Weekly Update 1/28 - 2/1

Hello Families,

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Here's what we're working on this week:

Math - Today we started the new math groupings and it went very well in both classes.  We are continuing our unit on Geometry, specifically focuses on area of parallelograms and surface area this week.  There will be a quiz on Friday.  The different math classes with have some variations in the quiz.

Writing / Reading - We are examining the elements of mood and foreshadowing this week in our suspense stories.  We will also study these literary elements along with metaphors, similes and personification in our read-aloud book.

Word Study - In place of our weekly spelling and vocabulary word list, we are now beginning to focus on other word study lessons.  This week we will be looking at synonyms/antonyms, homographs/homophones and multiple meanings.  Additionally, there will be a daily language review every morning for five minutes.  The daily reviews address all topics in writing.  For example, this morning we looked at categorizing words, spelling, sentence editing and comprehension.  

History - We are continuing to study Jamestown and the various ways historians gather their sources.  On Thursday, we will move on to Bacon's Rebellion and how it affected the future of our country and our politics.

Science - We will continue to learn more about watersheds with hands-on activities out and around the campus.

Have a wonderful week!!!

Thanks,

Debby

Weekly Update 1/22/13

Hello Families,

I hope everyone enjoyed a nice 3-day weekend.  Here is what's happening this week:

Math - We are continuing to work on Area (of triangles right now).  There will be a quiz on Friday.

Reading - We will be discussing metaphors, personification and vocabulary as we continue our book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Writing - We are continuing to work on our suspense stories as we learn about foreshadowing, red herrings, and writing with a known ending.

Social Studies - This week we are examining how historians gather information in order to determine exactly what happened as "history."  We are also taking a closer look at Pocahontas.

Have a wonderful week!

Debby

This week 1/14 - 1/18

Hello Families,

My apologies for not getting out a blog to you sooner.  It's always hard to get back into routines after a break.  Here's what we're working on...

Math

The students took their mass assessments yesterday and we will be scoring them today after school.  A lot of factors beyond the test are being considered to determine the best placement for each child.  Ideally, each student will thrive in their group.  Of course, nothing is permanent.  

In the meantime, we are working on Geometry.  Specifically, area of triangles and irregular polygons (shapes).  

Social Studies

We are taking an in depth look at the first colony, Jamestown, VA.  There are many factors that played a role in the success of Jamestown.  However, it was a failing colony in the beginning.  We will be analyzing the various factors and determining their importance while also learning how to structure a paragraph with a thesis statement.  

Science

We have started our new unit that focuses on Watersheds.  So far, we have looked at how much water we use and how much water is actually available to us in the entire planet.  We have discussed water conservation and we will continue to look at this finite resource and discuss what factor effect watersheds and what we can do to protect them.

English

We have started our new read aloud book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.  The story is about racial tensions that existed post Civil War in the early 1900s.  We will be using this book in conjunction with our writing unit.  The next piece is a suspense story under the broader heading, Realistic Fiction.  We are studying characters and how writers create characters that are multi-faceted and complex.  The story also correlates with our Social Studies work as we learn how slaves were first brought to the New World.

Have a wonderful week!