This Week...

December 1- December 5, 2014

Reading:  Students practiced making inferences with a variety of texts, including 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 8.  (200 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.

Social Studies:  Transportation in the Midwest was a main focus this week.  We learned how flatboats, steamboats, bulk freighters, and trains helped people travel and transport goods.  We discussed how kids grew up in the Midwest during the late 1800s.  Students wrote pioneer letters written from the perspective of a child living at that time.  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.

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.  In grammar, students worked on identifying action verbs in various sentences.

Spelling/Cursive:  Today, we had our week 13 test.  In cursive, we wrote “k” and “f”.

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 started exploring various wonders using the website Wonderopolis!  They created a hypothesis, took notes, and developed more wonders about the topic.  We will continue to work on developing wonders, or questions, about our world.  December book orders are due December 11.  I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  Please let me know if you have any questions.