I hope everyone is staying warm! The kids did a great job with our hectic schedule last week. We are back to a normal five day schedule this week. Good thing, too! We have tons to do!!!
* Rebekah is our MVP this week. We can't wait to learn more about her!
* We continue to work with figurative language. The kids practiced similes and metaphors last week and this week our focus will be on personification and hyperboles.
* In writing we will continue our work with James and the Giant Peach. The children will work to connect a character's actions to feelings in setting, practice using strong verbs to show action, and cite details from the story to back up their opinions. We are really enjoying the book!
* We will continue to work with questioning in reading. The kids will practice asking authentic questions that extend our thinking. We will talk about questions that can be answered by our inference skills and be introduced to "lingering" questions that we will not get a definite answer to. We will also begin our ISAT review of long response writing, along with testing vocabulary practice.
* We worked all last week on division in math. We will devote Monday to one last day dividing by one digit divisors. The kids are recognizing how important it is to have their multiplication facts down. Tuesday we will move on to some problem solving strategies. We will learn about interpreting remainders, making remainders into fractions, and explaining our thinking when solving problems. All of these skills will be practiced throughout this week.
* We will begin Chapter 4 in our History Alive program. The kids will pretend that they are underwater archeologists responsible for excavating a sunken ship for artifacts. They will use these artifacts to draw conclusions about why Europeans left for the New World and learn about the tools that helped them along the way. This is a short unit, so the kids will receive a study guide over the material by the end of the week. We will have a test over Unit 4 next week. I will be sure to notify the kids (who will be assigned to tell you) well ahead of time.
* Have a great start to the week! - Mrs. Galazka :o)
