This Week...

January 7- January 11, 2019

Reading:  We enjoyed reading Zen Shorts this week!  Students made inferences by using their background knowledge and evidence from the text to figure out each story’s theme.  Students also read a nonfiction article about Martin Luther King Jr.  They highlighted key information to help them find answers to specific questions.  Students also focused on how to read a timeline to gather important facts. Reading Logs are due Monday, January 14th.  (100 minutes)

Math:  We began unit 8!  Students learned how to divide by making equal groups.  They also learned how to use their multiplication facts to help them solve various division problems.  Students figured out quotients and remainders by drawing pictures.  At the end of the week, students learned that when odd numbers are divided by 2, the remainder will always be 1.  We also dove right into long division!  Students used their knowledge of basic facts to help them solve more complex problems.   The unit 8 test will be Thursday, January 17.

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.  They also had the opportunity to study the climate of certain cities across the state: Springfield, Rockford, and Cairo.  After graphing the average monthly temperatures for each city, students discovered that the colder cities are in the northern part of the state, while the warmer cities are in southern Illinois.  Students also learned about the Illiniwek and the important influence they had our state.

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.  We also began unit 2 in our WEX writing program!  Unit 2 focuses on a response to literature.  We started the book My Name is Maria Isabel and students identified showing details that helped develop the main character.  In grammar, students combined similar sentences.

Word Study:  This week, students worked on identifying words that contained silent letters.  They also learned that consonants can produce different sounds in different words.

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 January 31.  Also, field trip forms went home on Thursday.  These are due on January 22.  Please let me know if you have any questions…have a wonderful weekend!