Week of April 24, 2017

Students working in teams to find the properties of a given polygon. We made a fun game out of it!

Highlights from Last Week:
I hope everyone had a great April break!

Before the break, we wrapped up our informational writing projects, conducted research about ecosystems using a variety of sources, and learned how to sort polygons based on their properties.

Many students in the class were part of the Talent Show. It was a wonderful event filled with so much student talent. Great job everyone!
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What We Didn't Get To:

• We didn't get to start Volume in Math.
• We didn't get to wrap up book groups yet.

This Week's Plan

Upcoming Special Events: ​​​​​

• Broadmoor Nature Walks --Wednesday and Thursday, April 26th and 27th.
• 'Paul Revere House' in School Visit --Monday, May 1st.
• Early Release --Wednesday, May 3rd. 

Special Activities:

• Citizenship Project -Students will brainstorm ideas for their Citizenship final projects.

Math:
Volume.

• Exploring Volume --Students will get some hands-on experience in investigating volume by filling small boxes with unit cubes.
• Finding Volume --We'll learn what volume is and how it relates to area. Then we'll learn the formula for finding volume (length x width x height).
• Volume of Composite Figures --We'll learn how to find the volume of combined prisms.

Reading:
Book Groups.

• Book Groups & Literary Analysis --We attempt to wrap up some of our book groups this week. We'll learn how to analyze the story structure and character development in order to help us determine the themes of our books.
• Theme --We'll learn how to identify the theme of a story by looking studying the climax for an important change in a character.

Writing:
Business Letter Writing.

• Letter to Charitable Organization --Students will learn how to use formal language and a polite, persuasive tone to request materials and/or correspondence from their chosen charitable organization.

Social Studies:
American Revolution. Vocabulary building.

• Setting the Stage for Discontent --Through readings, videos, and storytelling, we'll learn how Colonial America grew dissatisfied with English rule.
• Vocabulary --As we study the American Revolution, students confront many challenging vocabulary words, such as oppositional, controversy, and discontent. We will record new words and use them through discussion and activities, such as creating "Word Scales."

Science:
Ecosystems.

• Ecosystem Project –Students work in cooperative groups to become experts on an ecosystem of their choice. They conduct research, create an informative presentation, and write a one-page informational text about their ecosystem.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details.

1. There will be a new homework project, but I am not assigning it until Wednesday. I will post it then.
2. There is a new Blog (#10) to reply to by Friday about theme.
3. Read 25 minutes at home per day and log the title, author, and time in the planner.
4. There will be a math page for homework each night.

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