Dear Parents,
This week we will reach the 4 1/2 week mark in the first grading period. Progress reports will ONLY go home with students who are struggling. The learning environment is fun and interactive. I am especially impressed with the student's kindness towards one another.
The past two weeks in Language Arts we have been focusing on homonyms and antonyms. This week we will add prefixes, suffixes and base words to our grammar mini-books. We organized our first narrative writing "My Most Embarrassing or Funniest Moment" into a graphic organizer and began rough drafts. This week we edit on Wednesday and complete our final drafts by the end of the week. We focused on characters in our reading and will look more closely at setting and plot development in the coming weeks. Cam Jansen: Mystery of the Diamond Thief and Cam Jansen: The Mystery of the Television Dog have been our text for this study. It allows us to also compare and contrast with a text to text connection.
In math, we finished up our unit on rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and 100. This week we are focusing on addition properties and sums with 3 digit and 4 digit addends. We will review/reteach the concept of regrouping with addition. Another addition timed test will be administered on Thursday. Practice at home using any of the math websites found on the GM Weblink Notebook.
In Science, we had a Mineral Identification Assessment last week. Interacting with real minerals to identify their attributes: hardness/softness, rough/smooth, color has been fun! The three types of rocks were discussed and now we are moving into the way weathering and erosion affect rocks. The students were asked to draw a picture showing each of these processes due Wed. For bonus points on their next science test, students can complete the InstaLab found on pg. 21 of the Science workbooks. (a clear, plastic cup was provided) and bring it in tomorrow. In the weeks to come we will study fossils.
In Social Studies, we will begin a unit on democracy as we study Greece (the birthplace of democracy). Previewing vocabulary in Social Studies and Science is always helpful. Look for notecards to come home in the near future for students to begin making vocabulary flipcards.
In Health, we are continuing to look at nutrition and the students will create their own balanced meal on a paper plate as we assess their comprehension of the subject.
Thank you for all your support!
Fondly,
Mrs. James
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