English Language Arts, Reading ,History
Reading and ELA Grammar: We begin reviewing compound sentences Spelling: There is no spelling this week Reading: We are catching up from last week in reviewing how to process a story, so we're still reading though pieces of last week's story. We will begin Reading Groups in class today. In these sessions, students will work on fluency, discuss and write about different components of literature using the Massachusetts Book Award books. In PowerSchool, the journal grade is shown as classwork and done individually, although the groip will often discuss the question together. We continue in The Lightning Thief Reading slips will be collected on Wednesday Students need to carry a reading book with them to ELA. Check ins will be done on a weekly basis and will be reflected in official grades if a student is frequently unprepared. History - We will be discussing what are the characteristics of civilization in class with a follow up assignment due on Friday. We'll begin making flashcards for weekly quizzes on the most important facts about Mesopotamia, the Hebrews and the Phoenicians Math: We are beginning chapter 2! Chapter 1 test grades are in Powerschool and will be sent home Tuesday. On Monday we will present our ratio projects! Grades will be in Powerschool following presentations. Following that, we will do a chapter 2 pretest to assess what concepts students already know. This is not a grade, but rather a way to see what we need to spend the most time on. One Tuesday and Wednesday, we will begin converting fractions to decimals, and vice versa. On Thursday and Friday we will begin working on converting between fractions, decimals, and percents. Students will create a flap tool with notes and examples for each of these conversions that they can use when completing homework and classwork. Science: This week we are beginning our study of Earth and Space Science! Our first lessons will focus on the Sun, Earth, Moon system. We will watch a video and read a book to begin. Throughout the week we will be reading information on the system and taking notes using a guided notes packet. There is a lot of new vocabulary with this lesson: eclipse, equinox, lava, revolution, rotation, solstice, tide, waning, and waxing. There will be a vocabulary quiz soon! ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS and READING
Grammar : We review types of verbs this week. Spelling: pages 9/10 in spelling book due on Thursday with spelling test. Reading: The reading selection from the Treasures book is “Lost City”, an historical fiction piece on Machu Picchu. Skills this week focus on historical fiction, character, setting, plot We'll be practicing how to write an open response answer in class. HISTORY We have been preparing a group/peer teaching unit on the ancient civilizations of the Middle East : Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Mesopotamians. This has been an example of learning to close read for the main ideas and summarizing. This has been class work. There will be 3 grades for reading - one on the group collaboration, the quality of the poster and individual participation. A map of a Mesopotamian city will be due Friday. We continue with the Lightning Thief. MATH This week in math we will be finishing up ratios, a comparison of quantities. We will review key skills such as finding greatest common factors (GCF), least common multiples (LCM), unit rates and prices, and solving ratio problems. There will be a chapter test on Thursday, which will be open book and open notes. Ratio Project: Students will be working on a ratio project throughout the week. They will need to bring in store advertisements and compare the unit prices of 2 different objects. These will be due Monday the 25th. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS and READING Grammar : We review types of verbs this week. . Reading: We will practice extracting facts and taking notes in an article called "Bog Bodies". Reading slips will be due on Wednesday Writing: Most students will complete the rough draft of "Something I'll Never Forget" begun in class on Friday. The final draft with rough draft attached is due on Thursday For Reading Groups: Students have to carry a reading book with them at all academic times. The book should represent a story the student is interested in and should be on his or her reading level. It should not have more pictures than words. HISTORY This week students will be digesting the material in the second chapter of the history book in small groups in preparation for teaching the material to the class. This exercise focuses on the content of the Ancient Middle East and skills such as notetaking, paraphrasing, public speaking and preparing a visual presentation. All this prep work will be done in class but students will be encouraged to polish their parts of the presentation at home. .ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS, READING, and HISTORY
Students will have spelling workbooks and a hardcover book referred to as “Treasures”. Grammar : We review subjects and predicates this week. Writing: Students introduced each other in short interviews and papers due on Tuesday. We will begin our next piece on a autobiographical incident in class on Friday. Reading: We completed a reading assessment test last week. Students have to carry a reading book with them at all academic times. The book should be a something the student is interested in and on a level he or she feels comfortable reading.. It could be a chapter book, biography or autobiography. To promote silent sustained reading, I'm asking that each week students must read for 30 uninterrupted minutes on 3 different days per week as an ongoing homework assignment. These signed reading slips are always due on Wednesdays. So, for a total of an hour and a half, your child must read and I would like you child must read and I would like you to sign off on the reading. Students can read books, magazines, articles on line but the reading should not be for another subject. History: We begin by reviewing how time is arranged with an outdoor timeline and a follow up assignment due at the end of the week. We are reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan as our class read aloud. |