Hi Families,
It's hard to believe that we are well into February and approaching Valentine's Day! We had a fun virtual party on Wednesday to enjoy the holiday! With Lunar New Year beginning today, and Presidents Day on Monday, there has been so much to learn! We have also been honoring Black History Month by incorporating the study of the outstanding contributions of many black Americans to our society. Next week in literacy we will spend each day reading and "delving deeper" into the accomplishments of many such individuals. We will be expanding our current literacy topic of "exploration" to include people who have exhibited an unusual sense of discovery and passion in a variety of fields of study.
Here's a recap of what we've been learning about:
Literacy- All week we've been reading and learning about the "triumphs and troubles" of some famous explorers. Our nonfiction text specifically focused on explorers such as Hernan Cortes and Francis Younghusband, and what motivated their respective explorations. Throughout the week we focused on our literacy target of determining the author's main point, the reasons given for these main points, and the evidence to prove their points.
In writing, we have continued working on our analytical essays about whether Columbus Day should be recognized and celebrated as a holiday in Illinois. For the last several weeks, students have read books and articles from which to collect evidence for their writing.
Math- We have started unit 5, which focuses on the multiplication and division of fractions. This week we have focused on utilizing concrete models to show the process. We will be moving from multiplying a whole number by a fraction to multiplying a fraction by a fraction. We will also learn visual models to represent our calculations. Students who demonstrated mastery in this area on the pre-assessment have been expanding upon this knowledge with other learning.
Social Studies- Our topic of exploration in literacy has nicely merged with social studies. Here, we have been learning about the South Pole, and why explorers of the past sought to go there. We have read about a British explorer specifically--Robert Scott , who historically competed with a team of Norwegians, in a quest to be the first to arrive in the South Pole. We have been learning skills in note-taking and research, and will put such skills to use on our next inquiry project. Here, students will be given the opportunity to choose a historical event of interest to research and present to peers.
Reminders:
*All students should power down their iPads at least several times per week. This helps tremendously towards making sure that they function properly throughout the school day. Also, IPads and logic tech crayons should be fully charged at the beginning of every school day.
*In person students should check the weekly doc for supplies needed. PLEASE be sure that students bring a pair of headphones/earbuds to school each day.
*Homework has not been given on a regular basis in order to give kids a break from screen time, however, it is expected that students read independently on a daily basis.
Please take note of the important dates below:
Monday, Feb. 15--No School-Presidents Day
Friday, Feb. 26--Half Day of school
