Updates and announcements

What a fantastic quarter! Our students have learned so much, from the Age of Exploration to botany. We had a wonderful discussion in our class about what it means to be a self-advocate. Students are working hard to set goals, ask questions, and show perseverance and integrity.

Be on the lookout for an email regarding our Secret Garden Celebration next week.

Our field trip is coming up next Tuesday.

Our week in learning

This week, students will compose their own five-paragraph essay based on the outlines and texts used in class. They will compose the outline in class on Monday for their entire essay and add one or two paragraphs each night. On Thursday, students will be given time in class to write their final draft, which is due on Friday morning. In order to respect our homework time each night, please do not have your student write the entire essay in one sitting--instead, students will be assigned 1-2 paragraphs of writing each night, part of which should be completed in class.

In literature, students will continue reading up to chapter 26 of the Secret Garden. Next week, students will complete the book and write a short three-paragraph essay about the most dynamic character in the story, comparing and contrasting their character at the beginning and end.

Students will recite “I like to see it lap the miles” on 3/7.

Students should be preparing for their quarterly roots test next week. This will be over the last 25 roots.

In science this week, students will play a review game on Monday to prepare for the unit test on Tuesday. The unit test will be a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions, similar to the study guide. On Thursday, students will take notes on plant anatomy and take a short quiz on Friday. Science notebooks will be collected for participation points on Friday. All notes taken in class during the plant unit must be present in the notebook to receive full credit. If your child is missing any of the notes, they may ask me for a copy and glue them in.

This week in history, students will continue learning about the Civil War. Students will be learning about the life of a slave, the Missouri Compromise, growth of anti-slavery feelings, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, and growing differences between the North and South. We will learn about Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Students will finish learning about pre-Civil War material before break and have a short quiz over the notes in their foldables. We will do an activity where students create quizzes and turn them in. I will then create a quiz using some of their questions. Their very short quiz will take place on Friday, 3/9. Please note that there is sensitive material regarding slavery throughout the unit, particularly during the lesson Monday, 2/26.

In math this week, we will start their unit on percentages. This week, students will practice converting between fractions, percentages, and decimals by creating a foldable for their math notebooks. There will be no math groups for the rest of the quarter. We will begin with math groups again in quarter 4.