Plans Week of May 18, 2015

Students getting excited for the Boston Tea Party reenactment.

Highlights from Last Week:

Our field trip to the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum was a blast! What a fantastic experience. We learned about colonists' motivations for dumping the tea into Boston Harbor, as well as the aftermath that led up to the start of the Revolutionary War.

We had a celebration on Friday to recognize the over 200 books we've read as a class this year. Mrs. Kimball and Mrs. Roeder wrote students a song and we all sang along happily. (I had the song stuck in my head all weekend!)

Students took session one of the Science MCAS on Friday. To prepare for the test, we spent some time conducting experiments with magnets and electric circuits. I created a practice packet of questions from previous MCAS tests for students to work through. Students collaborated with one another and researched unfamiliar concepts using BrainPop.

We launched our writing unit on Opinion this week. Students investigated the issue of whether or not to serve chocolate milk in schools. Many students suspended their judgement, looking for evidence supporting both sides of the issue before forming their own opinion. They are such thoughtful critical thinkers!

Here is the general plan for the week:

Special:

• Monday, May 18th: Science MCAS Session 2 at 9:00am
• Wednesday, May 20th: PARCC Math Session 1 at 9:00am
• Thursday, May 21st: PARCC Math Session 2 at 9:00am

Reading: 

• We continue guided reading book groups. Students will be reading a book that has survival and resilience as a theme.
• This week we will learn strategies for summarizing and synthesizing what we read.

Writing:

• We continue our unit on Opinion Essays. Students will learn how to be persuasive and more analytical, able to weigh evidence, to follow lines of logic, and draw evidence-based conclusions. We begin by analyzing the following: Should schools serve chocolate milk to students? Or should chocolate milk be banned? We will research both sides of the issue, collect evidence for our arguments, and draft a research-based argument essay. 

Math: 

• We practice with Algebra by analyzing patterns and relationships. We will write algebraic expressions to represent real-world situations and problems.
• We will review important math concepts in preparation for the PARCC test, which we take Wednesday and Thursday.

Social Studies:

• We continue our study of the American Revolution. We will learn about important battles and actions of the revolutionary war, such as Bunker Hill, Trenton & Princeton, Saratoga, Valley Forge, and Yorktown. We will also learn about important revolutionary figures, such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and more. 

Science:

• We take the Science MCAS on Monday, then we'll have a review of what students confronted on the test so they can learn from it. After that, we take a little break from Science to switch back to social studies. We'll pick up Science again next week.

Thanks for reading! As always, please contact me with any questions, comments, or feedback.

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