Vocabulary: The vocabulary words for this week are: aquifer, canal, channel, climate, course, function, gourd, region, acquire, availability, capacity, distribution, remind, scarcity. There will be a test on these words on Friday.
Spelling: This week we will be working on words with r-Controlled Vowels and commonly misspelled words. There will be a test on Friday over the spelling words. The words are: admiral, allergy, burden, corridor, deliver, filter, furrow, gorgeous, harbor, particles, resort, snorkel, submerge, surge, virtually, beach, beech, real, reel.
Grammar: This week we will be working on capitalizing proper adjectives and using irregular comparison adjectives. There will be a test on Friday. Students are encouraged to study their grammar notebooks each week.
Writing: Students will be writing a dialogue this week. The prompt is: A playwright is looking for a story with interesting characters and good dialogue that she can convert into a play set in the Sudan. Write story dialogue that will capture the playwright's interest. This dialogue is due on Friday, January 16.
Math: We will be working on our Go Math series. We will begin Chapter 8 this week. This chapter is about dividing fractions. We will complete lessons 8.1-8.4. The Mid-Chapter Checkpoint quiz will be on Thursday, covering lessons 8.1-8.3. There will be one page of math homework assigned nightly. 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: Students are working on a project in which they must find samples of living organisms. They must find at least six. They should draw a sketch of each organism, write a description, and the classify it into the appropriate kingdom. This project is due Thursday, January 15. We will then begin a new unit on classifying living things into classes. Students will be working in cooperative groups to make a powerpoint presentation. They are also expected to take notes on the material in their science notebooks. Notebooks will be graded.