Week of November 14, 2016

Students working on the Marshmallow Challenge.

Highlights from Last Week:
Kiddos had a blast with the Marshmallow Challenge. Teams of students had to work together to attempt to build the tallest structure they could with spaghetti, tape, and string in 18 minutes. The biggest challenge --the (heavy) marshmallow needed to sit on top of the structure. Three teams were able to create a structure that didn't break.

Students completed the Unit 2 Math Assessment on Multiplication, Division, and Powers of 10. They will be coming home for parent signatures. The average grade was an 89%. 

In Social Studies, students worked together to create presentations about their chosen topics on the US Government. They learned how to divvy up responsibilities and turn knowledge into something entertaining and informative. I can't wait to see their final presentations this week.


What We Didn't Get To:

• In Math, we didn't get to Grouping Symbols.
• In Writing, we didn't get to Building Characters.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​​

• Picture Retakes --Tuesday Morning.
• Early Release --Wednesday.

Special Activities:

• DARE Class --Officer Smith is back this week to teach students about positive decision making.
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --Students will be working on the next edition.
• Fundraising for UNICEF --If you participated, please bring it in on Tuesday.

Math:
Expressions and Decimal Operations.

• Grouping Symbols --Solving problems that contain parentheses, brackets, and braces.
• Decimal Models –We will learn about the first three decimal place values and draw models using base-10 blocks to help up visualize decimal numbers.
• Comparing Decimals –Students will learn how to order decimals from least to greatest.
• Adding and Subtracting Decimals –Students will learn how to add and subtract decimals using models and the standard algorithm.
• Open Response --We'll practice our skills with decimals by using them in a real world problem.

Reading:
Close Reading.

• Figuring Out 'What's Going On' --We will use our close reading strategies (questioning, connecting, visualizing, and word analysis) to figure out what's going on in some challenging texts. 
• Group Discussions --Students will meet in small groups to discuss our shared text "Boar Out There." We'll use our close reading strategies to dig deep into the meaning of the story.
• In-Class Reading Response --Students will read an excerpt of text, use strategies that we learn in class, and respond in writing on the blog. We will review our responses in small groups next week.
• Teacher Read Aloud --We're reading There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar. We're getting close to the climax! As I read, I model fluent reading and literary analysis skills.

Writing:
Finish Personal Narrative Writing.​​ Begin Fictional Narrative Writing.

• Review of Editing Techniques --We'll review rules for capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, and commonly confused spelling words.
• Publishing --Students will work to publish a personal narrative that aims to meet the requirements set forth on our writing rubric.
• Building Fictional Characters --We'll learn how to use dialogue and description to bring characters in a fictional narrative to life.

Social Studies:
Finish Inquiry Investigation of the US Government & Elections:​

• Government Project --Student teams finish their projects on the US Government and present to the class.

Science:
Weather and Climate. 

• Science Journals --We launch into Science this week by setting up our Science Journals and learning how to make scientific drawings.
• Why Weather? --We will begin our study of weather by investigating its causes, conducting experiments to explain the uneven heating of the earth and convection currents.

Homework:
Please check the Homework page for more details. 

1. Students finish their Homework Project, "Government in Outer Space." It is due Tuesday. 
2. Students will be assigned a partner and will need to respond to their Blog #4 post 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.
5. Students can work on their segment for the class newsletter at home.

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