Monday P.E. | Tuesday Out and About to Rogers Park | Wednesday Art | Thursday Soccer at Pacific | Friday Art |
- Monday, November 11th - Veterans Day: School holiday.
- Tuesday, November 12th - Student Picture Retakes
- Thursday, November 21st - Poetry Night, 5:30-7:30pm. Come see your student recite! Details below.
- Friday, November 15th - Level 3 & 4 Dance Party, 5:30-7. Glow theme: wear white or neon.
- November 25 - 29 - Thanksgiving Holiday: No School
Poetry Night
To honor the hard work students have put into learning and crafting poetry this fall, we are hosting a poetry night secret word on Thursday, November 21st for families here at school. Students will be invited to recite an original poem at either a 5:30 or a 6:30 seating. If possible, please email teachers this week if only one of the shifts will work for your family. We look forward to sharing our work with you!
Homework This Week
- Reading: Monday: Newsletter, Tuesday -Thursday: book of your choice.
- Writing: Spelling. See the back of the spelling list (or last week's newsletter) to review each night's task.
- Math: expect a 10-20 minute assignment each day.
Project
Students put last week's learning about forests into practice by collaborating in teams to design a management plan for a 400 acre plot of land. Some teams worked to create a balance of recreation and sustainable logging. Other teams focused on wildlife preservation. This week we will think about how these choices impact the land in the face of crises.
Ask, what type of land use did you push for in the 400 acre wood?
Extend the learning by exploring the history of the Tillamook wildfires.
Literacy
As writers, we used our knowledge of mood and tone to choose a poem to memorize and recite, and spent time thinking about things we could do to draw our audience in. As readers, we dove into our first independent literature circle with a theme of "Nature Survival." That means that small groups are reading different pieces of literature. Each group member is responsible (*secret word*) for staying on pace with the book, because every week they will get to have a meeting with their peers to exchange opinions and predictions.
Talk about what your student added to their reciting notes (hand gestures and facial expressions).
Ask, what book are you reading and what is interesting about the main character and setting?
Extend the learning by reading a chapter of your child's lit circle book at home and discussing. (Yes, books may come home if students need to catch up for reading homework, but need to come back to school each day!)
5th Grade Math
5th grade mathematicians continued to build their understanding of fractions by exploring how different models can help us add, subtract and multiply fractions. The clock model is perfect for fractions like 1/2 and 1/12 and the money model is amazing for 1/4 and 1/10, but we realized that with a number line, you can break units into any denominator! While we will soon learn strategies to solve fraction problems without drawing models, this skill is really important to build a deep understanding of how fractions work.
Talk about: why can't you add 1/2 and 1/3 without changing the denominators? Which model could you use to help you figure it out?
6th Grade Math
Last week, sixth graders continued to multiply and divide decimals. We explored the importance of units, and talked about the different types of remainders (whole number, fraction, decimal) and thought of scenarios in which we would use each of these. We started the Block 2 Test on Friday, and will finish that and launch into Block 3 this week.
Ask your student how many digits past the decimal they would need to find in order to round an answer to the nearest penny. Why do we use different types of remainders?