please let me know if you have any questions.