Math: We are going to be returning to our Go Math book this week with Chapter 9. Chapter 9 will cover Algebra: Patterns and Graphing. We will complete lessons 9.1-9.4 this week. There will be one page of homework assigned nightly in addition to any work not completed during class. Remember there are many resources available on the Think Central Website. Click here to go the the website. For username and password questions, contact Mrs. Brannock at [email protected].
Reading: We are beginning a lesson on main idea and supporting details. We will be working on several lessons that teach students skills and strategies for understanding main idea. We will then do a final project to pull the concept together and offer students an opportunity to demonstrate creatively what they learned in the lessons.
Reading groups: Reading groups have been revised. We will be working on a variety of reading and literacy skills. Students will be expected to complete assignments related to the books we are reading, as well as to take Accelerated Reader quizzes on the books we read. We are currently reading the following books: Misery Guts, Stone Fox, The Case of the Million-Dollar Mystery, and Elaine and the Flying Frog.
Reading homework: There will be one page of reading homework assigned nightly. This week we will be focusing on time lines and sequence.
Reading Skill Practice: We will be working a variety of reading skills. Students will read a short passage and then answer questions about the passage. We will be taking periodic comprehension tests on the reading passages. I will also be testing students on reading fluency. This week we will be focusing on reading and comprehending functional texts independently and proficiently; determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
Spelling and Grammar: We will be working to spell grade-appropriate words correctly. Students will complete a packet practicing the week's spelling and grammar skills in class. They may take it home to study as well. Students will take a test on Friday over the week's spelling words as well as the grammar skill. This week we will be working on prefixes im-, in-, and pre-; and commas in a letter. The spelling words are: prehistoric, bicycle, prevent, inconvenient, inconsiderate, preview, import, action, cyclone, portable, impatient, automobile.
Social Studies: We have started a unit on the American Revolution. We have read the poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Students will be researching the actual events of Paul Revere's ride and looking for the inaccuracies in the poem. Students will then be asked to write their own more accurate poem about what happened that night. We will also be looking at Paul Revere's ride from different perspectives and students will be writing an account of what happened from a different point of view.
Science: We are working on a unit on insects. Students are now working on an inquiry investigation on insects. This will be completed primarily during class. The project will be due on February 6. Students will present their projects to their classmates on this day.
Writing and Grammar: Each day students will complete a writing warm-up which will cover many writing and grammar skills. This week, our focus will be on explaining the function of conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections in general and their function in particular sentences. Students will also write a quickwrite each day on a given prompt. Students should be writing at least a paragraph each day.