Newsletter: January 27-February 18

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Fiction Unit of Study
Our next Schoolwide reading unit will focus on reading fiction. In this unit, students will learn to identify the characteristics of different types of fiction- traditional literature, myths, fairy tales, etc. The students will also be reviewing the elements of a fiction story. The beginning presents the setting, characters, and conflict or problem. The middle of the story includes the plot. The ending reveals the resolution to the conflict or problem. In addition to identifying story elements, students will infer the mood or theme of a story and analyze how characters change over time.

Writing Workshop: Expository Nonfiction
In this unit, students will be learning research skills, such as taking notes, categorizing information by subtopic, and conducting effective Internet searches. They will take the information they gather and write an expository text with features such as a table of contents, an engaging introduction and thoughtful conclusion, a glossary, a bibliography, and an author biography section.

January Genre of the Month: Realistic Fiction
During Reader's Choice time, students have been reading their selected novel with their book club. All book club books are realistic fiction and share a common theme of empathy. Each group's reading schedule can be found on KidBlog. Book clubs will be meeting every Tuesday to discuss that week's reading assignment. The final meeting dates are January 28 and February 4. All work should be posted to KidBlog by the start of school each Tuesday in preparation for these meetings. 

February Genre of the Month: Science Fiction or Fantasy
During the month of February, students will use their Reader's Choice time and home reading time to read their selected books. We will be selecting books in the LMC on Thursday, February 6. Reading responses in their Reader's Notebook are due no later than Friday, February 28.

Math

Unit 7: Decimals to the Hundredths
Students will be learning about decimals to the hundredths. They will be comparing and rounding numbers, and learning about the relationship between fractions and decimals. They are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes.

Advanced Math

Unit 6: Area
In this short unit, students will be learning to find the area of rectangles with fractional sides. Students will also be taught how to identify the base and height of a triangle in order to calculate its area. There will be a test on Unit 6 on Thursday, January 30.

Unit 8: Decimals to the Thousandths
Students will be learning about decimals to the thousandths place. They will be comparing and rounding numbers, and rewriting decimals as fractions.

Social Studies: Midwest

We begin our study of the Midwest this week. In this unit, the focus of our lessons and discussions will be on analyzing geographical, cultural, and environmental changes over time, and investigating and explaining historical events. We will begin with a look at industry throughout the Midwest and how changes in industry affect the people and economy of an area.

Upcoming Events...

January 27 Happy 1/2 Birthday, Alexander!
January 28 VIP/Book Talk: Alexander
February 4 Mr. Haefke presents on renewable energy projects
February 4 ICTM Math Contest #2 for Individuals
February 4 VIP/Book Talk: Jake
February 5 World Read Aloud Day/Skypes with authors Mariane Malone and Lisa Schmid
February 6 ICTM Math Contest #2 for Teams
February 7 Mr. Zohar presents on wind energy
February 7 Patton PTA Fun Fair from 6:30-8:30 PM
February 11 Mrs. Donahue presents Erin's Law @ 1:15
February 11 Energy Debates in the LMC!!!
February 11 VIP/Book Talk: Claudia
February 12 Valentine's Day party @ 2:30 PM
February 13 Happy Birthday, Claudia!
February 13-14 No School: Parent-Teacher Conferences
February 17 No School: Presidents' Day

Newsletter: January 8-21

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Content Area Reading
(See Science below)

Writing Workshop: Expository Nonfiction
In this unit, students will be learning research skills, such as taking notes, categorizing information by subtopic, and conducting effective Internet searches. They will take the information they gather and write an expository text with features such as a table of contents, an engaging introduction and thoughtful conclusion, a glossary, a bibliography, and an author biography section.

January Genre of the Month: Realistic Fiction
During Reader's Choice time, students have begun to read their selected novel with their book club. All book club books are realistic fiction and share a common theme of empathy. Each group's reading schedule can be found on KidBlog. Book clubs will be meeting every Tuesday to discuss that week's reading assignment. Meeting dates are January 14, 21, and 28, and February 4. All work should be posted to KidBlog by the start of school each Tuesday in preparation for these meetings. 

Math

Unit 6: Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Students will conclude their work with fractions with a focus on problem solving. Students are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. The Unit 6, Part 3 test will be on Friday, January 17.

Advanced Math

Unit 5: Algebra
In this next unit, students will learn about variables. They will learn to simplify algebraic expressions and to solve inequalities and equations. There will be a test on Unit 5 on Friday, January 17.

Science: Energy Transfers

We will be wrapping up our Energy Transfers unit in these next three weeks. Students are designing experiments to test theories about energy transfers and drawing conclusions from their data.  The final performance task will have students inventing machines using multiple energy transfers to complete a simple task, much like a Rube Goldberg invention.

As part of our science unit, we have been focusing our reading on content area reading. Through our mini-lessons we have been building our technical vocabulary and adding to our schema about energy. Students continue to read about different forms of energy in order to compare and contrast, understand big ideas about energy usage, and formulate opinions of their own. The science/reading unit will conclude in January with our renewable energy debates. With the help of Mrs. Melamed, we will be teaching the students how to form an opinion supported by fact, formulate questions, and brainstorm possible solutions for problems that exist with current renewable energy resources.

Upcoming Events...

January 8 Happy 1/2 Birthday, Drew!
January 9 Happy 1/2 Birthday, Max!
January 14 VIP/Book Talk: Drew
January 20 No School: MLK Jr. Day