Dear Parents,
The cold weather is definitely upon us! Because we will be having outdoor recess unless the wind chill levels are very cold, students should be prepared with hats, gloves, and warm coats. Students are only permitted to play in the snow if they have boots and snow pants. Thank you for making sure that your child is prepared for the colder weather!
We’ve been busy this week with MAP testing and an end of unit test in literacy. However, we’ve managed to “squeeze in” some other activities in between as well! Here’s what we’ve been busy with:
Literacy
As we begin our unit on science fiction, we have started reading a very engaging novel called George’s Secret Key to the Universe. Interestingly, it is one in a series of books written by renowned physicist, Stephen Hawking. It is the first novel in our new unit which introduces the theme of “Understanding the Universe”. Please know that because of the length of the book, your child will be required to read certain chapters for homework. I have given them the choice of reading from the book or using their I-PAD to read and/or listen along. This reading can be counted towards the minutes on their home reading log. Because of the positive feedback that students having been giving thus far about the book, I am hopeful that many will choose to read the other books in the series on their own as well! They can be found at your local library!
While reading we will be working on many of the same targets as first semester and focusing on determining the meaning of unknown words and comparing and contrasting characters in a text. Students continue to identify the main ideas in a text, and explain how they are related. We have had some great discussions in class. Take a moment to ask your child to reflect on what they have learned from these discussions/lessons and to share their ideas with you.
Writing
For the past week students have been working on creating slide presentations based on a real-life superhero that we read about in class. They have also been practicing their oral speaking skills by presenting them to the class. Throughout this process, students worked on carefully choosing quotes to support or explain their topic, writing topic sentences that hold the reader’s attention, and using specialized vocabulary to make their ideas clearer and easier to understand. Ask your student to present it to you! I’m sure you will be both entertained and informed! Our next writing project will involve writing a science fiction story! The kids will LOVE it!
Math
Fractions! Fractions! Fractions! We are finishing up our work with addition and subtraction of fractions in word problems. Today your student brought home a CFA we took this week. Kindly sign the CFA and send it back on Monday. Next week we’ll be starting our work with the first of two learning targets based on order of operations. We will continue our work with this target when we return after winter break.
Social Studies
In Trimester 2. Students will be able to describe how a citizen can show patriotism, explain why liberty is an important thing, and also explain the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance.
Science
In Science we have been enjoying working with the interactive Science unit TCI on our IPADS. Along with that, we have included many hands on experiments that the students are actively enjoying. This week we learned how people have been negatively impacting the different Earth systems. Today we simulated those harmful effects with a simulation of coal mining. Using chocolate chip cookies to represent the land being mined, and the chips to represent coal, students used “tools” such as toothpicks and paperclips to “mine” the “coal”. Be sure to ask your student what we learned!
Have a great weekend!
Upcoming Events
12/12—Signed CFA’s due back, Reading log check-in
12/13--PTO Special Lunch--Urban BBQ
12/13--PTO Special Lunch--Urban BBQ
12/16 – Last day of school before Winter Break begins, Winter parties @2:00
SCHOOL CLOSED: Winter Break Dec. 19–Jan. 2
1/3 – School resumes
1/16 – NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
1/ 31 – EARLY RELEASE DAY Grades KDG–5 students dismiss 2 PM Grades 6–8 dismiss 1:30 PM
