The Last Week of September

I can't believe that this is the last week of September! We have LOTS planned for this week. Here is a look at our week ahead: ***From our district: "For those of you who read the letter that accompanied your child's 2010-2011 ISAT report (grades 4 and 5), there was an error on the letter from the district. Last year, the state of Illinois did not have an ISAT writing assessment for any grade levels. District 25 students, once again, did quite well on the ISAT assessments, as you will see on our district and school report cards in October. Thank you!"***

* Ziyi is our MVP of the week--we can't wait to learn more about her!

* In reading, we will begin to use our reading binders/notebooks. The kids will make individual reading goals in 4 areas: fluency/word attack, genre, thinking, and reading behaviors. We will talk about the structure of fiction stories and continue to work with characters. The kids will look for examples of a character's traits in dialogue and action. They will also learn about the 4 different types of conflict a character faces. We will discuss the elements of plot and wrap up our study of realistic fiction.

* Our spelling list this week will have words with a long "o" sound. The kids will do their assignments online this week--there will be 6 total activities for the kids to do.

* In grammar, we will review compound and complex sentences. The kids will work with FAN BOYS (for, and, next, but, or, yet, so) and the correct punctuation when using them.

* In math the kids will continue to work with data and finding the landmarks of data. We will review different techniques for adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers. Please allow your child to work with ALL techniques assigned. We will do some traditional methods in class, however, we will also do some partial sums work as well. The kids will receive a study guide over Unit 2 by the end of this week. The test over Unit 2 will be next Tuesday, October 4th.

* In science the kids will work on creating songs to help them learn/review plate tectonics. They picked their groups and songs last week and will practice these songs the first few days of this week. We will record these performances in class and then begin to study for our second volcano quiz. The kids will receive a study guide in class and we will have a few days for review. The quiz/test over volcanoes will be on Monday, October 3rd.

* In writing we will work to show and not tell in our WEX pieces. The kids will have prompts that deal with parties, friendships, and showing emotion. Each week the children will receive a revision assignment to do, which will allow the kids to take a short portion of their writing and add more details to help entertain the reader.

* Just a reminder to turn in room rep forms and collect box tops for our school.

* As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please let me know--have a great week!