Week of November 21, 2016

Owen's presidential candidates from outer space.

Highlights from Last Week:
Students presented their projects on the US Government. Overall they were great! In addition to learning about a part of the government, students learned a lot about divvying up work, staying focused on personal responsibilities, and collaborating with a variety of people. The presentations were informative and enjoyable to watch!  

• Legislative Branch -Ellie, Caly, and Owen 5
• Executive Branch -Isaiah, Anika, Wyatt, and Thomas 3
• Judicial Branch -Kate, Alex, Katie, and Nadya
• Political Parties -Willie, Owen, and Caroline
• Voting and Elections -Thomas 8
• Rights -Emma, Jacob, and Max

We brought in our money for UNICEF this week. Students totalled up their amount and as a class, we far exceeded our goal of $500... We raised $940! I promised to donate an additional 20% of what students raised, and an anonymous donor offered to do the same. So when everything is included, students were able to raise $1,316!!! In class we will write a letter to UNICEF expressing our compassion for the crisis in Syria and our hopes that the money can somehow be used to help the suffering children there.

Students presented their imaginative Government in Outer Space projects this week. I thoroughly enjoyed reading students' stories, advertisements, and songs about an alien civilization that uses our US representative democracy. Students were so creative and clever. We'll post stories this week for your reading pleasure; for now please check out some of the presidential candidate posters on the Student Work Page. Click here.

What We Didn't Get To:

• With homework project shares and Social Studies presentations, were didn't get to start Science.
• In Writing, we didn't get to fictional writing.
• In Math, we spent extra time on Numerical Expressions, so we didn't get to comparing decimals nor adding and subtracting decimals.

This Week's Plan


Upcoming Special Events: ​​

• Early Release --Wednesday.
• Thanksgiving Break -Wednesday afternoon thru Monday, November 26 (though teachers are back on Monday for training).

Special Activities:

• DARE Class --Only 2 classes left! 
• The Kimball Class Newsletter --Students are working on the next edition.

Math:
Decimal Operations.​

• 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.

Reading:
Close Reading.

• Story Analysis --We'll practice close reading strategies on a story called, "A Pet," by Cynthia Rylant. Students will read the story, underlining the important details related to "who, what, where, when, and why."
• 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.​​ 

• Publishing --Students will work to publish a personal narrative that aims to meet the requirements set forth on our writing rubric.
• Narrative Share --We'll celebrate the publishing of our personal narratives with a class share of our favorite excerpts.

Social Studies:
We switch to Science now.

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. There is no new homework project or at-home blog this week.

1. Read 25 minutes at home per day and log the title, author, and time in the planner.
2. There will be a math page for homework each night.
3. 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.