Weekly Update for April 3rd-7th

Hi Families,
We had a great week of learning. We started learning about Fables, morals, and summarizing stories. We began writing reports on our chosen countries. And we began a new unit in math loaded with many hands-on activities.

We will wrap up the Read-a-thon next week. Last call for logging those minutes!

3rd, 4th, and 5th grades took the ELA MCAS this week. Schedules had to be a bit mixed up (we had lunch, recess, and Library with the 5th grade a couple of days), but we survived and thrived.

​Important Upcoming Dates

• Wednesday, April 12th: All School Assembly
• Week of April 17th: No School

Community Building
We revisited what it looks like to be a respectful audience this week. Many students needed reminders on how to listen with their whole bodies. We also changed table groups this week. 

Literacy 
We learned about Fables this week. Highlights:

• Read aloud 3 of Aesop’s Fables, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Maid and the Milk Pail,” and “The Goose and the Golden Egg.” Ask your child what the moral of each story was.
• Summarized each fable using the “Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then” graphic organizer;
• Compared and contrasted different versions fables;
• Practiced fluency with a decodable story featuring the various long “e” spellings;
• Read a tall tale with a female lead character (finally!)

Writing
This week we did some writing about Fables and began writing our research reports. Highlights:

• Expanded ideas from each Fable using the “Because-But-So” technique;
• Finished taking notes about our countries;
• Turned notes about our countries into sentences; used different sentence types to make our writing more interesting.

Phonics
We launched Unit 11 of Fundations on the various spellings of long “e.” Highlights:

• Practiced reading and spelling words that have “ea,” “ee,” and “ey” in them;
• Learned new trick words and compared their sounds to their unexpected spellings: whose, son, and won;
• Played a game, “Which /e/ Spelling,” where partners had to choose which spelling of the “long e sound” was the correct one. 

For at-home Phonics information and practice:

• Current: Fundations Home Support Packet for Unit 11
• Review: Fundations Home Support Packet for Unit 10

Math
We began Unit 6 on Geometry, Time, and Money. Highlights:

• Identified triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons, and hexagons;
• Recognized and drew shapes having specified attributes, such as a given number of sides, corners, or side lengths;
• Explored 3D shapes, learned about faces on 3D shapes, and compared 2D drawings of faces to the corresponding 3D shapes.

For at-home Math information and practice:

• Current: Illustrative Math Family Support Materials for Unit 6
• Review:  Illustrative Math Family Support Materials for Unit 5

Social Studies
We wrapped up the research part of our Country Project. Highlights:

• Filled out note-taking sheets on Geography and Culture.
• Explored maps of our countries, looking for special geographic features;
• Created our own maps highlighting our countries;
• Began our writing research reports to share our knowledge about our countries.

Note: In early May, we will invite parents into the classroom for a presentation of our Country Project. Stay tuned!


Below, students researching their countries, drawing maps, and starting their reports; and comparing 2D and 3D shapes during math.

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​​Thank you for taking the time to read the entire update! Please reach out with any questions, or to connect to discuss your child’s progress. Have a great weekend!