Monday P.E. | Tuesday Out and About - Dress Warm & with Walking Shoes | Wednesday Art | Thursday Soccer | Friday Art |
Calendar Highlights
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Welcome back Merlins! Can you believe it's already December!? I hope you had a fun and refreshing week off, and are ready to come back and wrap up the first half of our year! For our Out and About this week, we are still looking for more volunteers to come with us to Portland. Be warned, it will involve lots of walking and bridges! We also wanted to thank families for coming out to the Level 3 Poetry Night! We loved watching your students perform their original prose and some of them were still talking about it last Friday!
Literacy
Last week we continued to read our nature adventure books and focused on how point of view and perspective impact the way that a story is told. In writing, we finished our Poetry Anthologies by polishing and editing based on feedback we got from each other. This week we will move into our final big writing project of the semester. We will think about what other beings' perspectives feel like, and begin to think about why being a mindful steward (*secret word*) is so important.
Ask: What is the big deal about point of view? What famous literary example did the video in class use to illustrate the differences in points of view?
Project
Last week we were given the opportunity to learn about some different projects that the Center for a Sustainable Society is engaging in around campus. This will serve as excellent inspiration during the coming weeks when we start to think about and work on our own projects to improve the food, water, forest, energy, or transportation systems around Forest Grove. We also learned about plastic bag bans around Forest Grove, and about why it’s important to reuse the bags we have and think about the life cycle of the products we use, and what resources go into the entire process from figurative “birth to death” of the product.
Ask: What is the benefit of paper? What is the benefit of plastic? What is important to remember when thinking about reusable bags?
Extend the learning: click here to read an article about the benefits and drawbacks of each of the bag options, from a systems perspective.
5th Grade Math
Last week in 5th grade math, we started by reviewing the skills we learned for adding and subtracting fractions and reviewed when to use each one. We then used those skills to take our unit 2 test. We finished the week off by starting unit 3 which focuses on place value and decimals.
Ask: What is the give and take method when adding and subtracting decimals?
6th Grade Math
Last week, we continued to use our GCF and LCM skills to compare fractions and convert mixed numbers to improper fractions and vice versa. We also started to use what we know about fractions to more precisely measure things using a standard imperial ruler.
Ask: How would you write 1½ as an improper fraction? How would you compare fractions with different denominators?