- We are working on a unit on economics called the Classroom Economy. Throughout this unit students will be learning valuable life skills in an experiential way. They will take part in a simulation of real-world economic activity; learn the value of earning a paycheck, as they bank salaries from classroom jobs; learn how to budget their spending, balance checking accounts, and make scheduled payments; discover the importance of saving money to obtain what they want; find out that every decision has an opportunity cost.
- We are also working on a unit on geography. Students will be reading maps and answering questions.
- Students are working on a report on a explorer. Each student chose an explorer and must answer the following questions in their reports:
- What was the explorer's name? Who sponsored or encouraged the expedition? When did it take place?
- How many people went of the journey? How did they travel?
- What was the goal or purpose of the expedition? Did the goal change during the explorer's travels? If so, how did it change?
- The explorers traveled through what areas of North America?
- What difficulties did the expedition encounter?
- Why was the expedition important enough for later generations to remember?
- This report is due Tuesday, 10/27.
Reading
- Unit 3 is entitled Nature's Network. Students will be working to answer the question: What is Nature's Network? This unit will focus on science concepts as well so some of the assignments during this unit will count toward students' science grades.
- Students will be reading the interview, Fish of the Future by Cheryl Block.
- Comprehension skills for this week are: determine main ideas and supporting details, and determine importance.
- The Reading Comprehension Test will be on Friday October 30.
Writing
- Unit 3 is entitled Nature's Network. Students will be working to answer the question: What is Nature's Network? This unit will focus on science concepts as well so some of the assignments during this unit will count toward students' science grades.
- This week's writing project will be to research an animal. This is the prompt: An aquarium in your area is having a contest for students. To enter, you must research an ocean animal that interests you and prepare an oral presentation. Your presentation must include multimedia elements, such as an online video or live web-cam that shows how the animal behaves in its ocean habitat. Contest winners will share their presentations with aquarium visitors on "Young Scientists' Day."
- We will work on this project during class, however, students may need to work on some of the assignment at home. Students will be graded according to the research rubric posted on the top right column of this page.
- This assignment is due on Friday, October 30.
Spelling
- This week we will be working on words with long a, i, o, u in VCe form; Long and short vowels; and commonly misspelled words.
- The words are: agitate, attribute, biome, canine, clone, despise, fascinate, graze, hibernate, introduce, intrude, pesticide, provoke, vile, wholesome, choral, coral, chorale, corral.
- The spelling test will be on Friday, October 30.
Grammar
- Students will be working on capitalizing and punctuating titles of works and using collective nouns.
- Students are encouraged to take good grammar notes and to review their notes before each test.
- The grammar test will be on Thursday, October 29.
Math
- We are working on Chapter 5, Divide Decimals.
- We will complete lessons 5.4-5.6
- There will be one page of math homework assigned nightly.
- There are many resources available on ThinkCentral to help students.
- Every Friday, we will be having a multiplication timed test. Students should be practicing their multiplication facts daily.
Small Group Reading
- Students will be placed into leveled small groups based on the results of their Unit 2 scores.
- Students will be reading the following books this week: Learning About Ocean Animals, The Oceans Around Us, Sylvia Earle: Protecting the Seas, and An Ocean Food Chain.
- Students will also be completing learning stations during our small group reading time. All of these activities go along with our Unit 3 theme of nature's network. Students will turn in a packet of their work which will also count toward their science grades.