Week of Feb. 15th -19th

Literacy

Read Aloud

• Zathura, by Chris Van Allsburg, we will focus on identifying past tense verbs as we read along , identifying the Author's Purpose, and Point of View.

Shared Reading

• We will read our School's Mission Statement and Philosophy to understand it and discuss it as a class.
• Excerpts from Zathura, focus on identifying the main idea

Interactive Writing:

• We will finish the chart about abbreveations
• We will write our ideas/steps to funnel a topic (an activity done to narrow a broad topic to a more specific topic to make it easier to write about)
• We will write an interpretation about our school's Mission Statement and Philosophy

Independent Writing

• We will write 10-12 topics we call "Things that are close to our heart..." , which are topics students feel strongly identified to, are special to them, or they know a lot about. They will write this list to refer to when doing free writng (student selected topic) in class. We will later funnel some of these topics to get acquainted with this technique.
• Students will write their own interpretation of the School's Mission Statement and Philosophy.
• Students will select a topic from "Things that are close to my heart..." and write about it.

Students will aso participate in Centers, Independent Reading, Book Clubs, and Writing Cycles

MATH
This week we continue with our Geometry Unit. We are moving from solid figures, polygons, and triangles, to identifying triangles by their angles (right angle, acute, or obtuse). Students should be able to identify and name different angles, as well as these angles within a triangle. They will be quized on this on Wednesday.
We will also be reviewing congruent figures and motions (flip, slide, turn) but calling them by new names (reflection, rotation, translation). Going beyond this, students will be exploring similar figures. Next week will be a quiz on these topics.

IMPORTANT: Last week we tried to do a problem solving activity using fractions. Many students forgot how to add or subtract fractions that had different denominators. This week (as bellwork) we will be reviewing adding and subtracting fractions (mixed and improper fractions included), as well as focusing on problem solving. Next week there will be a problem solving quiz on fractions. Please have students review these at home. They can use any of the past websites (still listed under Math sites on the right side of our blog page) to help.

Timed Test: This week we will begin the division timed tests. We will begin with 1 as a divisor. The nice thing about 1 as a divisor, is that any number divided by 1 stays the same! This should be an easy week, but please prepare students for 2 as a divisor, which will be next week.

SOCIAL STUDIES
This week we continue our study of the United States, and specifically the Southwest region. We will be learning about different landforms and resources of the region.

Valentine's Day Celebration

We will be celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow. If they wish, students may bring candy and/or cards for every student in the class. Please bring a bag, basket, or any other container to collect candy and cards. Tomorrow is a free Valentine's Color's Day and a regular school day (no early dismissal). Thank you very much.

Literacy Homework: Wednesday, Feb. 10

Go to http://www.candlelightstories.com/Stories/Thumbelina.htm

a) Reread/review the story
b) Identify the following Literary Elements and write them on your Reading Journal:

1) Setting
2) Protagonist
3) Antagonist
4) Author's Purpose
5) Point of View
6) Conflict
7) Solution

Literacy Homework: Tuesday, Feb. 9

1) Go to http://www.candlelightstories.com/2009/09/08/storybook-thumbelina/

2) Read the story Thumbelina. Enjoy!

Literacy Homework: Monday, Feb. 8th

You need to read The Rajah's Rice, from your Readng Textbook, pg. 18.
Then, you need to identify the following literary elements in your Reading Journal:
1) Setting
2) Protagonist
3) Antagonist
4) Author's Purpose (Authors write to entertain, persuade or inform!)
5) Point of View ( It refers to the narrator of the story. It may be one of the characters using first person point of view-I, or it may be a Third Person Point of View when it is narrated from a different and outside prespective.
6) Conflict
7) Solution

Week of Feb. 8th -11th

Literacy:

A reminder that Friday, Feb. 12 is a Holiday!

Read Aloud

• Zathura, by Chris van Alsburg, focus on identifying the main idea and author's purpose
• Slinky, Scaly, Slithery Snakes, by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, focus using picture clues and authors's purpose

Shared Reading

• Excerpts from Zathura, focus on identifying the main idea
• Ant Notes- Interactie Editing

Interactive Writing

• We will write abbreviations for days, months, and titles
• We will also write a summary for the book we read last week, Pinduli

Independent Writing

• Students will write sentences using the abbreviations we write during Interactive Writing
• Students will write a summary using the adjectives and nouns we wrote during Interactive Writing last week.

Students will also participate in Writing Cycles, Centers, and Independent Reading

MATH:
Last week we started our new unit in Geometry. We discussed Solid figures and their characteristics. Today we looked a polygons (triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, octagon). Tomorrow we will be discussing the different types of triangles (equilateral, isosceles, and scalene). Wednesday we will review these lessons and then Thursday will be a quiz on solid figures, polygons, and triangles.

Thursday Timed Test: this week's timed test will include all multiplication tables from 0-12. Students will have 2 minutes to answer 30 questions from a variety of tables.

SOCIAL STUDIES:
This week we are starting a new unit in Social Studies. We will be talking again about the land of the United States, although this time we will be discussing the Southwest. We will begin Tuesday by looking at physical maps of the United States. We will then focus on the Southwestern regions, including Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. We will focus mostly on the desert qualities of these areas, and will be discussing resources and landforms in the deserts. This week we will be looking solely at the landforms and the physical maps.

Week of Feb. 2nd - 5th

LITERACY

Read Aloud:

• Pinduli, by Janell Cannon, focus on identifying adjectives and the nouns they describe
• Zathura, by Crhis Van Allsburg, focus on reAding with expression and visualizing
• Slinky, Scaly, Slithery Snakes, by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, focus on using pictures to enhance comprehension

Shared Reading:

• Excerpts from Zathura, focus on identifying the main ideas
• Snake Notes - Interactive Editing Sample

Interactive Writing:

• Adjective/Noun Chart
• Identifying and writing the main idea as we read Zathura

Independent Writing:

Students will be defining unknown words used as adjectives and will be writing sentences with the adjectives and nouns we write on chart paper.

Students will aslo participate in Independent Reading, Centers, and Writing Cycles.

MATH:
Tomorrow students will be tested on multiplying by multiples of 10, as well as multiplying by 2-digit numbers. This is something they learned all last week and reviewed today.

We will also looking at estimating greater products (rounding bigger numbers to make it easier to multiply).

This week we will also begin our geometry unit. We will be starting with solids (cone, cube, prism, etc); polygons (quadrilateral, pentagon, octagon, etc.); and triangles (isosceles, scalene, equilateral). Students will be tested on these concepts sometime next week.

Timed Test: the timed test will be on the 12 factors this week.

SCIENCE:

This week in Science, we will be trying a learning technique called "Jigsaw". Students have been divided into "home groups" of five to six students, each of which is also given a number. Individual members of each group then break off to work with other group members with the same number. These are their "expert groups". In these "expert groups", students will take time to research different climate zones for our weather unit. Each expert group has a different climate zone. Afterward, they return to their home groups in the role of instructor to teach the other members about the climate zone that they are now an "expert" in.

The jigsaw strategy is an efficient teaching method that also encourages listening, engagement, interaction, teaching, and cooperation by giving each member of the group an essential part to play in the academic activity. Both individual and group accountability are built into the process. In ESL classrooms, jigsaws are a four-skills approach, integrating reading, speaking, listening and writing.

Thursday we will review all of the climate zones as a class (in case any important details were missed by any groups, and to assure we are all on the same page) and then Friday students will be quizzed on this material.