October 11-15

I apologize for not updating the blog sooner.  It has been a busy week!
I have some great news!  Our field trip was a HUGE success!  The kids had a blast and they learned so much!  I also wanted to share with everyone that Mrs. Harris actually showed the students' cell newscasts that I added to the blog to our superintendent, Mr. Upchurch, because the kids did such a nice job.  I am very proud of them and if you haven't had a chance to view the videos, please do so!  They are uploaded to my previous post.  This group of kids is full of such hard workers and they get so enthusiastic about their assignments!

Reminders:
Fall Break is next week!  Relax and enjoy!

Conferences are coming up November 4 and November 9.  It is my intention to meet with every parent. I have so much to share with you about your child's learning and progress.  You may contact the office at your earliest convenience to schedule a confernce with me. 

Here is what we are learning this week.

Upcoming Tests:
Word Study Quizzes:  Wednesday and Friday over the geometric terms
Math Test:  Thursday over Geometry

Math:  This week we have had lessons over congruence and similarity.  Congruent shapes have the same size and same shape.  Similar shapes are different sizes, but the same shape.  They are proportionate to one another.  We will have a math test on Thursday, an open response on Friday, and a study guide to be completed by Wednesday so I can do any necessary reteaching before the test.  I have added several math links to my "Links" page that will provide students with extra practice for this unit over Geometry.

Reading:  This week we are learning about story elements including:  plot, problem and solution, characters, setting, moral/theme.  We are going to learn about each of these elements in preparation for our first round of literature circles which will begin right after Fall Break.  During the literature circles the students will be given "jobs" to complete with their reading of an assigned text to explore the story elements in depth.

Social Studies:  This week we are continuing to discuss the explorers including their futile attempts at finding a Northwest Passage and the positive and negative impacts they had from exploring.  Positives:  claimed land, established settlements, new information for maps; Negatives:  spread disease, killed/mistreated Native Americans.  The kids will also have the opportunity to learn about explorers by visiting various explorer stations this week to experience the tools used by explorers, journal entries by explorers, Native American reactions to explorers, and the important spices sought out by explorers.  This unit will culminate with an open response regarding the impact of the early explorers.

Word Study:  We are continuing to practice the geometric terms and the kids have a quiz over the newly highlighted words Wednesday.  The remaining words will be quizzed on Friday.  After some reflection I decided it would be simpler and easier on the kids to break the terms into three separate, shorter quizzes rather than one large test.  Students can go to any of the great math links I added to my website to practice these. 

Writing:  We began On Demand Writing lessons and discussed the key phrases that are commonly used when writers they need to persuade as a purpose during On Demand writing.  We will practice interpreting prompts, brainstorming, and collecting ideas for prompts this week.  We will also review the scoring guide used for On Demand Writing and have our first practice On Demand response the Monday following Fall Break.