This Week in Our Classroom...

I hope you had a great weekend!  Below you will find a brief overview of what to expect this week in our classroom.  

Reading:  Students will continue to study characterization.  They have been analyzing clues the author leaves in the story (thoughts, feelings, actions, dialogue, and what others say) to describe the characters and determine how/if they change by the end of the story.  They will continue to practice this throughout the week.  Towards the middle of the week, students will explore character motivation, as well as reasons for the character's change.  

Writing:  This week we'll begin a Realistic Fiction unit.  Throughout the unit students will write and publish their own realistic fiction story.  They will practice using deliberate dialogue, writing with descriptive language, and creating believable characters.  This week, students will brainstorm ideas and begin to plot the events on a plot mountain.  We will be returning to the essay writing that we've been working on more recently; however, I think the kids need a little break.  

Math:  Fractions and decimals are the main focus of Unit 3.  Students will learn to compare fractions this week using a variety of strategies.  Please double check your child's Home Link each night to make sure they're showing their work and writing their name on the assignment.  

Science:  We will wrap up our Energy unit this week.  Students will continue to use electromagnets early in the week and we'll take the assessment later in the week.  The assessment will be an open book/open notes test.  

Important Info: 

• 4th 40BC Response due 12/19

This Week in Our Classroom...

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday weekend.   Below is a brief overview of what we'll be up to this week in the classroom.

Reading:  Students will continue to study characterization clues and make inferences about a character based on these clues.  Specifically, students will identify a character's actions, dialogue, thoughts, and feelings to make inferences about the character's personality traits.  They will also learn that characters often experience a change or learn a lesson within the plot of a story.  Students will continue to study the characters in Every Living Thing, as well as other short leveled texts.

Writing: Students will compose an opinion piece and support their opinions with evidence from the text this week.  Then, students will publish and post this piece.

Science:  Our class will explore electromagnets and electromagnetism in class this week as we wrap up our final section of the electricity unit.

Math:  Unit 3 will kick off with a review of fraction concepts.  I will review equivalent fractions, mixed numbers, and strategies for comparing fractions with students.

40 Book Challenge:  Check in and reading response #3 are due this Thursday.  Students should have the response posted to their Kidblog account and their book list updated.

Picture Day is Tomorrow, December 3rd

Social Emotional Learning

This week students will focus on putting empathy into action.  They will practice paying attention and listening to others in order to show empathy and compassion.  Students will act out different scenarios and practice showing compassion in each scenario.   If you see your child showing compassion at home, please reinforce with specific feedback!

For example, "I saw you notice that your sister needed help carrying her backpack.  You showed compassion by offering to carry it together."

A Sneak Peek Into This Week... and Next!

Thank you so much for coming to conferences today!  Please feel free to email any questions or concerns, I know those 10 minutes go by very quickly.  Below is a brief overview of what you can expect for the remainder of the week and next week!

Reading:  Students will begin a new reading unit!  In our Character Unit, students will learn to analyze characterization clues and draw conclusions about how and why characters change throughout a story.  In the beginning of the unit, I will teach students to identify thoughts, words, actions, feelings, and other characters' opinions about a main character.  Then, students will use these clues to determine character traits.  The class will use a shared text, Every Living Thing, by Cynthia Rylant, as well as group guided reading texts throughout the unit.

Writing:  Students will continue to practice developing opinions using evidence and analysis.  Students will learn to use sentence stems to follow a standard format (topic sentence, text evidence, personal analysis).  Generally, I expect students to give a 2-3 sentence personal analysis that explains how and why the evidence supports the thesis.  Students will have an example in their writing notebooks.

Math: Throughout the next two weeks, students will convert units of time, solve number stories including multiplicative comparisons, and classify shapes.  Please expect corresponding Home Links as homework.  The unit 2 assessment will take place before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Science: This week, we'll wrap up our first investigation on energy and circuits.  We will also begin learning about the force of magnetism.  Next week, students will continue to study magnetic fields and force.  You can expect to see another Problem of the Week for homework as well as comprehension questions to accompany reading about the concepts.

Social Emotional Learning:  Ms. Jacobson and I will continue to reinforce the concept of empathy.  I will send more details soon.

Important Dates: 
11/15 International Fest
11/28-11/29 Thanksgiving Holiday
12/5  40BC Check-In and Reading Response Due
Picture Day Make Ups TBD

Social Emotional Learning

This week we've been working on a couple of important concepts:

1.  Students discussed a variety of strategies for solving a disagreement during "games" time in class. They decided using "Paper, Scissors, Rock" would be a great solution, or trying one partner's idea for the first few rounds and then trying the other partner's idea.

At home, if you notice your child solving a disagreement with fairness and logic, please reinforce the behavior with praise and acknowledgment!  (Ex.  Brother and sister are arguing about who should take the first turn and your child suggests "Paper, Scissors, Rock.")

2.  Mrs. Jacobson also came in our classroom and taught students the importance of having empathy, and accepting that others may think differently than each other.  We will continue to build and reinforce this concept.

At home if you notice your child accepting and appreciating others' differences, please reinforce the concept by saying, "I noticed how you accepted..." 

Conference Forms

Conference Sign Up Sheets were sent home yesterday.
Please return as soon as possible.
I will do my best to accommodate your schedule.

This Week In Our Classroom...

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I can't say enough how happy I am to be back at school.  Thank you for all of your patience and support, I know it was a challenging time for everyone.

This week we will jump right back into our curriculum.   We will also support our school at the Walk-a-Thon this Wednesday, November 6th.  If you haven't signed up online yet, please do so!

In the reading block, we'll wrap up our literature circles and and review determining the main idea and supporting details.  I will also review summarizing with the students.  On Thursday, as long as the end of the quarter date does not change, we will take our final unit assessment.

During writing, students will continue to develop essays using a five paragraph format.  Students will begin forming an opinion about a text and using evidence from the text to support their opinions this week.  We will practice finding the most supportive/strongest evidence to support our ideas.

Students will learn to find factors and multiples in math this week, as well as distinguish between prime and composite numbers.  Later in the week, students will work in small teams to solve a problem involving factors and multiples.

In science, students will continue to study circuits.  They will learn the difference between a conductor and an insulator as well as how to distinguish between series circuits and parallel circuits.

Conferences:  As long as the calendar remains the same, conferences will take place next week.  I will send home conference preference sheets tomorrow or Tuesday.  Please return as soon as possible.  

40 Book Challenge second essay is due this Thursday!  Please make sure your child posts his/her to the student blog.

Thank you again for all of your patience over the past couple of weeks.  I am looking forward to seeing you all at conferences next week!