Dear Families, I hope you all had a wonderful vacation! It sounds like the students had a fun and restful week.
This week in reading we launched our second round of nonfiction book clubs. Students continued with the same topic they were reading about (weather, land animals, space, and ocean life) and were given a new book to read. Round 1 was all about finding the main idea and its supporting details, now we will take a look at the overall structure of the nonfiction book. Is it cause/effect? compare/contrast? or sequence? etc. By identifying the overall text structure students will have a better understanding of any nonfiction book.
In writing, we will continue to work on our informational books but will also be discussing expository essay writing and how students respond to text. We will take a look at previous MCAS questions and practice how to write a strong essay! ELA MCAS will be March 30th and April 1st.
In science, we introduced the egg drop competition with students. Guidelines and directions were sent home yesterday. There is a slip that requires a parent signature which acknowledges you have read and agreed on your child's partnership or their decision to work alone. This is due TOMORROW 2/28. Students were also introduced to the journal they will be using to track their progress along the way. The journal is a large part of their grade so please make sure your child is putting effort into their journals and they are handing it in on time (there are 4 due dates). Our field trip to Fenway will be April 8th! There will be more information to follow. Please reach out if you have any questions!
Have a great weekend!!
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Monday, February 3, 2020
Week of January 20th and January 27th
Dear Families,
Happy February! We will be celebrating our 100th day of school this Thursday! Can you believe it? The past couple of weeks have brought us a lot of new concepts! We started our nonfiction book clubs, our writing informational unit, learned about the states of matter in science, and adding and subtracting mixed numbers in math!
Last week students were assigned a science project that will be due this Thursday the 6th. Students are asked to create a poster that represents the three states of matter. They were given pom poms to illustrate the molecules in a solid, liquid, and gas. I gave everyone a rubric and they should use it to make sure they have completed all requirements. We will begin learning about the water cycle this week!
In writing, we brainstormed topics we are experts in and chose one topic we wanted to write about. Students began by writing the parts of their story and organizing them into chapters! Students are really excited about this unit because they get to become the teacher and teach their readers everything they know about that one topic.
In reading, we met with our new book club groups for our nonfiction unit! Students chose their topic and their books. We are starting the unit by having everyone in the group read the same book and discuss what they read. Once students are comfortable with discussing nonfiction texts, we will move on to more of a choice. Students will choose a topic based around their group's larger topic and they are responsible for reading and researching information to teach their group!
Important reminders:
Happy February! We will be celebrating our 100th day of school this Thursday! Can you believe it? The past couple of weeks have brought us a lot of new concepts! We started our nonfiction book clubs, our writing informational unit, learned about the states of matter in science, and adding and subtracting mixed numbers in math!
Last week students were assigned a science project that will be due this Thursday the 6th. Students are asked to create a poster that represents the three states of matter. They were given pom poms to illustrate the molecules in a solid, liquid, and gas. I gave everyone a rubric and they should use it to make sure they have completed all requirements. We will begin learning about the water cycle this week!
In writing, we brainstormed topics we are experts in and chose one topic we wanted to write about. Students began by writing the parts of their story and organizing them into chapters! Students are really excited about this unit because they get to become the teacher and teach their readers everything they know about that one topic.
In reading, we met with our new book club groups for our nonfiction unit! Students chose their topic and their books. We are starting the unit by having everyone in the group read the same book and discuss what they read. Once students are comfortable with discussing nonfiction texts, we will move on to more of a choice. Students will choose a topic based around their group's larger topic and they are responsible for reading and researching information to teach their group!
Important reminders:
- Report cards will be able to be viewed this Wednesday the 5th.
- Friday the 14th is a half day for students
- February vacation is the week of the 17th
Have a great week!
U4W4 Spelling Words (Test Fri. 2/7)
Spelling Pattern: Words that end with the suffixes -ible and -able.
- sensible
- washable
- available
- agreeable
- fashionable
- valuable
- flexible
- reasonable
- favorable
- breakable
- convertible
- forgettable
- laughable
- sociable
- allowable
- divisible
- hospitable
- reversible
- responsible
- tolerable
Challenge words:
- noticeable
- conceivable
- disposable
- biodegradable
- collapsible
Monday, January 27, 2020
This week's spelling words (U4W3)
Spelling pattern: Homophones are words that sound alike but have different meanings and are spelled differently.
- cent
- sent
- scent
- threw
- through
- weather
- whether
- their
- there
- they're
- chili
- chilly
- tide
- tied
- pale
- pail
- aloud
- allowed
- course
- coarse
Challenge Words:
- counsel
- council
- bizarre
- bazaar
- patients
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Week of 1/13 and 1/20
Dear Families,
I hope you all had a great long weekend and week! Students came back from the long weekend ready to learn and ended up earning their next whole class reward of a movie! We will vote tomorrow on our next reward. Students will receive their reward when they earn 500 Dojo points!
The past two weeks have been all about ending units and beginning new ones. In reading workshop, we launched our nonfiction unit! To begin, students are reading different nonfiction articles to practice reading and finding the main idea with supporting details. This reading strategy will help students when they get into their new book clubs and will be responsible for teaching their group about their topic through readings and research. Some topics that we have already read is Hurricane Dorian, the Australian wild fires, Fortnite and how young is too young to play, and technology in the classroom. Students are enjoying reading nonfiction texts and articles and are ready to get into their book clubs!
In writing, we will be launching our informational writing unit next week and will begin by generating topics we are experts in and creating a table of contents for our "chapters." Students will then choose the topic they want to explore and will begin their first informational teaching book!
In science, we wrapped up our ecosystem unit and will be starting the water cycle next week!
I hope you all had a great long weekend and week! Students came back from the long weekend ready to learn and ended up earning their next whole class reward of a movie! We will vote tomorrow on our next reward. Students will receive their reward when they earn 500 Dojo points!
The past two weeks have been all about ending units and beginning new ones. In reading workshop, we launched our nonfiction unit! To begin, students are reading different nonfiction articles to practice reading and finding the main idea with supporting details. This reading strategy will help students when they get into their new book clubs and will be responsible for teaching their group about their topic through readings and research. Some topics that we have already read is Hurricane Dorian, the Australian wild fires, Fortnite and how young is too young to play, and technology in the classroom. Students are enjoying reading nonfiction texts and articles and are ready to get into their book clubs!
In writing, we will be launching our informational writing unit next week and will begin by generating topics we are experts in and creating a table of contents for our "chapters." Students will then choose the topic they want to explore and will begin their first informational teaching book!
In science, we wrapped up our ecosystem unit and will be starting the water cycle next week!
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
This week's spelling words (U4W2)
Spelling pattern: Prefixes over-, under-, sub-, super-, out-
- overlook
- underline
- subway
- subset
- supermarket
- outlet
- underground
- overboard
- undercurrent
- superstar
- overtime
- supersonic
- submarine
- undercover
- overcast
- outfield
- output
- supernatural
- subdivision
- subheads
Challenge words:
- overwhelm
- superimpose
- underestimate
- underprivileged
- subcommittee
Sunday, January 12, 2020
This week's spelling words (U4W1)
Words from other languages with unexpected spellings
- khaki
- hula
- banana
- ballet
- waltz
- tomato
- vanilla
- canyon
- yogurt
- banquet
- macaroni
- polka
- cobra
- koala
- barbecue
- safari
- buffet
- stampede
- karate
- kiosk
Challenge words:
- papaya
- artichoke
- sauerkraut
- succotash
- tsunami
Happy New Year!
Dear Families,
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful vacation and holiday with friends and family. Our first full week back was a busy one. We used our first two days back to familiarize ourselves with our classroom expectations and rules, as well as get back into our usual routine. We also set a new class goal to reach 590 points on Class Dojo. Students voted and agreed on a movie day. We are very close already! Individual students also started to reach their 25 point reward of a homework pass! This is to be used only with a homework assignment that I give and must be attached to the assignment when handing it in.
We continued to set goals and discussed what a New Years resolution was and how we can make one for ourselves. We first discussed growth mindset and how we can grow and stretch our brains when we try and learn something new. We brainstormed things we couldn't do YET and then turned that into a New Years goal and explained ways we will achieve our goal. These are hanging up in our classroom and will be kept up to remind us that we can achieve anything if we grow our mind and have a positive outlook!
In science we began to wrap up our soil unit. Students will have a test on ecosystems and soil NEXT Wednesday the 22nd. Everyone will receive a study guide on Tuesday and we will begin filling it out and studying in class. I encourage students to study a little each night!
In writing, we took a look at last year's MCAS writing question and worked through it together. Students are asked to read a fictional story and then finish writing the ending. Students are loving this assignment and are really being creative! We will be wrapping up our narrative unit this week and will be launching our informational writing unit! This writing unit will go great with our new unit in reading, nonfiction book clubs! Students will be working in groups to read and discuss nonfiction texts based around different topics.
Please make note that there will be NO school this Friday the 17th and no school Monday the 20th for MLK day. Have a great week!
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful vacation and holiday with friends and family. Our first full week back was a busy one. We used our first two days back to familiarize ourselves with our classroom expectations and rules, as well as get back into our usual routine. We also set a new class goal to reach 590 points on Class Dojo. Students voted and agreed on a movie day. We are very close already! Individual students also started to reach their 25 point reward of a homework pass! This is to be used only with a homework assignment that I give and must be attached to the assignment when handing it in.
We continued to set goals and discussed what a New Years resolution was and how we can make one for ourselves. We first discussed growth mindset and how we can grow and stretch our brains when we try and learn something new. We brainstormed things we couldn't do YET and then turned that into a New Years goal and explained ways we will achieve our goal. These are hanging up in our classroom and will be kept up to remind us that we can achieve anything if we grow our mind and have a positive outlook!
In science we began to wrap up our soil unit. Students will have a test on ecosystems and soil NEXT Wednesday the 22nd. Everyone will receive a study guide on Tuesday and we will begin filling it out and studying in class. I encourage students to study a little each night!
In writing, we took a look at last year's MCAS writing question and worked through it together. Students are asked to read a fictional story and then finish writing the ending. Students are loving this assignment and are really being creative! We will be wrapping up our narrative unit this week and will be launching our informational writing unit! This writing unit will go great with our new unit in reading, nonfiction book clubs! Students will be working in groups to read and discuss nonfiction texts based around different topics.
Please make note that there will be NO school this Friday the 17th and no school Monday the 20th for MLK day. Have a great week!
Monday, January 6, 2020
U3W5 Spelling Words: Test on Fri. 1/10
- uncover
- defrost
- uncomfortable
- discourage
- disadvantage
- unfortunate
- unfamiliar
- disability
- discomfort
- deodorant
- unemployed
- deflate
- disbelief
- unpredictable
- disapprove
- disappoint
- unpleasant
- dehydrated
- disqualify
- undecided
Challenge Words:
- unnecessary
- disobedient
- dehumidifier
- disinfectant
- disenchanted
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)