HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with their family.  We had an enjoyable week as we eased back into our learning and routines.  This past week we visited with our preschool buddies, enjoyed more of our Discovery game, attended a Kindness assembly, and organized our learning spaces.  Below is an academic focus for the upcoming week.

Please note we have an all day field trip, the Fine Arts Extravaganza, this Wednesday.  We sent home information about this wonderful opportunity before the Winter Break.  Students will be introduced to the amazing fine arts experiences available to them in middle and high school.  One important consideration is we will be eating lunch in Jesse Auditorium and we will not have coolers.  Please send home lunches with disposable bags for this trip or students can purchase a sack lunch from the cafeteria.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Reading:  During reading time, we are integrating nonfiction reading about early colonies in American (Jamestown, New Sweden, New Amsterdam, St. Augustine, etc) and also spending some time each day progressing on book shares.  Each reader should have 5 book shares by the end of January.

Writing: During writing time, we are engaging in daily writing tasks focused on our colonial historical fiction narratives.  Currently, our focus is on punctuation.  This week we will craft dialogue for our narratives and begin to plan a story plan for our final copies.  Next week, we will also be revisiting our word study routine.

Math:  We started the New Year in math focusing on fractions.  So far our focus has been on the meaning of fractions, how they relate to percents, and comparing fractions.  This week, we will learn a new game and focus on comparing fractions.

Social Studies:  In SS, we will enjoy our Discovery game for one more week.  Each group of students has established a colony in the New World.  The events in this role playing game have matched the nonfiction information about colonial settlements in our textbook and other books.  These events are also used as inspiration for our narratives.

Science: In science, we are finishing up our Matter unit.  Students have all had live experiences with physical and chemical changes.  On Monday, we will look at 2 more examples of changes.  During the rest of the week, we will analyze real world examples of physical and chemical changes.  Also, we will begin planning our community science project.