Well Mother Nature certainly is not happy this year! Hopefully everyone is staying warm and healthy during these past couple of days. This week will be even busier now that we only have 3 days in the classroom. Here is a look at our week ahead:
* Dhruv is our Star Student! We look forward to learning more about him!
* Midterms will be coming home in the Weekly Folders on Friday. This will give you an idea of where your child's grades are as of last Friday. Please remember that these are in no way a final grade and that there are many more opportunities for your child to raise his/her grade during the second part of the trimester. I will say that written responses are a huge part of the remainder of the year. These will show up in writing, reading, math, social studies, and science! Please encourage your child to always show his/her best work with writing!
* We continue to review figurative language in class. The kids have done a great job looking for examples of similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeias. This week we will focus on hyperboles--exaggerations---I'm sure you have heard one or two in your day (hyperbole intended).
* Our study of Greek mythology had us learn about King Midas and Pandora last week. This week we will look to Hercules for some guidance. We are keeping track of the allusions we have learned so far such as the "Midas touch"and "opening Pandora's Box". The kids are becoming comfortable summarizing information and looking for the theme as well.
* In reading we will continue to work with asking thick questions. We will cover strategies to use when we come across text that we have a question about. We will also learn a new note-taking technique which has us keep track of what we're learning vs what we're wondering/thinking. The kids will begin their science fiction reading groups this week and we will also do some more work with our extended responses. These responses require the kids to answer a specific prompt, cite specific text from their book that proves their answer/opinion, and then explain their own thinking about the subject. Lots of writing and explaining to do!
* We will continue to practice our long division with one digit divisors in math. We will also take a closer look at problem solvers. The kids will be exposed to 7 different strategies to use when solving a math problem. We will practice showing ALL of our work/thinking and using mathematical vocabulary to explain what strategy we chose and why we chose it. You will see problem solvers come home as part of weekly homework. Please encourage your child to underline important pieces to the problem and to show all his/her work on the paper! Again, the more your child is comfortable with his/her basic math facts, the better he/she will do on these new topics!
* We fell a bit behind in our electricity unit last week, but we will pick up where we left off tomorrow. We will work with simple circuits to explore how electricity can create heat, motion, and sound. The kids will have a chance to make their own electromagnet. If time permits, we will start to experiment with conductors and insulators!
* The beginning of 2014 has been anything but normal in terms of schedules. I commend the kids for hanging in there with all of the changes. They have done a great job of trying to concentrate with all that is going on around them and having indoor recess to boot. One day we will get back outside again for some fresh air! Hope you are all staying warm and have a great end to your January!
~ Mrs. Galazka
