Updates and announcements

Students have a couple busy weeks ahead of them! Please take a look at the updated “Important Dates” section. The “Wish List” has also been updated.

We are still in need of one or two parents who would be willing to volunteer their time on Friday for Athletic Field day. It is a wonderful opportunity to watch your children compete. The even till last from noon until about 2:30.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR WRITING WORKSHOP! We are looking for volunteers on Wednesday afternoon to run editing and revision stations for the students’ research paper. Students will spend 7-10 minutes at each station with their essays, editing or revising a particular aspect of it. The parent volunteer or teacher at each station will assist students with reading or revising their essays. Red pens will be provided! J We need help with spell checking, grammar, voice/perspective, and organization. Please email me if you are available Wednesday after 1:20pm!

Our week in learning

This week, students will compose their introductions and conclusions, and spend Wednesday editing their rough drafts. On Thursday, students will sit down to write out their full final draft, and on Friday, they will have the opportunity to type it in class. Students should have a full final draft completed by Thursday in order to type on Friday.

Presentations will be on Monday and Tuesday of next week--students should prepare a simple poster board with relevant pictures and facts about their explorer. This should be completed at home.

Roots quiz will be this Wednesday as usual.

Students will read through chapter 17 of the Secret Garden and continue making journal entries.

In science this week, students will learn about two different types of seeds - angiosperms and gymnosperms - and how those seeds are dispersed. They will compare the structure of vascular plants to nonvascular plants and label vascular tissues. On Thursday, students will watch a video about seed dispersal and complete an activity that will challenge them to remember the different dispersal method.

This week in history, students will finish the unit on the Age of Exploration. Study guides are due Monday, January 29th and the Age of Exploration test will be on Tuesday, January 31st. We will begin our unit on Westward Expansion before the Civil War, starting with Daniel Boone, the Louisiana Territory, and the resistance of the Native Americans.

In math this week, we will continue learning about decimals. Students will multiply and divide decimals by 2-digit whole numbers, multiply a decimal by 0.1 and 0.01, and multiply a decimal by another decimal. Graph paper is very helpful to line up decimals and keep their work organized. We will be using some in class, but it might be useful to have some at home to use with homework. Math groups will be this Wednesday, 8:00-9:00.