Updates and announcements

I hope everyone had a wonderful quasi-R&R weekend!

Our field trip to the Renaissance Fair is next Tuesday, March 5^th. Just a reminder that students need to bring a backpack to hold their lunch and any appropriate extraneous items, such as a camera (NOT phone or ipad), sunscreen, or an umbrella. Students MUST pack a lunch to eat and should not buy a lunch at the festival.

Our week in learning

This week, students will learn about the idiom “A watched pot never boils”.

Students will learn review roots 51-75 for their test next Wednesday 3/6. The study guides went home last week and will be due Wednesday, 2/27.

In Literature, we will continue reading “The Secret Garden”. We will continue reading through chapter 24. Students will have a journal entry about every two days. If you have not already done so, please send in a physical copy of “The Secret Garden”.

In Writing and Grammar, students will have a small Writing Workshop day on Monday. Students will use their article outlines from last week on exercise to write either a persuasive or expository essay. Students will review the rubrics with their two essays on Tuesday. Students will do the majority of work in class and the homework will be to finish the classwork assignments. On Friday, students will get to practice writing a whole 5 paragraph essay in one sitting with all of the steps. This will be a Writing Workshop where every student will conference with a teacher between steps.

This week in science, students will learn about the life of scientist and inventor George Washington Carver. They will also learn about primary and secondary sources and begin writing an informative or persuasive paragraph about Carver’s legacy. Students will have ample time to complete their work in class, but will be asked to finish outlining their paragraph as homework on Friday if they do not finish in the class time allotted.

This week in History, students will begin studying the Civil War, including the causes that led up to war. We will begin this large unit with conversations of the state of slavery in the U.S. before the Civil War, growing abolitionist sentiment, and the Missouri Compromise. We will also discuss other differences between the North and South, such as their economic situations. Since this unit will take us well into the 4^th quarter, we will have a large quiz at the end of the third quarter discussing the causes of the Civil War.

In math, we will start a short, fun unit on Percentage. Students will read and interpret percentage of a whole, express a fraction with a denominator of 10 or 100 as a percentage, express a decimal as a percentage and vise versa, express a percentage as a fraction and vice versa, and solve word problems with percentage. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. There will be no math groups. Math groups will be sparse this quarter due to AZMerit preparations.

Updates and announcements

I hope everyone had a wonderful three-day weekend! Mine was spent sick on the couch and in the ASU library with Mr. Lynch working on my classwork and his dissertation. We can both see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Our field trip is coming up in just two weeks! All of the information was on the permission slip that was sent home. Just a reminder that students must pack a lunch to eat that day. We want to keep the day educational and fair, so we ask that students do not buy their own lunches at the fair as not everyone has the means to do so. Chaperones are more than welcome to buy lunch for themselves. J

It looks like last weekend was an R&R on the Prep side, though none of the Archway calendars reflected that. Fifth grade will work on trying to reduce homework on one of the upcoming weekends.

The "Wish List" items are updated.

Our week in learning

This week, students will learn about the idiom “Vice Versa”.

Students will learn about the roots gradus, plus, akros, and kata. They will be quizzed on these roots next week. Students should expect a similar quiz every week over the previous week’s roots.

In Literature, we will continue reading “The Secret Garden”. We will continue reading through chapter 22. Students will have a journal entry about every two days. If you have not already done so, please send in a physical copy of “The Secret Garden”.

In Writing and Grammar, students will conference with a teacher on their persuasive or informative essay outlines from Friday. They will write a final handwritten draft on Wednesday in class. We will outline two more passages on Thursday and Friday in preparation for another essay the following week. Students will do the majority of work in class and the homework will be to finish the classwork assignment.

We are nearing the end of our botany unit! Study guides will be due the 20th, and our test will be the 21st. Tuesday will be an in-class review day. Because this falls so close to the history test, students have been given ample time to work on their study guide during science to alleviate some of the workload. The science test will be open notes-students may use any of their own notes to help them complete the questions.

This week in History, we will finish our unit on Westward Expansion Before the Civil War. Tuesday will be the last day of formal instruction, when students will discuss the Mormon Trail and the California Gold Rush. On Wednesday, students will discuss readings (read in class) on President Andrew Jackson’s message on Indian Removal in 1830. Study guides are due on Thursday, when we will review the unit, while our test will be administered on Friday.

In math, we will finish a short unit on measures and volumes. Students will solve word problems involving the volume of water in rectangular containers. The test for this unit will be on Thursday, February 22nd. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. There will be math groups this week on Wednesday, 8:00-9:15. Math groups will be sparse this quarter due to AZMerit preparations.

Updates and announcements

I hope everyone had a restful weekend! We have had family in town for Paul’s last doctoral recital. While it has been wonderful, we are excited to have our quiet house back to ourselves.

Great Hearts Day is this Thursday. We are doing some short teambuilding activities in the afternoon, so we are not in need of any volunteers. It will be a very small classroom event. Please note that we do not hand out store-bought Valentines on this day. Most of the day is spent on academics.

On Thursday, we will be eating lunch with our second grade buddy class and our fifth graders will lead small Socratic discussions on friendship.

Our week in learning

This week, students will learn about the idiom “Tom, Dick, and Harry”.

Students will learn about the roots nonus, decimus, and electron. They will be quizzed on these roots next week. Students should expect a similar quiz every week over the previous week’s roots.

In Literature, we will continue reading “The Secret Garden”. We will continue reading through chapter 19. Students will have a journal entry about every two days. If you have not already done so, please send in a physical copy of “The Secret Garden”.

In Writing and Grammar, students will classify prompts and thesis statements as opinion/persuasive or informative/explanatory. We will also begin formal practice on outlining passages, then using the outline to create an essay outline that aligns with a prompt. Students will do the majority of work in class and the homework will be to finish the classwork assignment.

Students will continue their study of flowering plants and pollination this week, culminating in a plant dissection on Friday! Students will have the opportunity to apply what they have learned about plant anatomy to real plants. There will be a short quiz over parts of the flower on Monday.

This week in History, students will nearly finish our unit on Westward Expansion Before the Civil War. They will understand the various adaptations of transportation that took place, the idea of America’s Manifest Destiny behind their westward march, and the accumulation and exploration of territories such as Texas and the Oregon territory. Students were given study guides for the unit on Thursday, February 7^th. These will be due on Thursday, February 21^st, with the test on Friday, February 22^nd.

In math, we will start a short unit on measures and volumes. Students will convert decimal units into larger and smaller units, and find the volume of rectangular prisms. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. There will be no math groups this week. Math groups will be sparse this quarter due to AZMerit preparations.

Updates and announcements

Happy week 5! It feels like the quarter is going by so fast!

I notice that many of the math tests with the direction “Correct, sign, return” are not getting corrected, signed, or returned. Starting this week, I will be sending a quick form email to parents whose student needs to complete math test corrections.

Our week in learning

This week, students will learn about the idiom “Time heals all wounds”.

Students will learn about the roots quintus, sextus, septimus, and octavus. They will be quizzed on these roots next week. Students should expect a similar quiz every week over the previous week’s roots.

In Literature, we will continue reading “The Secret Garden”. We will continue reading through chapter 16. Students will have a journal entry about every two days. If you have not already done so, please send in a physical copy of “The Secret Garden”.

In Writing and Grammar, students will learn about predicate adjectives. There will be a short quiz on Thursday.

Students will continue studying the life cycle of plants, starting with gymnosperms and angiosperms. Later in the week we will begin covering the parts of a flower. There will be a short quiz over parts of a flower next Monday, February 11th.

In History, students will gain an understanding of the Louisiana Territory and what Lewis and Clark encountered throughout their journey. They will be able to identify who Sacagawea was and why she was important to the explorers. Students will also present their explorers that were researched and written on in Grammar and Writing. We will end the week with a discussion of the Indian chief Tecumseh, who attempted to unite all Indians against the invading United States.

In math, we will finish our rather lengthy unit on decimals. Students will divide a decimal by 0.1 and 0.01, solve word problems and review. The test for this decimals unit will be on Thursday, 2/7. ALL workbook homework assignments will be half of every type of problem. There will be math groups this Wednesday, 1/23, 8:00-9:15. Math groups will be sparse this quarter due to AZMerit preparations.