Dear Families,

It’s hard to believe that January is more than half-way over! We’ve been working hard in all academic areas! This week we even looked at our winter MAP data and set some new goals and action plans for the spring test. Students have optional practice work they can be completing on their I-Pads in support of such goals. Many also requested worksheets which they will receive next week. 

Here is what we’ve been working on in each of our content areas:

Reading:

**Please remind your student that the Word Collages for the January reading log projects are due on Monday, February 5. Students should be working on them progressively throughout the month.

During shared reading we finished our nonfiction book entitled Real Life Superheroes.  Be sure to ask your student about some of the amazing individuals which were highlighted in this book. We read a reader’s theater based on the life of Rosa Parks, one of the superheroes featured in our text. We also played a fun game of vocabulary Quizlet on our I-Pads which reviewed the important vocabulary from the text. 

Writing: Along with reading about Real-life superheroes, we’ve also been writing about them! Students selected an individual in history, researched about their life, and are currently writing an essay which highlights the important biographical events of their life, as well as the reasons they should be considered a hero. In addition to composing their essay, they are also drawing portraits of their superhero. We have some amazing artists in our classroom!

Math:  Building upon our previous instruction in adding and subtracting fractions, we are now learning strategies to multiply and divide them. This week we primarily practiced a number of strategies for multiplying a whole number by a fraction. We also worked with fractions embedded within word problems.

Social Studies:  This week we continued our focus on learning about the liberties and freedoms we enjoy in our country, contrasting such liberties with those of countries such as North Korea. We read an interesting article that emphasized the stark differences between our two countries. Today we began a project where students expressed the liberties that they treasure the most.

**Please continue to remind your student to check the current events calendar for their assigned date. We have been having a number of students unprepared on their assigned date.

Science: In science we will be starting a new unit on the Earth, moon and stars. Included will be learning about gravity, shadows, constellations, among many other topics.

Important upcoming dates to remember:

• January 23, 2018~ Early Release @ 2:00 PM

• January 29 Recipe submission due for cultural project

• February 5-7, 2018~ PTO Book Fair

        • Feb. 5th—Word Collage Reading Log Project Due

• Feb. 8th—Ivy Hall Celebrates Diversity 7:00-7:45 pm