This Week...

April 27- May 1, 2015

Reading:  Students read the story A Castle on Viola Street, which they used to explore the concept of “theme”.  As a class, we located clues from the text to help support the theme of the story.  We learned the theme of the story is usually the author’s message.  Some themes that we derived from the story included “If you help someone, you will be helped in return” and “Hard work pays off”.  Reading Logs are due Monday, May 4.  (100 minutes)

Math:  Students learned how to divide money between people.  They learned that if the amount does not divide equally, they need to exchange dollars for cents.   Students also identified factors for various numbers and played factor bingo.  Throughout the week, they practiced using the partial-products algorithm to solve double-digit multiplication problems. Xtra Math practice is due Monday, May 4. (3 sessions)  **If students are on double-digit multiplication fact tests, they are not required to do the Xtra math sessions.

Science:  Students did a wonderful job recording their planet projects!  They worked cooperatively to create interesting films that taught others about their planet.  These films will be up on our blog next week!  We also started our Chicago unit!  Students learned what the symbols on the Chicago flag stand for and why it’s an important part of our city’s history.

Writing:  In WEX, students completed various revision assignments to improve their writing.  They turned telling sentences into showing sentences.  We also discussed the importance of dialogue in stories.  We brainstormed a list of juicy dialogue words like “mumbled” and “hollered”.  Students then went back into their stories and added dialogue to enhance the story’s plot.  In grammar, we focused on adjectives, articles, and abbreviations.

Spelling/Cursive:  Today, we took our week 31 spelling test.  Students wrote the letters “D” and “P” in their cursive packets.

Miscellaneous:   Just another reminder that the district emailed you a letter (on April 29th) that contained your child’s individual passcode to register for next school year.  Every student needs to “re-register” every year.  The online registration window is May 1-June 1.  Today, students had a wonderful field trip experience to the Chicago Symphony!  Thank you to Colin’s mom and Kate’s dad for chaperoning!  Have a great weekend and enjoy the warm weather!