Math
As we are now successfully reading and writing numbers to one million, we will shift our focus to comparing two or more numbers. We will look for what the numbers have in common and how they differ. We will use the words greater than, less than, and equal to in order to compare.
We will be flexible in our thinking about place value and flexible in the ways we write numbers. For example, when we have 70 tens, we really have the number 700. The value of the number does not change but we can represent in many different ways.
Questions we will ask: How does thinking about a number in standard form help you interpret the same number when written in expanded form? What strategy helps you determine a number that is 2,000 more than this number? How can we compare two numbers by looking at the placement of each digit?
Our goal is to have weekly quizzes that will assess student progress with each section of material taught. The day we have the quiz will depend on how far we get in teaching the concept. Quizzes will be announced and written in agenda books each week. Math homework will be assigned Monday through Thursday to reinforce concepts students are learning in their small groups that week. If your child is frustrated by the homework and unable to determine a strategy for completion, please write a note on the paper and we will review with him/her the following day.
In addition, students should be practicing their basic facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication) each night. Students must be fluent in all four operations by the end of this year.
Over the next two weeks, students will be taking the Measures of Academic Progress Math (MAP-M) so that we can get baseline data to help us meet the needs of each student. Later in the month we will take this computerized assessment for Reading as well.
Reading/Writing/Inquiry Project
This week students will engage in reading a Junior Great Books realistic fiction selection to compare similar themes in text. During this block, students will learn routines and ground rules for collaborative discussions.
Each day students will practice what is taught in the mini-lesson in their guided reading group. Teachers will continue to complete reading assessments with students to gain an accurate reading levels to form groups. This week we will use the story "Fresh" to note the extent to which each student is able to use text evidence to make inferences. We will also use a vocabulary web to analyze a specific passage from the story to determine key vocabulary.
In writing class last week students wrote the body paragraph of their character analysis including a main idea sentence. The main idea sentence states our opinion of our character followed by specific text evidence to support our analysis of the main character. We looked at an example character analysis to notice how an author uses linking words to show the relationship between his/her opinion and the reasons/evidence from the text. This week we will focus on writing a closing paragraph to revisit our opinion of the character from our opening. We will first listen to each other's paragraphs to make sure they include all required elements. Next we will use various grammar rules to edit and revise our work for spelling and punctuation.
Social Studies/Media/Writing
We will continue to look at geographic characteristics of Maryland to help us determine Native American settlement patterns. By analyzing the natural resources of Maryland, we will justify why various Native people chose to settle in the places they did and examine the pros and cons.
In Media we will begin to research the geography and settlement patterns of Native Americans before 1400. As a class we will generate research questions to guide our inquiry projects. Each students will select a native culture group to research. We will look to identify the geographic characteristics of the land settled, how the culture shaped the roles of men and women, as well as various other questions once generated. After gathering our research, students will use what they have learned about native culture to craft a historical fiction piece of writing.
Our media time will be flexible and based on the needs of each class. Ms. Hudson's class is gathering research in the beginning of the week followed by Mr. Bidwick's class. Our media time has moved from 11:15 to 1:00 in order to accommodate each grade level's needs. We will also have book check out during that time.
Science
During this marking period we will study ecosystems, particularly the Chesapeake Bay. Last week we used the engineering design process to determine the best living conditions for our plants and animals. We built a terrarium to begin growing plants for our insects to eat. Our live animals will be delivered to class during this week. We will observe each animal (cricket, isopod, snail, guppy) and the plants that will provide nourishment for survival. We will also study photosynthesis this week.
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