Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I loved hearing all about your spring break adventures, away or at home. As much as I loved the time off, I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.
~ We are starting our Chinese lessons this week. Mrs. Walden will be coming four different times to teach us all about the Chinese language and culture. Our studies will culminate with a field trip to have lunch at the same Chinese restaurant that the students ate at in first grade.
~ We will be having a class March Madness tournament. I have given every student a bracket to complete my Thursday. Participation is optional, but I highly recommend that every student complete the bracket. two years ago one of the girls who knew nothing about basketball won, so everyone has a chance!
Social Studies
In social studies we will be learning about the War of 1812. Many people call this the second Revolutionary War. There are several fascinating stories that accompany this war, including: Dolly Madison saving the painting of George Washington before the British burned the White House and Andrew Jackson fighting the last battle of the war,The Battle of New Orleans, after the war had officially ended! Next we will tackle the difficult topic of the Trail of Tears.
Math
In math, we will continue on Unit 8 working with fractions and mixed numbers. We will learn about finding a fraction of a fraction, as well as multiplying fractions and whole numbers. The upcoming units are tough, so we've really been encouraging students to be focused and hard-working.
Reading
The children are now beginning to develop theories about their topics. As they do this, they keep in mind the essential questions of: "What is the big life lesson that a researcher of this topic could take away? What can others learn about life in general by learning about this topic?" Next week, students will being to put together a presentation on their topic.
Writing
Students are continuing to learn the structure of opinion essay writing as they develop pieces supporting or opposing having chocolate milk served in schools. Students have taken a claim, developed reasons, and are learning how to pull in evidence to support their points. Students will also learn how to include counterarguments as a useful strategy. Once these quick drafts are over, students will be tackling topics where they will read and collect evidence on their own before choosing a side and developing an essay based on that.
Homework
~ We are starting our Chinese lessons this week. Mrs. Walden will be coming four different times to teach us all about the Chinese language and culture. Our studies will culminate with a field trip to have lunch at the same Chinese restaurant that the students ate at in first grade.
~ We will be having a class March Madness tournament. I have given every student a bracket to complete my Thursday. Participation is optional, but I highly recommend that every student complete the bracket. two years ago one of the girls who knew nothing about basketball won, so everyone has a chance!
Social Studies
In social studies we will be learning about the War of 1812. Many people call this the second Revolutionary War. There are several fascinating stories that accompany this war, including: Dolly Madison saving the painting of George Washington before the British burned the White House and Andrew Jackson fighting the last battle of the war,The Battle of New Orleans, after the war had officially ended! Next we will tackle the difficult topic of the Trail of Tears.
Math
In math, we will continue on Unit 8 working with fractions and mixed numbers. We will learn about finding a fraction of a fraction, as well as multiplying fractions and whole numbers. The upcoming units are tough, so we've really been encouraging students to be focused and hard-working.
Reading
The children are now beginning to develop theories about their topics. As they do this, they keep in mind the essential questions of: "What is the big life lesson that a researcher of this topic could take away? What can others learn about life in general by learning about this topic?" Next week, students will being to put together a presentation on their topic.
Writing
Students are continuing to learn the structure of opinion essay writing as they develop pieces supporting or opposing having chocolate milk served in schools. Students have taken a claim, developed reasons, and are learning how to pull in evidence to support their points. Students will also learn how to include counterarguments as a useful strategy. Once these quick drafts are over, students will be tackling topics where they will read and collect evidence on their own before choosing a side and developing an essay based on that.
Homework
- Reading Comp: "From A Small Beginning To A Great Power" This reading comp is about Andrew Jackson and fits in perfectly with our social studies unit.
- Students have a key points page to fill out for their nonfiction book club
- Math: POW and assigned study links/pages
- The vocab words are on Quizlet. This week we will be doing a word study sort as well. Those words are on a separate Quizlet page. The vocab words relate to the word study suffixes. Vocab link: http://quizlet.com/_n30ss word study link: http://quizlet.com/_n31az
- Writing: Students will be flash drafting their thoughts on their nonfiction topic. Here is the assignment... Flash Draft Response for Non-Fiction Topic
As you have begun reading your various texts focused on your topic, start to consider how that information is being presented to you. Write a page response to this information making sure to consider the following points as you write:
★ How is the author of your text trying to make the reader feel about this topic?
-- What ways is the author creating these feelings?
* What specific words/phrases/photos are being presented?
* What feelings do they invoke? Why?
★★★Using evidence and examples from the text, support your answer.
★ How are you feeling about the topic?
-- Based on the reading you have done so far…
* What reactions have you had to what you are learning about your topic?
* What are some new realizations you are having about your topic?
--What is causing these new realizations & WHY?
★★★Using evidence and examples from the text, support your answers.