Week of November 30, 2015

Highlights from Last Week:
In our short week before the Thanksgiving break, we had some great experiences as a class.
 
We published our first personal narratives and celebrated with a sharing party. Students read an excerpt from their stories to the class accompanied by some chill music and mood lighting.
 
We finished There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom by Louis Sachar. The ending was moving and inspiring, proving to students that you should never judge a person from the outside. We traced a remarkable character development, that’s for sure!
 
To celebrate our “Books We’ve Finished” list reaching 100 books, we enjoyed a fun sing-a-long to a Ms. Kimball original hit, “We Finished Over 100 Books.”
 
We had an extra special morning meeting on Wednesday for which Dr. Brown and Mr. Randa joined in our activities. We played a thrilling game of “Don’t Make Me Laugh, with the poker-faced Dr. Brown facing off against the hilariously witty Mr. Randa. It was an unforgettable duel! Hopefully we’ll witness a rematch soon.

 
What we didn't get to:
 We hit it all!

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This Week's Plan
 
Special:

• Monday –no school for students. Teachers have a scintillating professional development day.

  

Math: 
Decimals.

• Decimal Addition & Subtraction Review and Game –We’re practice our decimal addition and subtraction skills with a fun game and a little standard review.
• Multiplying Decimals by Whole Numbers –We will explore how to multiply decimals first by drawing models, then by estimating, then by using algorithms.
• Multiplying Decimals by Decimals –We will draw models to illustrate the concept of multiplying by numbers less than 1, which can be very tricky to wrap your brain around!

 
 Writing:  
Personal Narratives.

• Using Timelines to Plan the Sequence of Events –Students will choose a new small moment story to write and list a chronological sequence of what happens. The goal is to organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
• Orienting the Reader –Students will establish a situation and introduce themselves as the narrator by using introductory techniques.
• Pacing the Story –Students will learn how to slow down at the important parts and speed through the unimportant parts.

 

Reading:
Book Groups. Analyzing a Character.

• Analyzing a Character’s Change Over Time –Students will learn how to trace a character’s actions over the course of a story, finding specific examples from the text. Students will write a short essay explaining how the character changed over time.
• Reading Response Journals –Students continue to practice writing thoughtful, evidence-based responses about their independent reading.
• Book Groups  –Groups of students meet weekly to discuss a shared text.

 
Social Studies:
Begin studying Colonial America. We will learn about the following through videos, readings, and reenactments:

• Who was in America before the colonists?
• Why did Europeans come to “The New World?”
• What was life like in the first years of settlement?

 
Homework:
Please visit the Homework Page for more details.

• Homework Project: There is a new homework project called “Living in Outer Space.”
• Math: There will be a page or two of math practice each night.
• Reading: 20 minutes of daily independent reading is expected. Students should log it in their Planners. 
• Reading Response Blog: Students have a new Reading Response Blog to respond to by Friday.

 
Thanks for Reading!
So that's the plan for the week. Please feel free to email me with any questions, comments, or feedback. 
 

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