Vocabulary: The vocabulary words for this week are: cause, construction, gold rush, ranching, reservation, settler, establish, expansion, explore, frontier, individual, visualize. There will be a test on these words on Friday.
Spelling: This week we will be working on words with r-Controlled Vowels. There will be a test on Friday over the spelling words. The words are: alert, archery, assertive, assortment, depart, durable, forfeit, fortress, hardship, lantern, marshal, minerals, organize, stirrups, surly, minor, miner, corral, coral.
Grammar: This week we will be working on pronouns. There will be a test on Friday. Students are encouraged to study their grammar notebooks each week.
Writing: Students will be doing a research project this week. The prompt is as follows: The local historical society is showcasing ghost towns. They want you to take on the role of a former resident of a ghost town and give a presentation at their next meeting. To prepare, research ghost towns. Find out what happens to create one. Then choose a specific ghost town to be "your town". Tell what happened to it, and to you, as it went from boom to bust.
Math: We will be working on our Go Math series. We are now working on Chapter 9. This chapter will be about patterns a graphing. We will complete lessons 9.2-9.5 this week. Students will take the Mid-Chapter Checkpoint quiz on Thursday covering lessons 9.1-9.4. 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) We will be having a cumulative test over the book on Monday.
Science: Student are working on a 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.