This Week...

February 23- February 27, 2015

Reading:  Students read our main story My Very Own Room.  While reading, they applied the “making predictions” strategy.  Using a graphic organizer, students not only made predictions, but confirmed them as they actively read the story.  Also within the context of the story, students determined the meaning of important vocabulary words.  Students also did a great job pre-searching three “I Wonder” questions of their choice!  They used their information literacy skills to navigate through various articles and websites.  Students practiced skimming and scanning to find key information. Reading Logs are due Monday, March 2.  (100 minutes)

Math:  Students practiced reading line graphs and thermometers.  Measurement was also a key focus.  Students enjoyed using the iPads to practice a variety of topics including symmetry and coordinates.  Next week, we will begin unit 7, which focuses on multiplication and division.  Since PARCC testing starts next week, we will be doing the homelinks in class so that students do not have written math homework.  Xtra Math practice is due Monday, March 2. (3 sessions)

Social Studies:  Students had the opportunity to study the climate of certain cities across the state: Springfield, Rockford, and Cairo.  After graphing the average monthly temperatures for each city, students discovered that the colder cities are in the northern part of the state, while the warmer cities are in southern Illinois.  At the end of the week, students read about the Illini Native Americans.  The created webs that focused on their homes, jobs, resources, and traditions.

Writing:  In writing, students developed leads for their response to literature essays.  Students began their leads with a question or exciting detail to grab the reader’s attention.   They also began revising sections of their rough drafts to include showing details and text support.  On Thursday, they took their February writing words test.  In grammar, we worked on forming contractions.

Spelling/Cursive:  Today, we had our week 23 test.  Next week will be a review week, so there will not be written homework.  Students continued to work in their cursive packets.

Miscellaneous:  PARCC testing begins on Tuesday!  Please refrain from scheduling appointments during the testing window, as it is important that your child is present for testing.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and as always, please let me know if you have any questions!