Welcome Back

I hope that you have gotten some rest and enjoyed the winter break!

    This week I will be meeting in small group for novel studies. Based on reading levels and in-class performance , students are reading Bridge to Terebithia and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Some students were given the books before break and assigned the first two chapters. There will be activities that the students will complete and graded on. This will be over the next few weeks.

     Our main reading will be the elements of poetry,prose,and drama. The students are familiar with these types of texts but may not know exact element differences.Please remind them to study the anchor charts nightly. The first quiz will be a cut & paste for all 3 types. I plan to give this quiz on Friday, but it will most likely happen on the following Monday if students need another day of in-class practice.

    We will begin converting improper fractions and adding/subtracting fractions. There will be a test on Wednesday covering what's been taught this quarter: modeling,equivalent,number lines, comparing, and ordering fractions. 

     ELA spiral review continues. This week's focus will be progress verb tense and modal auxiliary verbs. Most students are modeling understanding but some reteaching will benefit all students.

Winter Break is Around the Corner

Time sure is flying!Third quarter progress reports will be coming home on Thursday.

      In math, students will continue to use benchmarks to compare 2 to 3 fractions. As for now, students should understand fractions presented as figures, sets, and standard written form. By the end of the week, students will learn how to find the lowest common denominator (LCD). Please have your child continue to learn their multiplication facts.

      The class continues to develop their opinion essays. Every step has been chunked, meaning each day there was a particular focus. On Monday ,there will be a revising lesson in Office 365 and students will revise just vocabulary. Tuesday the focus will be revising sentence starters and opinion phrases. The deadline for finalization is Thursday.
      Also in ELA, we will spend this week on spiral review. Using the correct progressive verb tense and identifying the prepositional phrase has been the common challenge. Students have been taught strategies, but they must apply them :)

      Figurative language test will be Tuesday. Students should be reviewing all in-class, homework, and quizzes to prepare. Last Friday we shared their free picks from the proverb list. Students were asked to write down any new ones. You may check your child's journal to review with them.

Leukemia Fundraiser

Please support this wonderful cause for just $1 each day

Mon.- PJ 

Tues.- Shades/sunglasses

Weds.- Hat

Thurs.-Crazy Hair

Friday- Gum $2

Opinion Essay

Students are enjoying fractions! We will have a quiz on the basic understanding of fractions as equal parts of a whole and modeling a fraction. Students have also been exposed to equivalent fractions. This week we'll continue with comparing fractions. There maybe a quiz on Friday, so please check your child's agenda. I am trying to chunk the elements of the overall standard for fractions as it is a large unit.

In writing, students have completed their paragraph practice for developing a hook, introduction topic sentence , reasons with a supporting example/detail, and conclusion opinion statement. I have begun to meet individually with students to provide feedback for "glow" and "grow" areas. Our 5 paragraph essay is underway!Students are working on developing their ideas with differentiated graphic organizers. This week we will chunk tasks as we formulate the paragraphs. Beginning Monday Feb. 11th, students will finalize and type their essay.

We continue to learn about figurative language. There will be a quiz on Tuesday covering similes and metaphors. Students have been working in-class on idioms,adages,and proverbs. We will be going more in depth with them this week. Students should be reviewing our daily in-class activities to prepare for quizzes and tests.It's possible there will be a quiz on Friday just on idioms,adages,and proverbs. This too will be multiple choice.

Spelling this week will be on ar,er,and or. A new menu has been developed and dictation will be included on Friday test.During independent reading, students will identify and build vocabulary.

Fractions

We are ready to begin fractions. This will take us through  the rest of the 9 weeks!! It will be divided into specific standards. Wednesday , vocabulary anchor charts will be in your student's journal. We will draw and label fractions as circles,squares, and sets. Students will use tape diagrams to model and write fractions.By the end of next week, students will be understanding equivalent fractions.

Opinion writing development continues. Students have collaborated and provided feedback an tasks for opinion statements and conclusions. This is a great way to learn from their peers. The class will continue to read and identify opinion elements in passages. Next Monday, students will choose their essay topic from a list provided. We will continue to develop a five paragraph essay by building on what has been previously taught and adding opinion genre specific vocabulary.

In ELA, we are reviewing verb tenses, prepositional phrases, sentence structure, and punctuation.
Our reading will focus on figurative language, such as idioms and cliches. Reteaching, similes and metaphors.

Father Daughter Dance is Friday!!

Long Division

Hope everyone has enjoyed their weekend :)

In math, we will continue area model and partial quotients. There will be an assessment on Wednesday. Your child should know their multiplication facts with fluency.

In reading, the class continues to use context clues and their background knowledge to infer the text. There will be a quiz on Tuesday. The summative test will date depends on the quiz grades.

There will be spelling homework this week!

Students are developing an opinion paragraph based on an animal feature. They read a book in small groups and chose which they wished to write about. They were able to research more on the computer if needed. We are currently halfway done with the organizer.

Please remember to send your child to school dressed accordingly for recess as the temperature changes. 

Welcome 2019 !

            I hope everyone had a fabulous break :)
Here are this week's tentative plans-
    In math, we will continue with long division. Towards the end of the week, students will learn to interpret remainders.Please have your child learn multiplication facts with fluency!
    In reading, we will be focused on inference. Close reading for context clues will be applied.
    In writing, we will be focused on opinion. Students will learn to develop a clear opinion statement and support this with reasons and examples. New anchor charts will be in their writing journals. We will complete a practice paragraph for a craft grade and individual goals for their upcoming essay.




Dates to remember:

   Reading Challenge due Weds., Jan. 9th
   Spelling Bee Friday, Jan. 11th @ 8:45
   Science Fair Projects due Friday, Jan. 11th
   January 17^th- STEM night- 6:00-7:30
   January 21^st- No School- MLK Holiday

   January 24^th and 25^th- Talent Show tryouts after school.

 

Context Clues Retake

  Wow, I can't believe we only have one week before winter break!

   Students who did scored lower than a B will take a different context clues test on Tuesday. This is the last reading grade for the quarter. I haven't sent home last week's test because I did not want to put those into ParentVue. I will be either averaging the two grades or replace the first. This week's test will also be multiple choice. It will not include explanation, but instead definition. The students had a practice sheet for last Thursday's homework. We have reviewed the answers and will practice on Monday. I will send home both tests stapled .

Wednesday is Holiday t-shirt day.

Thursday is PJ day!!

Friday is Holiday headgear day.