- We are starting a unit on economics called the Classroom Economy. Through 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 will also begin a unit on geography. Students will be reading maps and answering questions.
Reading
- Unit 2 is entitled Catching the Light. Students will be working to answer the question: What is the power of the sun? 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 origin myth, How the Fifth Sun Came to Be retold by Lulu Delacre
- Comprehension skills for this week are: compare characters, comprehend questions, compare myths, compare story events, compare myths on their approaches to a topic. The test over these reading comprehension skills will be on Friday, September 11.
Writing
- Unit 2 is entitled Catching the Light. Students will be working to answer the question: What is the power of the sun? 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 assignment will be to write a compare-contrast essay. This is the prompt: You are writing an essay about ancient Mexico for a magazine. Choose two different gods from "How the Fifth Sun Came to Be." Compare their roles and actions. Tell how they are alike and different.
- 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 writing rubric posted on the top right column of this page.
- This assignment is due on Friday, September 11.
Spelling
- This week we will be working on spelling words with digraphs ck, sh and using commonly misspelled word correctly.
- The words are: anguish, backfire, bicker, gimmick, harsh, homesick, lackluster, perish, shattering, shawl, shielded, shimmer, shrine, stricken, threshold, aisle, I'll, isle.
- The spelling test will be on Friday, September 11.
Grammar
- Students will be working on using introductory elements and punctuating elements with commas.
- Students are encouraged to take good grammar notes and to review their notes before each test.
- The grammar test will be on Friday, September 11.
Math
- Chapter 3 is on adding and subtracting decimals.
- Week will complete lessons 3.3-3.6 this week.
- There will be one page of math homework assigned nightly, except for the test day.
- 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 1 scores.
- Students will be reading the following books this week: The Energy Stars, Ben Franklin's Fame, Little Blog on the Prairie.
- Students will also be completing learning stations during our small group reading time. All of these activities go along with our Unit 2 theme of catching the light. Students will turn in a packet of their work which will also count toward their science grades.