End of Second Quarter

Second quarter officially ends this week and report card grades will be finalized.  Please remember to turn in any missing work (for reduced credit) or corrections near the beginning of the week.  Don't forget that you can always see your child's current grades on Parent Portal (see link below.)  Our class will be doing Scantron testing this week:  Reading on Wednesday and Math on Thursday.  Please remind your child of the importance of these tests and make sure they have a calculator on Thursday (as they should everyday.)

Here's what we will be learning this week, the week of 1-23-12:  In Word Work, we will be working in our Word Wisdom book on Unit 3, “Thinking,” Part 2. Our words for the week are still scientific, concept, perception, suppose, conscience, positive, probable, purpose, probe, and preconceive. We will begin the week by classifying the groups into different categories. Students will take the test on Tuesday. On Wednesday and Thursday, students will do some activities to help the understand the difference between mindful and unmindful behavior.

In literature study, we will continue reading Why They Marched: The Struggle for the Right to Vote. Students will review the importance of identifying headings and subheadings as a means of helping comprehend the text. They will continue to write in their reflection journals. In addition, we will review how to write an extended response. We will read a passage together and students will see some sample responses that other students have written. We will grade them and see what grade they earned from the state. Students will practice writing their own extended response related to Why They Marched. On Thursday, we will watch the movie Selma, Lord, Selma: “Disney presents a truly inspiring motion picture that accurately captures one of the most historically significant events in the struggle for civil rights.” This, of course, is the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

In writing workshop, students will learn how to take an event from their plot diagram and turn it into a scene in their realistic fiction story. We will also spend some time reviewing how to “show not tell” so students’ writing is more interesting and alive. In addition, students will get the rubric for their fiction stories.

This week in math, students will locate fractions and decimals on a number line. Students will also explain and record mathematical observations using words, pictures, and symbols. Finally, students will end the week taking the Topic 9 Test: Fractions and Decimals.

This week in science, we will continue working with class-one levers. Our investigation should reinforce the idea that a load is easier to lift when the effort is applied further from the fulcrum in a class-one lever. In the investigation, students will practice collecting data, recording it in a data table, and plotting that data on a line graph.  Don't forget to check out the Levers and Pulleys link below!