Week of May 1, 2017

Student posters from their Invention Convention homework project.

Highlights from Last Week:
Students showed their Science Smarts on our Nature Walk run by Ms. Moore from Broadmoor. Ms. Moore reviewed types of rocks, types of plants, types of soil, and more in preparation for the Science MCAS.

As part of the Global Citizenship project, students wrote formal letters to their organization explaining the project and requesting materials to help them raise awareness and funds. Caroline, Nadya, and Emma were the first to get their letters in the mail.
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In Math, students showed talent for finding the volume of rectangular prisms. They learned it more quickly than I anticipated, so we were able to get ahead in math and start learning about coordinate grids.

At Friday's All School Meeting, Pine Hill welcomed an Afro-Brazilian martial arts group that performed exciting music and dance. The trio also taught the school some Portuguese. It was a very electrifying performance. I hope they come back in the future!

What We Didn't Get To:

• Due to rain, one of our Nature Walks had to be rescheduled to this week.
• We didn't fully dive into Social Studies yet. Students wanted more time to work on their Ecosystem projects.

This Week's Plan

Upcoming Special Events: ​​​​​

• Broadmoor Nature Walks --Monday, May 1st.
• 'Paul Revere House' in School Visit --Monday, May 1st.
• Early Release --Wednesday, May 3rd. 
• Postural Screenings --Thursday, May 4th. Mrs. Fedor will inspect students' spines for any abnormalities. Please dress appropriately.
• Sherborn Arts and Crafts Fair -Saturday, May 13th.
  
• Minuteman National Park Field Trip --Friday, May 12th.
  

MCAS

• Math MCAS --Tuesday and Wednesday, May 9th and 10th.
• Science MCAS --Wednesday and Thursday, May 17th and 18th.

Math:
Coordinate Grids. Measurement Conversions. MCAS Practice.

• Practice plotting and naming points on a coordinate grid.
• Learn how to convert between units of measure in the U.S. Customary System. 
• Memorize prefixes for measurement in the Metric System and convert using powers of 10.
• Review important concepts in preparation for Math MCAS next week. Gain familiarity with the MCAS test format.

Reading:
Finish Book Groups.

• Theme --We'll learn how to identify the theme of a story by analyzing the challenges a character faces, the climax of the story, and the resolution to see how a character changes and what lesson he/she learned.

Writing:
Finish Business Letter Writing.

• Letter to Charitable Organization --Students practice using 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:
Finish 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.
• Science MCAS Review --We'll practice previous Science MCAS tests and review concepts in preparation for the text in two weeks.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details.

1. Students are working on their final homework project of the year, the Global Citizenship Final Project.
2. Students must reply to me on Blog #10 by Friday.
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.​​​