Important Announcements
~ Since we missed current events today due to the late start, we will have them tomorrow.
~ The LS Talent Show is Wednesday morning at 8:30 in the theater
~ On Thursday, we have the Chinese New Year Parade at 8:15 and a speaker for Black History Month at 2:00.
~ I sent conference sheets home with the kids today. Please sign and return them this week.
~ We are working on rescheduling the mosque field trip. I will let you know once we have another date.
Math
We are starting Unit 9: Coordinates, Area, Volume, and Capacity this week. In this unit, students will practice plotting points on a coordinate grid and be introduced to transformations of figures in a plane. The are of rectangles will be reviewed and then used as a starting point to find areas of triangles and parallelograms. Volume and capacity concepts are also reviewed and extended.
Reading
We are beginning our non-fiction book clubs!! The children will be working on setting up what we are calling "intellectual conversations" between themselves and their classmates, as well as creating a productive atmosphere focused on learning and sharing knowledge. They have been diving into various topics to decide what they would like to study and research as we go through this unit. There has been a lot of excitement and information floating around as we have begun investigating several interesting ideas to study over the course of the next few weeks! From here, we will build on our knowledge through reading various texts, asking questions, discussing what we're learning, and developing theories about our topics. We can't wait to see the finished results as we share all of our thoughts and ideas about our topics with another class.
Writing
We have started a new unit focused on writing argument essays. Strong opinion writing is an important skill for students to master, especially considering it is a skill that is often seen in high stakes testing. In order for the children to develop a deeper understanding of how to choose a theory/thesis, collect evidence, and create a substantial & supporting argument to defend their position, we will this unit by taking various sides on many well-known arguments, as well as reading, "The Giving Tree", to practice these strategies in building a case for our argument - all through debate-style discussion. Children will be given the opportunity to caucus, revise their arguments, face off with opponents, and rebut their opponents points after caucusing again with groups of their peers who agree with their position. Through this process of discussion and considering both sides of an argument, the children will be able to focus on the key points of debate and we are hoping to see this transfer to their writing when we start arguing about "chocolate milk for lunch" next week.
Social Studies
This week in social studies, we will be learning about arguably the greatest land deal ever; The Louisiana Purchase. We will be studying Lewis and Clark. The brave men who explored the Louisiana Purchase. We will dig deeper into their amazing journey and learn about how it changed the face of our country forever.
Homework
Math: POW
Reading Comp: "Measuring Growth"
Current Event Wednesday
Writing: Read the Time For Kids debate "Should Everyone Get a Prize?" and write an essay on your opinion.
~ Since we missed current events today due to the late start, we will have them tomorrow.
~ The LS Talent Show is Wednesday morning at 8:30 in the theater
~ On Thursday, we have the Chinese New Year Parade at 8:15 and a speaker for Black History Month at 2:00.
~ I sent conference sheets home with the kids today. Please sign and return them this week.
~ We are working on rescheduling the mosque field trip. I will let you know once we have another date.
Math
We are starting Unit 9: Coordinates, Area, Volume, and Capacity this week. In this unit, students will practice plotting points on a coordinate grid and be introduced to transformations of figures in a plane. The are of rectangles will be reviewed and then used as a starting point to find areas of triangles and parallelograms. Volume and capacity concepts are also reviewed and extended.
Reading
We are beginning our non-fiction book clubs!! The children will be working on setting up what we are calling "intellectual conversations" between themselves and their classmates, as well as creating a productive atmosphere focused on learning and sharing knowledge. They have been diving into various topics to decide what they would like to study and research as we go through this unit. There has been a lot of excitement and information floating around as we have begun investigating several interesting ideas to study over the course of the next few weeks! From here, we will build on our knowledge through reading various texts, asking questions, discussing what we're learning, and developing theories about our topics. We can't wait to see the finished results as we share all of our thoughts and ideas about our topics with another class.
Writing
We have started a new unit focused on writing argument essays. Strong opinion writing is an important skill for students to master, especially considering it is a skill that is often seen in high stakes testing. In order for the children to develop a deeper understanding of how to choose a theory/thesis, collect evidence, and create a substantial & supporting argument to defend their position, we will this unit by taking various sides on many well-known arguments, as well as reading, "The Giving Tree", to practice these strategies in building a case for our argument - all through debate-style discussion. Children will be given the opportunity to caucus, revise their arguments, face off with opponents, and rebut their opponents points after caucusing again with groups of their peers who agree with their position. Through this process of discussion and considering both sides of an argument, the children will be able to focus on the key points of debate and we are hoping to see this transfer to their writing when we start arguing about "chocolate milk for lunch" next week.
Social Studies
This week in social studies, we will be learning about arguably the greatest land deal ever; The Louisiana Purchase. We will be studying Lewis and Clark. The brave men who explored the Louisiana Purchase. We will dig deeper into their amazing journey and learn about how it changed the face of our country forever.
Homework
Math: POW
Reading Comp: "Measuring Growth"
Current Event Wednesday
Writing: Read the Time For Kids debate "Should Everyone Get a Prize?" and write an essay on your opinion.