This Week...

April 10-April 13, 2017

Reading:  Students were excited to start our next unit: poetry!  We learned that poetry can come in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Students analyzed various poems and noticed different types of elements.  Some of these included the shape, font, amount of stanzas, colors, and print size.  Reading Logs are due Monday, April 17.  (100 minutes)

Math:  Students dove right into unit 9!  They solved various story problems that required multiplication and division fact extensions.  Students learned how to use the partial products algorithm to solve double-digit multiplication problems.  Please remind your child to be practicing his or her basic multiplication facts, as these are vital in carrying out this new method.  **If applicable: for students still on addition and subtraction, fact tests and graphs are due Monday, April 17.

Science:  Students reviewed key concepts from our force and motion unit.  They took their unit test on Wednesday.  We also began our next social studies unit:  Chicago!  Students used the “Number and Stats” signpost reading strategy to analyze numbers in the chapter about The Great Chicago Fire.  When reading a nonfiction text that contains numbers or amounts, students learned to pause and ask themselves “Why did the author include this number?”  By doing this, they can understand the text on a deeper level while making meaningful inferences.

Writing:  In WEX, students identified nouns and verbs within their writing.  They also brainstormed typical morning activities for their characters.  They worked on incorporating strong verbs and dialogue to show how their characters reacted during these activities.  April writing words were also introduced.  The April writing words test will be at the end of the month.   In grammar, students focused on possessive pronouns.

Spelling:  We had our week 27 spelling test.

Miscellaneous:  On Monday, students participated in the spring bus evacuation session.  They learned important safety rules to follow while riding the bus.  On Tuesday, students were very excited to meet children’s author, Peter Brown!  We recently finished reading his novel, The Wild Robot, and students were thrilled to hear about his journey as an author!  April book orders went home this week and are due on April 28.  Just a reminder, there will be no school tomorrow.  Please let me know if you have any questions…have a wonderful weekend!