March 30, 2014

This week is the NYS ELA Test for grades 3-8. The test will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. The test lasts about 80 minutes each day. The best way to prepare your child is a healthy breakfast and some words of encouragement! There is no need for parents or students to stress over these tests in any way! Students are well prepared through the reading and writing curriculum they have been receiving since kindergarten.We just encourage the students to try hard and do their best. *I will not be giving writing and math homework this week. 

Last week, students enjoyed seeing the 5th graders perform the musical, "The Knight the Castle Rocked". They also put on reader's theaters in social studies to show needs and wants, scarcity and abundance, and natural resources. Check out a couple of pictures below!

This week...
Reading
March reading calendars are due on Tuesday, April 1st. Students should continue to read 30 minutes each night.

Writing
Students took writing binders home this weekend to share. Please make sure your child returns their writing binder to school. We will start our new unit, persuasive writing, this week.

Math
We will continue fractions and will start working on geometry this week. There will not be a fractions test. We will be focusing on covering material in order to make sure the class is prepared for the NYS Math test in a few weeks. We will continue multiplication drills.

Science/Social Studies
We will work on the solar system in science. Students are doing research on the planets. In social studies, we will continue learning about the United States.

March 24, 2014

We enjoyed a wonderful visit from the author, Steve Swinburne. He spoke all about his non-fiction books and even sang some songs! He also gave the kids some great advice about writing!

 *Please try to send in some pencils for your child-we are running very low. They could also use some more colored pencils!

This week...

Reading
Students should continue reading an independent book of their choice. The class is reading such a variety of books right now! We have some kids trying another Beverly Cleary, some reading Harry Potter, some trying the "I Survived" and the "You Choose" series...among others. It's great to see a such a variety of genres. We started a new read aloud called The Land of Stories by a new author named Chris Colfer. You may know him as an actor on Glee! It is a fantasy book incorporating classic fairytales. We are also continuing to practice reading short texts (fiction and non-fiction) and answering multiple choice and short answer questions as preparation for next week's NYS ELA test.

Writing
Our next unit will be persuasive writing so we tried a little bit this week. The class wrote letters to Mother Nature to try to persuade her to "bring Spring"! They had some excellent reasons. We are working on the test writing genre as well. We are practicing writing for the purpose of answering specific questions related a text. We are practicing organizing, using paragraphs and using really good details from the text in our writing. This week's homework is one writing entry in their notebook.

Math
In Math, we are continuing the fraction unit. This week, we are focusing on comparing fractions and equivalent fractions. Please continue practicing the times table. Some students have been stuck on a number for a while. They need to practice these facts.

Science/Social Studies
We finished the electricity unit and the kids were sad to see it end! They really enjoyed the experiments.  We are continuing the study of the solar system. In social studies, we are studying economy-wants vs. needs; abundance vs. scarcity, etc.

March 16, 2014

We had a great week! Michael was student of the week and he chose to have his sister Sarah from Mrs. Reddy's class join us for snack. We loved having her visit! We also celebrated the end of our informational writing unit. Students did an awesome job on their solar system informational books. They got a chance to read each other's work and did a great job giving each other positive feedback. Mrs. Bonacquist stopped by to read their work! We also continued experimenting with electricity and the class learned the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit. Take a look at some pictures of these events below...

This week...

Reading
We are finishing the read aloud, Mitch and Amy, this week and our next read aloud will be Fablehaven. Students should continue reading a book of their choice for independent reading in school and at home. Students will be given another poem this week to practice each night for fluency. I will choose three students to read the poem to the class on Friday. Naomi, Caitlin and Aman read "The Snake" to the class last week. They did a great job! We will continue to work on reading short passages and answering short answer and multiple choice questions.

Writing
We celebrated finishing our informational books on the solar system and the class did an awesome job! They had a lot of fun reading each other's work and giving each other feedback. This week, we will be practicing writing good sentences and paragraphs. Students will be given a writing assignment on Monday this week and it will be due Friday. They should write a 1-2 page personal narrative using all of the things they have learned-writing an introduction, paragraphs, conclusions, dialogue. They should use their best spelling and grammar.

Math
We have started the fraction unit. Students have a good understanding of fractional parts, but some struggled with fractions on a number line. We will continue to do multiplication drills each day. Please make sure your child practices their facts at home.

Science/Social Studies
We will finish the electricity unit this week in science. We are continuing to learn about the United States in social studies.

March 9, 2014

Students have been getting low on glue sticks, pencils and colored pencils. If you could send some in, that would be great! Thanks!

This week...

Reading
We are finishing up our Beverly Cleary book clubs this week. The class did a great job with the book club assignments! Once they have finished their book, they can continue reading an independent book of their choice for reading in class and at home. We will be working on reading short passages (fiction and non-fiction) and answering multiple choice and short answer questions to prepare for the NYS ELA test.

Writing
We are finishing up our information books this week. The class did a great job on these and are very proud!! We will celebrate this accomplishment on Thursday of this week. Students will get a chance to read each other's work and give each other feedback.

Math
We finished up time last week and have started the fraction unit. Students will be bringing home their Unit 8 test to correct it this week. We are continuing daily multiplication drills. On Friday, I sent home a note to let you know which facts your child is working on. These should be practiced at home and a note like this will be sent home each Friday. There is a wide range of where kids are, from 2s up to 7s at this point. Practice at home is essential for them to master these facts and to move forward.

Science/Social Studies
In science, we are continuing to experiment with electricity. We looked at open and closed circuits last week and will look at series circuits (like Christmas lights) this week. In social studies, students are learning about economy-needs vs. wants; abundance vs. scarcity- in the United States and other parts of the world.