This Week...

November 27- November 30, 2018

Reading:  Students determined the “big idea” of an article about chimpanzees.  They figured out that the first sentence of a paragraph will usually help them find the topic.  Nonfiction text features, like captions and photographs, can also help readers figure out the big idea.  Students also focused on the chronological text structure while reading an article about John F. Kennedy.    Reading Logs are due Monday, December 3rd.  (200 minutes)

Math:  We focused on division story problems and how to draw pictures of equal groups.  Students worked on missing factor equations and reviewed for their unit 6 test, which will be on Monday, December 3rd.  Please remind your child to practice his/her basic multiplication facts.

Social Studies:  We discussed how kids grew up in the Midwest during the late 1800s.  Students learned that families lived in soddy houses and shared many different chores on the farm.  We also had our introduction to the Midwest states and capitals.  Students will need to be able to match the state with its correct capital.  They also are learning a states and capitals song in music class with Mr. Deptula!

Writing:  After reading about the pioneers in social studies, students wrote letters written from the perspective of a child living in the Midwest during the 1800s.  In grammar, students focused on turning singular nouns into plural nouns.  They made sure to add –es to words with special endings (ch, sh, s, and x).

Word Study:  Students learned that certain words can be grouped together based on their meaning.  They brainstormed groups of words that had similar meanings.  Next, students created word maps based on a general topic.  For example, they determined which words fit with the word: ocean.  Then, they mapped out the words into subcategories.

Miscellaneous:  I hope you had a relaxing Thanksgiving break and enjoyed the snow day!  This week, students participated in two different Zones of Regulation lessons.  They learned how to identify the size of a problem and how it relates to the zones.  They also used the “Stop, Opt, and Go” strategy to find ways to fix a problem.  We had a great discussion about how useful these strategies can be when we encounter a problem.  If you have extra cardboard around your house, you can still send it to school on Monday…thank you for all the donations so far.  Students are very excited to start the Cardboard Challenge process next week!  Have a fabulous weekend and please let me know if you have any questions.