Vocabulary: The vocabulary strategy this week is prefixes. A test will be given on Friday covering this skill.
Spelling: We will be working on multisyllabic words and commonly misspelled words. The spelling words are: algae, burrow, carcass, dominant, extinct, instinct, irregular, mutual, native, organic, saliva, slaughter, territory, unique, vegetation, burro, borough. The spelling test will be on Friday.
Grammar: Students will be working on plural nouns this week. A test will be given on Friday covering these skills.
Writing: This week we will be working on writing an science report. Students are to explain a food web within one ecosystem. They should use examples to explain the roles of producers and consumers. They should also include an explanation of how energy is transferred among living things. They should feature a drawing of their food web. They should present their final report as a poster. This is due Friday, October 3rd.
Math: We will be working on our Go Math series. We are working on Chapter 4, which covers multiplying decimals. We will complete lessons 4.6-4.8 this week. There will be one page of math homework assigned nightly, except for Fridays. We will also be taking the Mid-Chapter Checkpoint Quiz on Monday. Lesson 4.8 is the last lesson of the chapter. The Chapter 4 Test will be on Tuesday, October 14. Each Friday, students will also take a multiplication timed test. It is very important for students to be fluid with their multiplication facts. Daily practice of multiplication facts is encouraged.
Social Studies: We have started a new unit on The Civil War. To help us learn about the war, we are reading the book Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. Students have been assigned a copy of this historical fiction novel and be answer questions about the book.
Summary of Across Five Aprils: Drawn from family records and from stories told by the author's grandfather, this deeply moving novel conveys the bitterness and drama of the Civil War through the lives of an ordinary family. The story is told through the eyes of young Jethro Creighton, who lives with his closely knit family in a farming community in southern Illinois. In April of 1861, Jethro is nine years old, and too young to understand the meaning of war. By the second April, Jethro has watched his older brothers go off to fight-- two for the North, one for the South. His parents are stricken by grief and suffering as the neighbors take revenge. As the seasons change and the years pass, the family closeness dissolves, one brother is killed, and a cousin deserts the Union Army. By April of 1865, the meaning of war has become all too clear to Jethro. Although still a boy, he is forced to leave his boyhood behind. (From The Civil War: Literature Units, Projects, and Activities by Janet Cassidy)
Science: We are doing a science unit this week entitled "The Shocking Truth About Electrical Safety". We will be working on the following concepts: Electricity travels in a closed loop called a circuit. Electricity flows easily through conductors, not through insulators. Electricity always takes the easiest path to the ground. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. Because the human body is mostly water, it is also a good conductor of electricity. Most of the work we will be doing will be completed in our science notebooks. Notebooks will be collected and graded on a weekly basis.