2/21-2/24

Good morning.  An additional note to our weekly update, students will be tie dying shirts for their musical performance in art class.  We will do this on Tuesday, February 28.  Please make sure students wear older clothes they don't mind if a little dye gets on them.  Take a look at what we've been working on this week...

Reading
We wrapped up our historical fiction unit by...

• growing powerful conversations with our book clubs
• identified themes across texts and learned that themes are universal ideas that authors get from real like

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
In our realistic short story unit we...

• used purposeful and powerful dialogue to reveal more about the characters in our stories
• elaborated upon the characters, setting, and moments
• included transitions in our writing

Math
This week we kicked off our rational numbers unit by...

• learning that the size of the whole matters when dealing with fractions
• the greater the denominator is in the fraction, the smaller the piece is
• when naming the piece (1/2, 1/3), the whole matters

Please practice your multiplication facts nightly!  Students are also assigned Online Practice Buddies.  Although they are optional, they are highly encouraged!

Social Studies
We have taken the time during social studies to prepare for our student led conferences, which start next week!

Upcoming Dates

• 2/28: Firehouse Field Trip
• 2/28: Progress Reports go live
• 3/1: Late Start; 11:05 start
• 3/2 & 3/7: Student-Led Conferences
• 3/2-3/7: Book Fair (school days)
• 3/3: PTO Grand Event from 8:00-9:00
• 3/8: Mrs. Nagy out
• 3/10: Spring Break

2/13-2/16

We had a productive week.  Check out what we've been working on...

Reading

This week in our historical fiction unit we...

• finished reading Number the Stars and used it to examine different forms of power within our book club books

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing

In our realistic short story unit we...

• learned how to correctly punctuate dialogue and start new paragraphs with new speakers
• drafted our short stories
• revised our introductions

Math

We wrapped up our multiplication and division unit by...

• reviewing factors, multiples, prime, and composite numbers

Our next unit of study is rational numbers.  The Family Letter went home this past week!

Please remember to practice math facts nightly.  Online Practice Buddies are assigned.  These are optional homework, but they are highly encouraged.  

Science

We wrapped up our electricity unit by...

• investigating magnets
• reviewing electricity concepts

Upcoming Dates

• 2/17 & 2/20: No School
• 2/24: Abilities Awareness Day
• 2/28: Firehouse Field Trip (Please make sure permission slips are signed and returned!)
• 3/1: Late Start; 11:05 start
• 3/2-3/7: Book Fair
• 3/2 & 3/7: Student Led Conferences
• 3/8: Mrs. Nagy out
• 3/10: Spring Break

2/6-2/10

Happy Friday!  Take a look at what we've been working on this week...

Reading
This week in our Historical fiction unit...

• readers participated in book clubs around a similar texts discussing theme and minor characters

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
In our Short Story unit...

• writers developed problems, characters, and plans for their short stories

Math
In our Multiplication and Division unit...

• mathematicians used multiplication, division, and addition to solve comparisons among quantities
• mathematicians solved multi-step word problems involving all operations

Please remember to practice math facts nightly!  Online Practice Buddies are also assigned as optional homework, but the extra practice at home is highly encouraged!

Science
In our Electricity unit we...

• used our knowledge of batteries and light bulbs to build a circuit
• explored how to troubleshoot circuits
• investigated conductors and insulators
• built series and parallel circuits

Please note that our Electricity Assessment will be on Thursday, February 16.

Upcoming Dates

• 2/13: Library Checkout
• 2/14: Valentines Parties; 2:40 *please not that any Valentines students bring in will need to be consumed at home*
• 2/15: Mrs. Nagy out
• 2/16: Electricity Assessment
• 2/17 & 2/20: No School; Teacher Work Day & Presidents Day
• 2/24: Abilities Awareness Day
• 2/28: Firehouse Field Trip
• The field trip does not need any chaperones, please ignore the bottom of the field trip form 
• 3/1: Late Start; 11:05 start
• 3/2 & 3/7: Student Led Spring Conferences

1/30-2/3

Happy Friday!  Please be on the look out for your child's Leadership Binder.  They will ask you to sign their Westward Expansion and Behavior Reflections.  Our latest math benchmark scores are also in our binders. Take a look at what we've been up to this week...

Writing
We started out Short Story unit!  Students will be writing realistic short stories.  We kicked off our unit by...

• identifying the characteristics of short stories
• brainstorming ideas for our stories
• starting to develop believable characters for our stories

Reading
Our historical fiction book clubs are up and running!  Check in with your child to see what book they are reading, and ask them what they've learned so far!  This week we...

• noticed how characters' perspectives are shaped by the times
• looked for small objects or phrases in our books that might be a symbol for something more meaningful

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Math
In our Multiplication and Division unit we...

• divided 4 digit dividends by using partial products
• solved multi-step problems that included division

Please remember to practice math facts nightly!  They are one of the keys to success in this unit!  Also, your child is assigned daily Practice Buddies to be completed as optional homework.  Although they are optional, the extra practice is encouraged!

Science
We started our Electricity unit this week!  Students were eager to start exploring and investigation.  This week we...

• investigated static electricity
• explored what electricity can do and how to build circuits with a light bulb, battery, and wire
• learned how to complete a circuit

Upcoming Dates

• 2/14: Valentines Day Party; 2:40-3:40
• 2/15: Mrs. Nagy out
• 2/17: No School (Teacher Work Day)

Valentines Day Note:

Any and all exchanged Valentines at school must be consumed at home.  Teachers are not allowed to let students consume exchanged treats at school.  Thank you for your understanding.