Weekly Update 5/1/2017

Updates/Reminders - Mark Your Calendars!! 

• Single Subject Acceleration (SSA) is the practice of assigning a student to a higher-grade level than is typical, given the student's age, for the purpose of providing access to appropriately challenging learning opportunities.  SSA is an accelerative practice that allows students to show mastery of the content of a course without having taken the course.  If you want to learn more about SSA, there are a number of upcoming Parent Information Sessions that you can attend.  You can view the schedule here: http://bit.ly/2m0U7pC or by visiting the WCPSS Accelerative Practices website at http://wakeacceleration.weebly.com/.                                            *The Nomination Window for Track Four is May 5th to May 18th  (All forms MUST be received by the end of the school day on May 18th.  Late nomination forms will not be accepted.)
  *Morrisville's Anticipated Testing Dates:  Wednesday, May 31st or Thursday, June 1st
• Morrisville 5K Stampede will be on Sunday May 7th from 2:00-5:00PM at Morrisville Elementary.  To register, please visit this website: https://morrisvillepta.org/5k-stampede/.
• Mark your calendars for Morrisville's Got Talent!  Tracks 3 & 4 will perform on Friday, May 12th at 6:30PM.  Online registration will be open until April 28th.  Please check the MES website for more information. 
• Track Four Field Day is Friday, May 19th.  More information will follow closer to the date. 
• It is time to CELEBRATE!!!!   Morrisville Elementary School is celebrating it's 25th Year as well as our newest National Blue Ribbon Award distinction.  On Monday, May 22nd at 10 AM all students, staff, and parents are going to physically encircle the school building with a blue ribbon in honor of our continued success. BE SURE TO COME DRESSED in royal blue in honor of our award!  We would love to have as many parents as possible join us.  
• Reading EOGs are scheduled for Wednesday, June 21st and the Math EOGs are scheduled for Thursday, June 22nd.  If you know that your child will be absent for this assessment, please let me know as soon as possible, so a make-up day can be planned. 
• Meet the Teacher for the 2017-2018 school year will be on Tuesday, June 27th from 5:30-6:15PM.  

What We Are Learning This Week and NEXT:
Reading: 

This week the students will continue to work on finding textual evidence in a variety of different genres.  Today the students work tomorrow they will focus on finding textual evidence in fiction texts by seeking out specific support for character traits.  Then the students will move onto poetry where they will be finding textual evidence to support the inferences that they make while reading.  On Friday, the students will start their next reading unit that will carry them through the end of the quarter.  With this unit, the students will “journey” through all of the genres that we have read this year.  They will start this journey by focusing on nonfiction texts and strategies that good readers use to be successful.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Make sure and have your child point out to you specific evidence in the text to support their answer/thinking.

*Tell me more about what good readers do when reading nonfiction texts.  

Writing: 

This week in writing, the students will continue to work on their persuasive writing.  They will finish planning out their first piece of writing by organizing it onto a modified flow map.  Then they will work on drafting their introduction, three body paragraphs, and conclusions this week.  As they draft their writing, below are some important guidelines to remember:

•The introduction should include:

*a hook

*introduce your three reasons

*end with your thesis statement

*persuasive vocabulary

•The body paragraphs should include three reasons, each supported by three facts and/or details.

•The ideas should be linked with several  transition words or phrases, and  use a variety of transition words and phrases.

•Their writing should be wrapped up with concluding sentences in each  paragraph , and a concluding paragraph which clearly  restates their opinion and the reasons their opinion.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Who is your intended audience?

*How did you hook your reader?

*What ideas do you have that support your topic?

*What techniques did you use to conclude your persuasive writing? 

Math: 

In math this week, the students will finish up the decimals unit.  They will work on the following concepts: 

•Writing decimals as fractions and words

        •Recognizing how a decimal number can change when a tenth or hundredth is either      added or subtracted

        •Comparing and ordering decimal numbers

        •Rounding decimal numbers to the nearest tenth and hundredth

       On Friday, the students will take their first math assessment of the quarter on these concepts. 

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Can you write the following decimal (0.34) as a fraction?  In words?

*How would the decimal  0.7 change if you added two tenths? What if you subtracted 3 hundredths?

*Order the following decimals from lease to greatest: 0.4, 1.2, 0.38, 0.04. What strategy did you use to help you?

* Can you round the following decimal (0.67) to the nearest tenth? To the nearest hundredth?

Social Studies: 

This week in social studies the students will learn more about the natural resources that are important to our everyday economy and where they can be found in our state. They will also investigate how the different forms of communication have changed and the benefits and challenges that they pose. Finally, the students will work on understanding the effect that North Carolina’s population has had on its environment.  

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*How has people impacted NC’s natural resources?

*How have people adapted to the changes in NC’s environment?