Math: We have starting working on Chapter 2. This chapter focuses on dividing whole numbers. We will complete lessons 2.1-2.4 this week. On Friday, students will take the Mid-Chapter Checkpoint quiz on lessons 2.1-2.4. There will be one page of homework assigned nightly in addition to any work not completed during class.
Reading: We are reading the novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. (See home page for a synopsis.) We will be working on quoting accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text, and determining the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text. Students will be asked to build a model of Brian's camp as described in the book. This will be done during art class. Due date to follow. Students will also take a quiz on chapters 5-8 of the book. We will then begin reading chapters 9-12.
Reading groups: I have assigned students to reading groups. Each group will be reading a novel and working on various common core reading skills. We will be reading the following books: Because of Winn-Dixie, Old Yeller, Titanic: Book 1: Unsinkable, Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger.
Reading homework: There will be one page of reading homework assigned nightly. This week we will be focusing on explaining how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text, identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).
Grammar: We will be working in class on demonstrating command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. We are going to begin working on punctuation, focusing on using commas this week. We will do a practice page each day. Students are expected to correct their work when we go over it together and turn it in each day.
Spelling: We will be working to spell grade-appropriate words correctly. Students will complete a packet practicing the week's skill in class. They may take it home to study as well. A copy of the spelling list is available on the assignments page. Students will take a test on Friday over the week's spelling words as well as the spelling skill itself. This week we will be working on AU words. The spelling words are: because, laughter, aunt, taught, bought, sauce, pause, daughter, haunted, thought, laughed, nauseous, caught.
Social Studies: We have started a unit on the American Revolution. We will start by focusing on the what life was like in colonial America before the Revolutionary War. Students are working on a research project in which they will be assigned a trade from colonial times. They will have to research what that person's job was and what skills were needed to perform the job. Due date is Tuesday, 8/27.
Science: We are going to work on a life science unit on classifying living things. Students will be categorizing organisms into classes.
Writing: Each day students will be completing a daily writing warm-up which focuses on many writing skills. They will also complete a quick write on a given prompt. We will also be working on the steps of writer's workshop in which students will have the opportunity to revise and edit their writing. Our current set of writing prompts focuses on writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. Students should be writing at least a paragraph each day. We will take Quiz