Appologies for the late posting, but this website has been giving me some trouble. Here's what we are learning this week. If the trouble clears up, I'll be posting some pictures from our amazing Black History and Civil Rights Museum which was a huge success last Friday!
In Word Work, students will continue Word Wisdom Unit 5: Measurement. We will work on Part 2 this week which focuses on Latin Roots.
In literature study we will be reading the poetry novel Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech. We will discuss and use poetic devices as we read. We will determine the theme of the poems and discuss the narrator’s point of view. In this book, “it is a new school year, and Jack learns that his previous year's teacher, Miss Stretchberry, has also moved up a grade along with him. "You understand my brain," he says. Once again, Miss Stretchberry introduces Jack and his classmates to poems that intrigue and entice Jack, allowing him to talk about things that are on his mind: mean cats, sound, silence, worry and joy. You don't really think Miss Stretchberry is going to let Jack hate a cat, do you? Hmm.”
In writing workshop, we will start this week’s lessons by practicing different visualization techniques to go along with our deep breathing. The deep breathing helps calm and focus the mind so it is ready for learning. We will be writing Mandarin characters this week for our classroom quilt project.
In math this week, we will continue Topic 4. Students will learn how to check problems for reasonableness by using various methods, including estimation and checking their final answer. Students will also review and practice long division. Students should continue practicing their multiplication and division facts to assure mastery before the end of the school year.
This week in science, students will conduct an experiment by rolling cars down a ramp and measuring how far they roll. We will discuss what makes this a good experiment and why this would be valid for a science fair project (it has multiple trials, it is seeking an answer to a question through experimentation, and it has measurable results.) We will practice how to write a conclusion.
