This Week...

January 17- January 20, 2017

Reading:  Determining the moral of a story was a main focus this week.  We learned that a moral is a lesson that the author is trying to portray through the story’s main elements.  We read various fables and figured out how the elements help form the moral.  Students did an excellent job making inferences to determine the moral of the story.  In the fable, The Camel Dances, students came up with some of the following themes: follow your heart, don’t give up on your dreams, and believe in yourself.  At the end of the week, students learned the importance of different text connections.  Some of these connections include text-to-self, text-to-self, and text-to-world.  When readers make connections, they can gain a deeper understanding of the text.  Students also learned the difference between the author’s tone and the reader’s mood.    Reading Logs are due Tuesday, January 24.  (100 minutes)

Math:  We began unit 6!  A family letter went home this week outlining the major concepts.  Rays, lines, and line segments were a main focus.  Students practiced labeling them, as well as finding examples in the real world.  Intersecting lines and parallel line segments were also discovered.  Students practiced drawing and manipulating various angles with straws!  They learned that a square corner is also called a right angle.

Social Studies:  Students created Lincoln collages based on significant events in his life.  We had a great discussion about the impact Lincoln had on our country and our state.  Students also learned how Illinois became a state.  We discussed how Native Americans and Europeans played a role in the history of Illinois.

Writing:  We discussed the importance of sequencing details in our writing.  If we do not put key events in order, the reader can become confused.  Students utilized a verb continuum, which started with slow moving verbs and ended with quick moving verbs.  Students incorporated these verbs when writing about Maria Isabel.  In grammar, students combined sentences.

Spelling:  Today, we had our week 17 test.  Next week will be a review week for spelling.

Miscellaneous:  Mrs. Wasik, our advanced learning facilitator, came to our classroom to teach us about “Growth Mindset”!  Students learned how to identify road blocks in their learning and the importance of growing from our mistakes.  Just a reminder, there is no school on Monday.  Please let me know if you have any questions.  Have a great weekend!