Plans Week of May 4, 2015

Students exploring mechanical advantage using pulleys.

May the fourth be with you...
Highlights from Last Week:

Ms. Faucon completed her two-week take-over. She did a fabulous job planning, managing, and teaching. Students agree, she will be an outstanding classroom teacher!

Students learned about Bigelow Middle School on Monday. Mr. Harrison, the principal, came to Underwood to share about the life of a middle schooler and to answer questions. 

Ms Faucon ran some very exciting activities this week. Students investigated simple machines by experimenting with pulleys during science class on Thursday. In math on Tuesday, students explored volume by filling a variety of mini-sized boxes with cubes and estimating. 

We began book groups this week. Students are reading books about survival and resilience and discussing them in small groups. It's amazing to hear students share their critical thinking and insights about the texts with each other.

Here is the general plan for the week:

Special:
Thursday, May 7th: PARCC test on ELA session 1. 9:00am. It is also an early dismissal at 12:30pm.

Reading: 

• We continue guided reading book groups. Students will be reading a book that has survival and resilience as a theme.
• We will also learn some reading strategies to improve our inferring and visualization skills.

Writing:

• We wrap up our Memoir writing. Students will revise and edit their types memoirs, making sure they have a mix of narrative storytelling as well as big ideas and opinions.

Math: 

• Students take a math assessment on Coordinate Grids, Area & Perimeter, and Volume.
• We will study Measurement Conversions and how to go from units such as meters to centimeters. We will solve real-world, multistep problems using these conversions.
• We practice with Algebra by analyzing patterns and relationships. We will write algebraic expressions to represent real-world situations and problems.

Social Studies:

• We continue learning about The American Revolution. Students will read, watch videos, create skits, and write journal entries to study this epic event. Since we didn't get to it last week, we'll learn about Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill this week.

Science:

• We are studying Simple Machines. Students will investigate uses for things like: a wedge, a lever, an inclined plane, a screw, a wheel & axel, and a pulley. We will also look at force, effort, and work.

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

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