Week of October 11-14

Monday, October 10^th, is a school holiday celebrating Columbus Day.  

Picture Day is Wednesday, October 12th during the school day. If you would like to order prints, please turn in the order form to your child's homeroom teacher. 

Do not forget to sign up for Parent/Teacher Conferences October 19-21.  Use the links below to secure your spot.  We can't wait to celebrate the successes of your child and discuss their goals moving forward.

         Rozzell/Scott               Badrak/Jackson                  Duncan/Ford

Please consider supporting Ms. Badrak’s and Ms. Jackson’s flexible seating Donors Choose funds:
                                    Badrack                  Jackson

  

Reading: Readers will review elements of realistic fiction (characters, setting, plot, conflict, & resolution) and identify in both familiar and non-familiar texts. We will also compare those elements to the features of the narrative arc. We will continue mapping stories on the narrative arc. By the end of the week, students will be mapping stories independently. We will also begin pulling guided reading groups this week, focusing on routines, procedures, and expectations in a small group setting. 

Writing: Writers will shift focus from retelling familiar stories to thinking about the overall theme of the text. We have moved from Narrative Core Question #1 (What is happening in this text?) to Question #2 (What does this text mean to me?). We will look at familiar realistic fiction texts to talk about and write about the author’s lesson. Please note that we will use these terms interchangeably throughout the unit: theme, lesson, and message.

Spelling: Students received new sorts/words on Wednesday, October 5^th. The assessment on those words will be Wednesday, October 12^th. Remember to utilize the at-home spelling practice if your child can benefit from additional practice at home.

Social Studies: We will start our unit on famous explorers! This week, we will look at different explorer’s timelines and notice specifically how timelines display important events in an effective manner. To apply our new learning, we will create our own personal timelines in class. 

Math: This short week, we begin our next unit - Subtraction! After a brief pretest, we will start with problems that do not require regrouping, mainly as a review and to emphasize the right to left progression. As the week goes on, we will begin regrouping in the hundreds and thousands places and eventually the ones and tens places. We are slightly changing our math fact testing. Students who have progressed on to multiplication will only test on Friday. Those who are still perfecting their addition and subtraction skills will test on Wednesday and then on Friday if they do not pass. There is no POW this week. We hope you enjoyed working with your child on last week's problem about the football party tables. There are more challenges to come! Be on the lookout for written homework Tuesday and Wednesday nights. They will review place value skills we have already covered.

Science: Matter takes up space and that is called volume. Our classes will participate in a Volume Lab as they learn how to use different graduated cylinders. Students will be graded on accuracy, collaboration, and cooperation. States of matter can also be changed! All it takes is the adding or taking away of heat and therefore, energy. We will examine what it takes to change matter from one state to another. Our vocabulary will include melting, evaporation, sublimation, condensation, and solidifying. As we fast approach the end of our matter unit, it is important for everyone to review the content page and vocabulary cards that went home last week. Our matter test is scheduled for Wednesday, October 19.