Week 22 Newsletter

Announcements

Monday – MLK Day – No School!

Tuesday – St. Elmo

Tuesday – Tutoring Starts!

Monday 1/27 – Coca Cola Space Science Center

Homework

·        ***We will begin Achieve Logs again – Two articles for the week, 75% or better (ideally 88% or better to show growth), and must be signed by parents.

·        ***If students are not making adequate progress with their informational research during their given class time, I will expect them to gather research at home and bring it to class the next day.  
*   ***Practice RW tests online as needed 

Reading

In reading this week we have been focusing on theme. We started off by discussing common themes found in stories and watching some of the 1930s Disney cartoons to identify themes. We read fictional dramas from our Reading Wonders books such as, “The Ant and Grasshopper” and “Ranita and the Frog.” Through these stories we were able to discuss dramas and scripts, which we will continue to look at next week as we well. Students learned about writing a constructed response to the theme of passage. They learned that the questions they should ask are “What did the author want me to learn?” “What are the connecting details” and “How does this apply to my life?” We practiced writing constructed responses together for “The Ugly Duckling” “The Ant and the Grasshopper” and “The Three Little Pigs.” Students also completed task card activities and a Kahoot! game. Next week we will continue reviewing theme through dramas and practice constructed responses.

Check out the Reading tab to look at examples of constructed responses we wrote in class and the picture of common themes we have been using. :) Also remember there are Reading Wonders practice tests up that students should utilize for practice. 

Writing

In writing this week we began our Informational Writing unit. I explained to students that they would choose one of the famous historical figures from our Social Studies standards to research and write their informational paper about. I am modeling as we go. As of now they have done a little research on the figure they have chosen and we discussed gathering research from multiple websites and resources. Next week we will begin organizing our notes and looking at writing the introduction paragraph.

Grammar

This week we began talking about relative pronouns; who, whom, whose, which, and that. We started with who and whom this week. Relative pronouns are typically confusing in that there are multiple rules that apply when deciding whether to use who/whom. So this week we talked and practiced whole group and I did tell them that I am no expert on this topic as I still get confused myself! J We will continue learning about relative pronouns next week and practicing A LOT.

Social Studies

We will be learning about Congress, 3/5 Compromise, and The Great Compromise J