Happy Holidays!

                                              Bowling

Math Breakout

ELA

Reading- We wrapped up Unit 1, "Overcoming Challenges."  Students finished their narratives and book projects.  When we return from break we will begin Unit 2, "Nature's Fury."  Students will take their Unit 2 pre-test, and be introduced to the unit by going on a gallery walk.

Language Arts- We will begin to discuss and look at informational or expository writing.  

Science-  Students have planned an investigation using the scientific method, that they will implement when we return from break using their Simulation tool.  

Social Studies- We will review Chapter 6 "Life in the English Colonies," and will discuss the Trade Fair.

Math-  We will apply our knowledge for finding equivalent fractions when solving real world problems.

Have a fantastic break and holiday!

A Peek at Next Week

                                       Literature Circles

A Look at this Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will finish discussing, "A Boy Called Slow."  Students will take a selection quiz over the story on Tuesday, and write a reading response (RACE) on Thursday.  Students will then discuss the response in a Fishbowl.  We will also be working on literature circle discussions.

Language Arts- We will make sure our narratives have the elements of a short story, or follow a story-arc.  We will also be learning about how to punctuate titles, and how to identify and use interjections in our writing.

Word Work- Students will begin to work on Word Work List 4: aud, cardio, de, duct, hydro, and quad.

Science-  We will begin Chapter 3 and will be investigating, "Why do we see different stars at different times of the year?"

Social Studies- We will be reading and discussing lesson 5.4, "The 13 English Colonies."

Math-  Students will be discussing how to interpret a remainder in a division problem.  They will take a Unit 1 assessment on Friday.

Have a great weekend!

A Peek at this Week

Halloween

Wednesday is Halloween!  Please have your student bring their costume to school.  At 12:45 students will change into their costume, and will have their Halloween party from 1:00-1:55.  From 1:55- 2:20 we will have our school Halloween parade.  Then we will send our Panthers home for trick-or-treating fun!

A Look at this Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will continue to practice pulling out the elements of a short story while reading our new selection, "A Boy Called Slow."  We will also be working on literature discussions.

Language Arts- We will discuss and model how writers read great stories in order to write great stories.  Students will continue to focus on the art of storytelling as opposed to just summarizing.  

Word Work- Students will continue to work on Word Work List 3:  astro, auto, ject, post, spec, and tri.

Science-  We analyze the data we have been collecting, and how our changing shadows prove that the Earth is spinning. Then students will begin Chapter 2, Lesson 5, where they will be investigating the question:  If Earth is spinning, how does up change?

Social Studies- We will read and begin discussing Lesson 5.3, "The First Colonies."  We will be learning about the Pilgrims and Puritans.

Math-  Students will continue to learn many different strategies to use when solving a multiplication problem.  We will be solving lots of problem strings and deciding when it is most effective to use these strategies.  Students will take a Multiplication/Volume checkpoint assessment on Friday.

Important Days:
Monday- No School
Wednesday- Halloween

Have a great week!

A Peek at Next Week

Science:  Measuring Shadows

Math:  Working on Volume

A Look at next Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will be learning about the elements of a short story, and working on literature discussions.

Language Arts- We will discuss and model how writers read great stories in order to write great stories.  Students will focus on the art of storytelling as opposed to just summarizing.  Students will also be reviewing for their comma assessment which will be on Thursday.

Word Work- Students will begin working on Word Work List 3:  astro, auto, ject, post, spec, and tri.

Science-  We have been measuring our shadows at different times of day, as another piece of evidence that proves that the Earth spins.  Next week students will begin Chapter 2, Lesson 4, where they will be investigating the questions:  If Earth is spinning, which way is up?

Social Studies- We will wrap up our discussion of Lesson 5.1, and begin Lesson 5.2 "New European Colonies."  Students will learn about the French and Dutch settlements in the New World.

Math-  Students will be learning many different strategies to use when solving a multiplication problem.  We will be solving lots of problem strings and deciding when it is most effective to use these strategies.

Important Days:
Tuesday- Parent/Teacher Conferences
Wednesday- Parent/Teacher Conferences
Friday- No School

Have a wonderful week!!

A Peek at next Week

Working on Volume

A Look at next Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will be learning about different characters' perspective, and will be using perspective mats as tools for our discussions.

Language Arts- We will try to write from the perspective of our main character.  When we write our narrative seed ideas we will try to imagine stepping into the story and seeing and hearing everything our character would feel.  We will also continue to learn about using commas in a series, after introductory words and phrases, for direct address, and in tag questions.

Word Work- Students will be taking a quiz over List 2 on Tuesday.  List 2:  alter, anti, bi, geo, ology, and script.

Science-  We will be going over Lesson 2.3, which discusses how there is a daily pattern of when we see the sun and other stars in the sky.

Social Studies- We will continue to discuss the lost colony of Roanoke, the Spanish Armada, and the Jamestown colony from Lesson 5.1.

Math-  Students will continue to discuss volume.  Students are given a situation where a guy named Brad sells baseballs and he needs help deciding what type of  box he can package them in.  Students use cubes to come up with the possible dimensions of the shipping box.  Students will also be working on different problem strings that give us multiplication strategies, such as double and halving (25 X 6= 50 X 3).  They will take a Numerical Expression quiz on Wednesday.

Have a wonderful week!!

A Peek at this Week

Soft Start

A Look at this Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will be reviewing similes and metaphors, do a close-read of Langston Hughes's poem, "Mother to Son," and will be introduced to the vocabulary for Teammates:  segregation, prejudice, apathetic, intimidate, humiliation, hostility, taunt, and provoke.
Language Arts- We will have our first Writing Workshop where we will begin drafting ideas for our Narratives.  Students will be brainstorming about small moments they have had with people who are important to them.  
Word Work- Students will be working on word parts from List 2:  alter, anti, bi, geo, ology, and script.

Science-  We will have a Chapter 1 assessment on Wednesday, where students write a scientific explanation answering our chapter question:  Why don't we see a lot of stars in the daytime?

Social Studies- Students' Chapter 4 projects are due on Tuesday, and students will present their final projects to the class.

Math-  Students will review the unit, and take a Unit 6 test on Thursday.

Important Days:
Tuesday- Picture Retakes

Have a wonderful week!!!

A Peek at this Week

A Look at Next Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will be writing responses to our reading questions using the R.(restate)A.(answer)C.(cite evidence)E.(Explain) strategy, and we will be reviewing similes and metaphors.
Language Arts- We will continue to work on building our writing stamina in our Writer's Notebook.  We will also continue to use different strategies for coming up with topics to write about during our Work on Writing station.  We will also be discussing different strategies for writing hooks.
Word Work- We will be taking our Word Work List 1 assessment on Wednesday.  List 1 word parts: aqua, bio, uni, man, pre,  and phone

Science-  We will continue our discussion on the idea of scale, and how far away Earth is to the different stars in our galaxy.

Social Studies- We will take our Chapter 4 Social Studies test on Friday.

Math-  We have finished Unit 6, Module 2:  "Classifying Polygons", and begin Module 3: "Volume."

Important Days:
Wednesday- Early Dismissal (11:00), and Spirit Day- Favorite Football Shirt

Have a wonderful week!!!

A Peek at Next Week

A Look at Next Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will continue to learn our classroom routines and expectations, as well as working on inferencing, using context clues to draw conclusions from the text, and we will introduce visualization.
Language Arts- We will continue work on building our writing stamina in our Writer's Notebook.  We will also continue to use different strategies for coming up with topics to write about during our Work on Writing station.
Word Work- We will be working with Word Work List 1 word parts: aqua, bio, uni, man, pre,  and phone

Science-  We will be working on Lesson 1.3 in our unit "Patterns of Earth and Sky".  Students will read a book called "How big is big?  How far is far?"  We will then discuss the idea of scale, and how far away Earth is to the different stars in our galaxy.

Social Studies- We will continue to discuss Lesson 4.2 "Different Worlds Collide," and we will read Lesson 4.3 "Life in New Spain."

Math-  We will finish Unit 6, Module 1:  "Graphing Ordered Pairs", and take a checkpoint quiz on Thursday.   

Important Days:
Monday- Magazine Drive Kick-off
Friday- Team66 Education Foundation presents the Kelly Miller Circus @PV

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Welcome Back!

Welcome to a new school year!  I hope everyone is finally settling in.  Thank you to all that were able to come out for Curriculum Night, it was great to see everyone!  

A Look at Next Week:

 ELA

Reading- We will continue to learn our classroom routines and expectations, as well as working on inferencing, and differentiating between the main idea (gist) and a summary.  We will practice summarizing both fiction and non-fiction texts using a graphic graphic organizer.  For fictional texts we will ask the 6 main questions:  Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?  For the non-fiction texts we will use IPOP:  Important Points Only, Please!

Language Arts- We will continue work on building our writing stamina in our Writer's Notebook.  We will also be learning different strategies for coming up with topics to write about, and this week we will be focusing on making lists.  

Science-  We will be working on Lesson 1.2 in our unit "Patterns of Earth and Sky".  Students will use a model and online simulation to investigate this question:  Why don't we see a lot of stars during the daytime?

Math-  We will begin Unit 6, Module 1:  "Graphing Ordered Pairs."  We will be discovering, describing and graphing different patterns.

Important Days:
Monday- No School, Labor Day

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Field Day

Field Day Fun

A Peek at This Week

A Look at this Week:
Science- Students will be learning about the impact the atmosphere and hydrosphere have on the geosphere.  They will be learning and reading about erosion.

ELA

Reading- Students will discuss the cause and effect of Manifest Destiny.

Language Arts- Students will be introduced to opinion writing.  They will begin by writing an argument for or against chocolate milk.  Students will focus on writing a claim and using evidence in their writing.  This will prepare them for eventually creating an argument for or against Manifest Destiny.

Word Work- Students will take a quiz over List 7 words on Friday.  List 7: hypo, hyper, im/in, milli, fore, and rupt.

Math- Students will be multiplying fractions by fractions.  They will be showing this multiplication using the area and array models.

Important Dates
Friday- Fifth Grade visit to LV; Fifth Grade Frenzy

A Peek at This Week

Explanation of Water Cycle Models

These are two models of the water cycle that teams of students made last week that show all four parts of the cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff.

A Look at this Week:
Science- Students will be filling out climatograms and will be looking at different regions' weather patterns.  They will continue to investigate what the difference is between weather and climate.

ELA

Reading- Students will finish reciting parts of Longfellow's poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."  They will be working on reading with expression and inflection.  Students will then read one last version of Paul Revere's ride called, "The Real Ride of Paul Revere."  

Language Arts- Students will finish filling out a graphic organizer comparing this version of Paul Revere's ride to the other two readings describing this event.

Word Work- Students will finish working on List 7: hypo, hyper, im/in, milli, fore, and rupt.

Math- Students will begin Unit 5 "Multiplying and Dividing Fractions."  This week students will focus on Unit 5, Module 1, "Multiplying Whole Numbers by Fractions."  Students will hopefully take an open note quiz over this module on Friday.

Important Dates
Friday- Early Dismissal

Have a great week!

Water Cycle Models

The Water Cycle

Today we joined Ms. Sanchez's class and together we worked in groups to build a model of the water cycle.  The model had to show at least two out of the following four processes:  evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff.  They had to choose their supplies and explain what they would be used for, draw up a plan, and then build the model.  Their materials could include:  hot water, water at room temperature, ice, large plastic bin, heat lamp, plastic cups, rubber bands, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and ziploc bags.  The groups did a fantastic job!!

A Look at this Week:
Science- Students will finish discussing the water cycle, and will begin looking at the geosphere.  We will be reading about landforms, and understanding the difference between climate and weather.

ELA

Reading- Students will be practicing parts of Longfellow's poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere."  They will recite a section of the poem and will be working on reading with expression and inflection.  Students will also be comparing the events in the poem, to the events of our short story, "And Then What Happened Paul Revere?"

Language Arts- Students will continue to practice writing in response to their reading.  They will use the R.A.C.E. strategy to answer questions about Paul Revere.

Word Work- Students will begin to work on List 7: hypo, hyper, im/in, milli, fore, and rupt.

Math- Students will finish Unit 4 and take their Unit 4 test on Friday.

Important Dates
Wednesday- Reading MAPs Test
Thursday- Math MAPs Test

Have a great week!