Did you know that a year ago on November 18th we had our first snow day of the 2014-2015 school year? I hear that we may receive our first significant snow fall of this year on Saturday! Tell your children that Mrs. Lannon said their homework is to shovel the driveway! If you do convince someone to shovel, send me a photo!
This week in Reading Workshop we have continued to build our theories about our main character. We discussed characters motivations and struggles. Students learned the “Somebody…Wanted…But…So” format to talk about characters. We discussed what it is that motivates our characters, what it is that their hear really wants, what obstacles get in their way and how they use what is inside of them to overcome those obstacles.
In Writing Workshop we had a mini-essay bootcamp and flash drafted an essay about why we love ice cream. Students then began generating ideas for their own opinion essay. We began with a few free writing exercises and learned how to write long and strong about one idea. We also learned how essayists push their thinking to dig deeper into their big ideas.
During Math we took our Multiplication Unit 2 Test. Many students did very well! We also began to learn the steps to long division. We started with learning the place value sections method to show students what they are actually doing when the do the short cut method. This is the why and the how of it. I will post the video here for you to watch. Then have your child show you the video that they made and see if they got the process correct. Students also worked in pairs to create a place value sections method video for long division, with partner 1 explaining the steps that partner 2 used to complete the problem!
In Science we are wrapping up or States of Matter unit. We learned about phase changes this week (changing from solid to liquid to gas etc.). We also spent a few days reviewing for our Science test on Monday. your child brought home a study guide and flash cards on Wednesday to study for the test.
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Important Dates
Tuesday and Wednesday, November 24 and 25 – Half days – Noon dismissal
Thursday and Friday, November 26 and 27 – Thanksgiving Break – no school
Friday, December 4 – Report cards go home
Saturday, December 19 through Sunday, January 3 – Winter break