This Week...

January 3- January 6, 2017

Reading:  At the beginning of the week, we read various fables.  We analyzed the characters’ actions to determine appropriate character traits.  We also talked about how authors use sensory details to evoke a certain mood from the reader.  We practiced identifying positive and negative moods conveyed by the author.  Another major focus was developing theories for mystery stories.  We talked about the importance of citing text evidence and our background knowledge to support our theories.  Students were very engaged and interested in our main mystery about the Mary Celeste, a mysterious ship from the 1800s whose crew went missing.  Reading Logs are due Monday, January 9.  (300 minutes)

Math:  We explored decimals and fractions using base-10 blocks.  By using a flat, students learned how to shade in a certain number of blocks to represent a decimal.  During this investigation, we discussed 3 new place values: tenths, hundredths, and thousandths.  Our unit 5 test will be on Friday, January 13.  A review guide will be going home at the beginning of next week.

Social Studies:  Students were very excited to start our next social studies unit: Illinois!  We started off discussing the land of Illinois, including bordering rivers and states.  State symbols were also discussed.

Writing:  Students worked on a New Year’s Resolution writing project!  They developed various resolutions based on four aspects of their lives: home, school, personal, and character.  Students received their January writing words list.  In WEX, students worked on using sensory details to describe moments from My Name is Maria Isabel.  In grammar, students identified the past tense of various verbs and applied commas to sentences that included a series of things.

Spelling:  Today, we had our week 15 test.

Miscellaneous:  Happy New Year and welcome back!  I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing break with family and friends.  Just a reminder, January book orders went home this week…they are due February 3.  Students were also introduced to our new states and capitals region: the Northeast!  The Northeast test will be at the beginning of February.  Please let me know if you have any questions…have a great weekend!