Wow! Another snow day! I hope everyone is staying safe and warm and not going stir crazy. I have posted a “Boredom Buster” assignment on edmodo for students to have fun with! I have been putting my “extra” days to good use by grading papers and preparing for conferences this week. I have also managed to do a little baking with my boys. A great way to work on those measurement skills!

Last week in Room 16:

Math: We began Unit 4 which is all about Algebraic Expression. We have been working with variables and writing equations that we can use to solve word problems. Everyone is doing great with this! We also began using Math Workshop, where everyone receives small group instruction of the concept and then rotates to different activities to reinforce the concept. Remind your child that they can always go to the Splash Math app on their ipad and select the Algebra chapter. We are working on the algebraic expression sections.

Reading: We are continuing to explore the Fantasy genre. We have been discovering what is happening along with Percy in The Lightning Thief.  We have been taking notes and writing down our thinking every few pages so that we can keep rack of all that is happening.

Writing: We have finished up our Personal Essays (I will be grading the on demand pieces today!) and will begin our Informational Writing Unit. Students will be choosing an event or historical person from our Black History month studies to write and informational book about.

Social Studies: We are learning about the history of slavery and the Civil Rights movement in the United States as a part of Black History month studies. Last week we learned about slavery in the United States and the Underground Railroad.

Please stay safe and warm! I look forward to seeing everyone a conferences and sharing all the amazing things your children are accomplishing! This truly is a great class that amazes me every day!

Today, conference notes will be sent home with the day and time of your child’s parent-teacher conference. Please note that your time has been moved up by one half hour from last October, as the times of our conferences window have changed. Please let me know if your time does not work, and I will try to find another time that works, however, the conference schedule is very tight and there are not many open spots. Thank you.

On Monday, I sent home a note asking for parent volunteers for our trip to Chicago. The cost is $90 for parents and the money is due in March. If we receive more offers than spots available we will have a lottery. Please return the form by January 24 if you are interested.

Wow! That was an especially long winter break! I am so excited to be back at school with this wonderful group of students! I really missed them over the extended break!

It was a little bit of a struggle for everyone to get back in the swing of the school routine this week. Lots of tired eyes and yawns!

Math – We reviewed long division and the three different methods we have learned. We also began to work on reading and solving word problems where we have to decide which operation to use! Students also practiced more with solving multi-step problems. We discussed how you may have to do 2, 3 or 4 different math problems to get to the final answer! They were all troopers and worked hard! We will be taking our test on long division next week. The best way to help your child prepare is to practice their basic math facts and practice the three different methods to do long division. Videos of each method are on this blog.

Writing – We will be revisiting our personal essays and begin the revision, edit and final copy process next week. We will culminate with an on demand essay that they write in class to showcase what they have learned.

Reading – We are beginning our Fantasy Unit. We will be reading The Lightning Thief as a class. Please encourage your child not to read ahead as we will be working on making predictions as part of this unit.  We began by talking about the importance of looking at the cover, reading the blurb and paying close attention to the beginning of the story so that we can understand the setting of the story. We also made a timeline of the events in the first chapter.

Science – We are finishing up our Unit on the States of  Matter. We will be doing an in class review on Tuesday and taking the test on Wednesday.  Science vocabulary flashcards will come home on Monday to help your child study for the test. We made these flashcards in class together.

I hope everyone enjoys the warmer weather this weekend!

Here are a few photos from our science experiment on phase changes and our Happy 2024 celebration!