Monday P.E. | Tuesday Business as Usual | Wednesday Art | Thursday Geek Out | Friday Art |
Calendar Highlights: February:
| We won't have many out and about trips until mid-march; we will be working on another project and will need the extra class time! Stay tuned! |
- Reading: Read the newsletter on Monday, and if you didn't turn in your reading packet on Friday, finish it by Wednesday for full credit. Come by before school or ask during quiet classroom if you have questions!
- Writing: Spelling. See the back of the spelling list to review each night's task.
- Math: expect a 20 minute assignment each day. Reminder : If math homework is taking longer than 20-30 minutes, feel free to write Bree a question or come chat about what might be challenging for you.
Project
Last week, colonial groups established their New World colonies. Colony groups finished the last of the settling rounds which included intense battles between other colony groups or nearby Native American tribes. Colonies learned about the importance of division of labor, as well as ensuring they balanced their colony population in order to protect their settlement. As colonies were seeking out success by gaining more land through trade, or taking over other colonies, they learned that they still had challenges and hardships within their own colony. Some colonies were heavily impacted by weather due to their settlement location, while others were impacted by earthquakes, fires, and hungry animals. As we concluded our simulation, students calculated their colonies' success by selling back their assets such as, land, food, animals, supplies, etc. Colonies ended the week by completing their final Diary Entry. Moving forward, students will delve further into the history of the 13 original colonies, and we will begin our second simulation focused on the United State’s path to Independence (*secret word*).
Ask: How successful was your colony? What would you do differently next time?
Extend the learning: Check out this section about the 13 Colonies on History.com. Which of the 13 colonies do you find most interesting, and why?
Literacy
Last week we finished our historical fiction literature circles, and talked about how to find the theme of a narrative. We hope that this will help us moving forward with writing our own historical fiction narratives. We also spent time last week developing a solid plan for the setting and main character of our historical fiction narratives, and will be moving on to drafting this week, starting with our leads and introducing the story and the characters.
Ask: what is your story going to be about? Who is the main character? What is the problem they are faced with?
Extend the learning by checking out some of the historical fiction common lit has to offer, and see if you can get any ideas and inspiration there!
5th Grade Math
**Note: 5th graders will be testing on Monday. Tuesday they will come home with test corrections and a retake. It is important that students are completing test corrections prior to working on their retake, as this will ensure they are asking questions about skills they are still unclear about or need more practice with. Please only sign their retake if they have completed their test corrections, reflection, and retake.
Last week in math, 5th graders applied their multiplication skills using the area model, ratio table, and standard algorithm to begin multi-digit division problems. We began the week practicing with base ten grids to solve division, then we moved on to using ratio tables. Students focused on division during our Water Conservation forum, where they practiced converting cups to gallons in order to see different ways to efficiently conserve water on a daily basis. 5th grade mathematicians ended the week by practicing long division with the support of ratio tables or base ten grids, and completing the Unit 4 test review. This week, we will begin with the Unit 4 Test.
Ask: What is division? How is it different than multiplication?
6th Grade Math
Last week sixth graders wrapped up their multiplying and dividing fractions unit with the block 5 test and later in the week started working on correcting the problems they missed. This week we will continue to work on problems we missed, review some skills from block 5, and take the retake before moving on to block 6. We are going to be working on drills and games in class to build confidence in multiplication facts, so that we can all be more successful moving into Block 6 and then our next unit.
Ask: Did this test go the way you planned? What new things did you learn about dividing and multiplying by fractions?
Extend the learning: because multiplication facts are so important, you can extend the learning this week by practicing them with this game!