12/19-12/22

Happy Holidays!  Thank you all for helping us to put on a successful and fun winter party.  Our week was so busy while we finished stuff up before break.

Writing
This week in our Informational Article unit we...

• drafted our articles
• revised topic sentences
• elaborated upon our details

Reading
In our Nonfiction to Become Experts unit we...

• used glossaries to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words
• spotted clues in context to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words

Over break it will be very important to keep up the reading minutes!  Please have your child read 30 minutes at least five times a week!

Math
In our Multiplication and Division unit we...

• solved real world division problems by multiplying up and using partial products

Please remember to keep practicing math facts!

Upcoming Dates

• 12/22: Winter Break starts
• 1/9: Welcome Back Students
• 1/11: Late Start
• 1/16: No School; MLK Day

12/12-12/16

Good afternoon!  Here is what we've been learning in our classroom this week...

Reading
In our Nonfiction to Become Experts unit, we work to...

• identify first hand vs second hand accounts
• identify bias in sources
• write knowledgeably about a topic

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
In our Informational Article unit, writers worked to...

• use pre-research strategies
• research what's important to their focus questions and subtopics
• plan our articles

Math
In our Multiplication and Division unit, mathematicians worked to...

• solve multi-step word problems and persevere when stuck
• assessed our learning
• started to think how to solve real-world division scenarios

Please remember to practice your math facts nightly!  The Online Practice Buddies are also avaliable as optional homework.

Science
This week we ended our Motion and Design unit by reflecting on our learning by identifying strengths and setting goals.

Upcoming Dates

• Next week is Spirit Week!
• Monday: Crazy Hair Day
• Tuesday: Crazy Sock Day
• Wednesday: PJ Day
• Thursday: Winter Wardrobe Day
• 12/20: Mrs. Nagy out
• 12/22: Half Day; Early Dismissal at 1:05
• 12/22: Winter Parties
• 12/23: Winter Break begins

12/5-12/9

It has been another productive week in our classroom.  Check out what we've been working on...

Reading

This week in our Navigating Nonfiction unit, readers worked on...

• paraphrasing research
• taking notes using the boxes and bullets strategy
• identifying facts vs opinions in research

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing

This week in our Informational Article unit, writers worked on...

• developing a focus question for their articles
• creating subtopics to go along with their focus questions

Math

In our Multiplication and division unit, mathematicians worked to...

• learn multiplication strategies to multiply 2-digit by 2-digit numbers
• strategies include:
• expanded algorithm
• open array
• traditional algorithm

Please remember to practice your math facts nightly!

Science

This week we wrapped up our Motion and Design unit by...

• designing a fair test
• reviewing for our assessment

Upcoming Dates

• 12/20: Mrs. Nagy out
• 12/22: Half Day/Early Dismissal; 1:05 & Winter Parties
• 12/23: Winter Break; No School

11/28-12/2

Happy Friday!  Check out what we've been working on this week...

Reading
This week we began our Nonfiction to Become Experts unit.  Students will choose topics they wish to become experts on.  This unit is aligned with our Informational Article unit.  Students will be writing an informational article about their nonfiction expert topics.

Remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
Before we begin our Informational Article unit, we went through grammar boot camp to prepare ourselves!  We focused on complex sentences and learned how to write:

• compound sentences
• prepositional phrases

Math 
This week in our Multiplication and Division unit we...

• estimated products for 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication
• used open arrays and the distributive property to help us solve 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication problems

Remember to practice your math facts nightly!

Science
In our Motion and Design unit we...

• observed the effects friction has on our vehicles
• observed the effects rubber band energy has on our vehicles

Upcoming Events

• 12/7: Late Start; 11:05
• 12/9: Motion and Design Assessment

Math Stations 11/28-12/2

Math Stations 11/28-12/2

Station 1: Multi-Step Word Problems

Click here to begin.

Station 2: Addition & Subtraction Algorithm Practice

Addition Practice: Click here to begin.

More Addition Practice: Click here to begin.

Subtraction Practice: Click here to begin.

More Subtraction Practice: Click here to begin.

Station 3: Division Facts to 12 - Word Problems

Click here to begin.

Station 4: Find the Area Practice

Find the Area: Click here to begin. (beginner)

Find the Area Between Two Rectangles: Click here to begin. (medium)

Area and Perimeter Word Problems: Click here to begin. (hard)

Find the Area of Complex Figures: Click here to begin. (advanced)

Station 5: Line Plot Practice

Create Line Plots: Click here to begin. (medium)

Create & Interpret Line Plots with Fractions: Click here to begin. (hard)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This time of year we take a moment to step back and reflect on what we're thankful for.  Even with this being my fourth year at Barretts, I always find myself amazed and so thankful that I have the best job in the world, and that I also get to work with the best kids, parents, and staff.  Thank you for sending me your best each day.  I hope over the break you are able to relax, enjoy, and spend time with family and friends.  Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please enjoy the Thanksgiving learning games below!



Turkey Terminator



Turkey Swap

The object of the game is to swap the locations of the turkeys and the pigs with as few moves as possible. You can move each tile by clicking on it. A tile can be moved to the empty space that is immediately beside it.



Turkey Anagrams- Word Puzzle



Turkey Multiplication 



Read about the First Thanksgiving.



Thanksgiving Dinner Puzzle



Jamestown Adventure



Thanksgiving Crossword Puzzle 



Thanksgiving Sodoku

11/14-11/18

Happy Friday!  Check out what the Marshmallows have been up to this week...

Reading
This week we are beginning to wrap up our Navigation Nonfiction unit by...

• reading texts to determine author's purpose
• persuade
• inform
• entertain
• identifying unfamiliar words within our text and using tools, such as a dictionary, to determine their meaning
• reviewing how to identify the main idea of a text

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
This week we're wrapping up our Persuasive Essay unit by...

• revising our conclusions to include a call to action for the reader
• revise our pieces to include a convincing tone by using:
• auxiliary verbs
• sensory details/vivid verbs
• editing our pieces for grammar, punctuation, and capitalization
• publishing our pieces in the form of speech presentations

Math
In our Multiplication and Division unit we...

• used various multiplication strategies to multiply 4 digit by 1 digit numbers
• multiplied 2 digit by 2 digit numbers using multiples of 10

Please remember to practice math facts nightly!

Online Practice Buddies are assigned to your child, they are welcome to complete any as optional homework at home!

Science
This week we began a new unit of study, Motion and Design!  We kicked off our unit by...

• meeting with our engineering teams and worked on teamwork and perseverance
• designed vehicles from two-view drawings
• explored how weight pulling on a vehicle affects the distance traveled

Upcoming Dates

• 11/23-11/25: No School; Happy Thanksgiving!
• 12/7: Late Start, 11:05 start

11/9-11/11

Happy Veterans Day!  Even though we only had a 3 day week, we still packed in a lot of learning.  See what we've been up to this week...

Reading
This week in our Navigating Nonfiction unit we...

• learned that all authors have a purpose for writing a text
• learned that there are three purposes:
• persuade
• inform
• entertain

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
This week in our Persuasive Essay unit we...

• revised our essays to elaborate on our evidence
• used powerful transitons in our essays
• revised our introductions

Math
In our Multiplication and Division unit we...

• used partial products to multiply 2 and 3 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers using the expanded algorithm
• learned the common/tradition way to multiply 2 and 3 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers

Please remember to practice your math facts nightly!  Fact fluency is one key to success in this unit!

Your child also has a Practice Buddy assigned to them online each day.  This is optional homework.

Social Studies
During social studies this week we...

• reflected on our strenghts and goals based on our Early Settlement assessments
• signed up for committees for our grade level service learning project (collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House)
• worked with our grade level committees

Upcoming Dates

• 11/14: Big Smiles Dental Clinic
• 11/23-11/25: No School

Halloween

Missouri Day