Weekly Update 4/19/2017

Updates/Reminders - Mark Your Calendars!! 

• The Beach Field Trip (Fort Fisher Aquarium & Masonboro Island) is next Thursday, April 27th.  All students must be at school no later than 6:45AM.  The charter bus will be departing at Morrisville at 7:00AM sharp!  Please check your email early next week for more detailed information, as well as reminders about what to pack, travel itinerary, etc.  
• 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
• Spring Pictures will be on Monday, April 24th.  The photographer will take a class photo, which must be prepaid (cost is $10) and individual pictures, which are not prepaid and you will have a chance to review them first before deciding to buy.  Our picture time slot is from 11:50-12:05.  
• 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. 
• 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 and next week in reading, the students will be working on finding the main idea and supporting details in nonfiction texts.  They will read different articles with a partner and work on organizing the main ideas and supporting details of the different sections onto tree maps.  They will find that paying close attention to the first and last sentence, repeated words, headings, and thinking about what the section is mostly is about are helpful in finding the main idea.  The students will also work on creating a complete summary of the text.  Later next week, the students will move on to finding textual evidence to support their thinking in all of the genres.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What strategies do you use to help you in finding the main idea?

*Tell me about the main ideas of the sections that you read in your partner activity.  

Writing: 

This week and next week in writing, the students will work on learning what persuasive writing is and how it is different from the opinion writing that they wrote last quarter.  The students will see good examples of persuasive writing through the mentor text, Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School.  The students will then work on brainstorming things that they like and things that they want to change to then finally determine which argument is the strongest and the one that they will want to write about.  They will organize their information on a tree map and then start writing, once that graphic organizer is complete.  

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What is the difference between persuasive and opinion writing?

*What topics are you passionate or feel strongly about?

*What topics do you dislike and want to change?

*What topic did you have the strongest argument on?

Math: 

In math this week and next, the students will learn about decimals numbers, which will be a continuation from where we left off last quarter with fractions.  They will be focusing on the following objectives in particular:

       •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

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 quarter in social studies the students will be learning about North Carolina’s geography, environment, and culture.  This week and next the students will spend time investigating the ways in which the population, transportation, landscape and communication has changed since statehood. They will be utilizing a lot of online resources, as well as become more familiar with reading different state maps. 

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What are some ways that North Carolina has changed since statehood?

Weekly Update 3/13/2017

Updates/Reminders: 

• 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/.   
• Our school is partnering with St. Baldrick's.  This is a wonderful organization that raises money to fight pediatric cancer.  One of our own, Matt Tussey, a 4th grade teacher has agreed to get his head shaved if we raise $2,000!  If you would like to donate please go to this website   https://www.stbaldricks.org and search for MES Mustangs.  You can also get more information on the head shaving event that will take place on March 18th at Glenwood South.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  
• The students will be taking the Quarter Three Benchmark Assessment on Wednesday, March 22nd (Math) and Thursday, March 23rd (Reading).  Please let me know if your child will miss either date, so I will be able to plan an alternate date for their assessment.  
• Friday, March 24th is our last early release day.  School will dismiss at 1:15 and a Google Form will be emailed out closer to the date to inform me of dismissal changes. 
• Track out day is Friday, March 24th.  Report cards will go home this day and we will be moving out of the trailer.  Students will need to bring in an additional bag on Thursday, March 23rd to take home their school supplies.  Please keep these supplies somewhere safe, as they will need to bring them all back when we track in for quarter 4. 

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

This week in reading, the students will continue their third reading unit that will focus on poetry.  This unit will force the students to look beyond the literal meaning of the words of the poems and instead read them with careful and creative eyes to uncover their true meanings.  They will focus on making inferences as they read this week.  The students will take their last reading common assessment, which will focus on poetry on Monday, March 20th.

The Students Will Be Working on the Following Concepts:

          •Good readers pair textual clues with what they already know to make inferences.

          •Good readers notice that poems use imagery to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s       

            mind.

          •Good readers notice that poets use figurative language (alliteration, similes, 

            metaphors,  personification, etc.) to add strong description.

          •Good readers can identify the speaker, theme (message), and mood of the poem.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me about the three ways you read a poem.

*What shape does your poem have? How many lines / stanzas?

*Does it rhyme?  If so, can you identify a rhyming pattern or point out the rhyming words?

*What is the mood of your poem?  What words help you think that?

*Can you identify the imagery the poet uses?

*What figurative language do you notice in this poem?

Writing: 

This week in writing, the students will continue to work their way through the writing process.  The students should finish another opinion piece this week.  They will then work on revising and editing their opinion writing asking themselves the following questions before publishing it.

Editing/Revising Checklist:

•Does my introduction hook my reader?

•Does it include my three main points and thesis/opinion statement?

•Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence and end with a concluding statement?

•Do I have at least three details to support each topic sentence?

•Did I use a variety of transition words in each paragraph?

•Does my conclusion leave my paper with a sense of completeness?

•Does my conclusion stress the importance of my opinion statement?

•Does my conclusion leave a final impression on the reader?

•Did I proofread my paper for spelling, punctuation, grammatical errors?

•Did I change any easy or overused words to more interesting ones?

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me more about where you are in the writing process.

*What changes have you made to your paper?

*What suggestions did your writing partner give you?

Math: 

This week in math, the students will be working on multiplying a whole number by a fraction.  They will be using number lines and fractions bars to visually represent how to multiply these numbers.  The students will focus on solving a variety of word problems, where they will practice this strategy.  They will especially focus on the real world problems of doubling, tripling, and quadrupling recipes.  They will take a multiplying fractions assessment on Friday, March 17th.  

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What are some ways that you can multiply a whole number by a fraction (ex. 3 x 1/4)?

*Can you create a real world problem involving the equation 5 x 2/3?

Science: 

This week, the students will take the science unit assessment on Rocks and Minerals. On Tuesday, they will take the multiple choice portion, and on Wednesday, they will take the open-ended portion. For the science test, students should focus on mineral and rock properties, the types of rocks, and what fossils reveal about life long ago.  The key information they need is in their science notebooks.  

Weekly Update 3/6/2017

Updates/Reminders: 

• 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/.   
• Our school is partnering with St. Baldrick's.  This is a wonderful organization that raises money to fight pediatric cancer.  One of our own, Matt Tussey, a 4th grade teacher has agreed to get his head shaved if we raise $2,000!  If you would like to donate please go to this website   https://www.stbaldricks.org and search for MES Mustangs.  You can also get more information on the head shaving event that will take place on March 18th at Glenwood South.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  
• Friday, March 24th is our last early release day.  School will dismiss at 1:15 and a Google Form will be emailed out closer to the date to inform me of dismissal changes. 
• Track out day is Friday, March 24th.  Report cards will go home this day and we will be moving out of the trailer.  Students will need to bring in an additional bag on Thursday, March 23rd to take home their school supplies.  Please keep these supplies somewhere safe, as they will need to bring them all back when we track in for quarter 4. 

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

Today, the students took their Social Issues reading assessment. The rest of the week, will be devoted to starting their third reading unit that will focus on poetry. This unit will force the students to look beyond the literal meaning of the words of the poems and instead read them with careful and creative eyes to uncover their true meanings.
The Students Will Be Working on the Following Concepts:
•Good readers read the poem three times to better understand and enjoy this type of text.
•Good readers notice that poems have a special shape, sound, lines, stanzas, rhythm, rhyme, and tone, or mood.
•Good readers notice that poems use imagery to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.
•Good readers notice that poets use figurative language (alliteration, similes, metaphors, personification, etc.) to add strong description.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me about the three ways you read a poem.
*What shape does your poem have? How many lines / stanzas?
*Does it rhyme? If so, can you identify a rhyming pattern or point out the rhyming words?
*What is the mood of your poem? What words help you think that?
*Can you identify the imagery the poet uses?
*What figurative language do you notice in this poem?

Writing: 

This week in writing the students will be working on composing their three body paragraphs.  They will be focusing on using the "Fab 5" for each paragraph and working on elaborating their details to make them stronger and easy to read and understand.  They will also work on writing a clear conclusion at the end of the week. 

Fabulous Five Must Haves in Each Body Paragraph:

1.Clear Topic Sentence

2.3-5 Well Elaborated Details

3.At least 3 Transitional Words/Phrases 

4.Descriptive or Content Specific Vocabulary

5.Clear Concluding Statement

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me what you are writing about.  Why did you choose this topic? 

*How did you begin your introduction?  Does it catch your reader’s attention?

*Do you have topic and concluding sentences for each paragraph?

*Do you have at least three details to support each topic sentence?

Math: 

In math, the students will be working on adding and subtracting fractional numbers with common denominators. A large focus will be placed on adding and subtracting mixed numbers. The students will be relying on strategies such as using pictorial representations (fraction bars), number lines, converting the mixed numbers to improper fractions, or decomposing mixed numbers to make it easier to subtract. The students will also work on finding equivalents between tenths and hundredths and representing them on a tenths/hundredths board. Their next assessment is scheduled for this Thursday, March 9th.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Show me at least 2 different ways that you can decompose the fraction 5/6.
*What are some strategies that you use when adding and subtracting mixed numbers?
*Solve the following problems:
     *4  2/3 + 5  1/3 =
     *5  2/4 - 2  3/4 =
*How many hundredths are in 9/10?
*How could you add 3/10 + 50/100?

Science: 

This week in science we are learning about fossils and what they reveal about life on earth a long time ago.  Our science test for Rocks and Minerals will be on Tuesday, March 14th.  Students should study a little each school night to help them be prepared.  They should focus on mineral and rock properties, the types of rocks, and what fossils reveal about life long ago.

Weekly Update 2/27/17

Updates/Reminders: 

• The Science Fair & Expo will be held on Thursday, March 2nd from 6 - 8 pm. 
  
• 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/.   
• This week Morrisville will celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday and the fact that March is reading month.  Encourage your child to participate in the Dr. Seuss themed spirit activities below: 

• The Morrisville Science Fair is scheduled for Thursday, March 2nd from 6-8PM.  If your child is interested in presenting a project, they are to fill out the following form https://docs.google.com/a/wcpss.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3Svr_19GV1A3Q6h017SbOgIDc85X24L-QOiN7MME5dYwAjg/viewform?c=0&w=1 to register for this event. 
• Students can bring their projects to school in the morning between 8:45 - 9:15 am to the science lab in the Media Center or to the Fair by 5:45 pm. Students will talk to judges about their projects during their designated times as listed below:
• Grades K - 1: 6 - 630
• Grades 2 - 3: 640 - 710
• Grades 4 - 5: 720 - 750
• There will be other activities at school to participate in during the evening in the Media Center and Gym.  All projects should be taken home at the conclusion of the Fair. Please direct any questions to Bonani Langan at bonani.langan@gmail.com.
• Our school is partnering with St. Baldrick's.  This is a wonderful organization that raises money to fight pediatric cancer.  One of our own, Matt Tussey, a 4th grade teacher has agreed to get his head shaved if we raise $2,000!  If you would like to donate please go to this website   https://www.stbaldricks.org and search for MES Mustangs.  You can also get more information on the head shaving event that will take place on March 18th at Glenwood South.  Please let me know if you have any questions!  

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

This week, the students will continue their second novel study unit that will center around social issues.  Some of the common social issues that we will be discussing are: Growing Up, Courage & Honor, Culture & Diversity, Overcoming Obstacles, Fitting In, Forgiveness, and Abandonment.  The students will study these social issues through a variety of picture books that will be used during the daily mini-lessons and their novel study.  The students will take their Social Issues reading assessment, on Monday, March 6th. 

Some specific mini-lesson topics this week will include:

•Good readers reread familiar texts to find and identify the social issues thread throughout the text.

•Good readers evaluate situations or character responses that deal with social issues by responding to prompts.

•Good readers talk about what they know about gender, race, or class before reading a story that has one of these at the core of the story. 

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What social issue(s) is/are found in the book you are reading?

*What details from the text support it?

*What is fair/unfair in your novel?  Why?

*What pressures does your main character have?

*How does your main character behave?  *What might motivate or influence your character to behave that way?

Writing: 

This week in writing the students will be starting another opinion paper. As they brainstorm topics to write about they will be also focusing on subjects that they already know a lot about, to ensure that they will be able to elaborate and add lots of strong details of support.  The students will then plan their writing using a tree map and come up with a focused thesis (opinion) statement.  As the week progresses, the students will work on writing an engaging introduction and clear topic sentences, while incorporating transitional words and phrases.

Fabulous Five Must Haves in Each Body Paragraph:

1.Clear Topic Sentence

2.3-5 Well Elaborated Details

3.At least 3 Transitional Words/Phrases 

4.Descriptive or Content Specific Vocabulary

5.Clear Concluding Statement

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me what you are writing about.  Why did you choose this topic? 

*How did you begin your introduction?  Does it catch your reader’s attention?

*Do you have topic and concluding sentences for each paragraph?

*Do you have at least three details to support each topic sentence?

Math: 

Tomorrow, the students will start working on the next unit, which will involve adding and subtracting fractional numbers with common denominators.  A large focus will be placed on adding and subtracting mixed numbers.  The students will be relying on strategies such as using pictorial representations (fraction bars), number lines, converting the mixed numbers to improper fractions, or decomposing mixed numbers to make it easier to subtract.   

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Show me how you can add and subtract mixed numbers using a pictorial representation?  Number lines?  

Science: 

This week, the students will continue to observe the properties of rocks and minerals and learn the difference between rocks and minerals.  They will learn about the three different types of rocks and the rock cycle.  Please remind your child to review the notes we have taken in class.  This will help prepare them for the test that will be given in about two weeks.  Several students were absent on Friday, 2/24.  They will be responsible for getting the notes from another student.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What are the three different types of rocks?
*Can you explain the rock cycle to me? 

Weekly Update 2/20/2017

Updates/Reminders: 

• 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/.  
• Our incredible PTA organizes a Science Go Round every year.  This year's event will be held on Thursday, February 23rd.  For this the classes get to learn about various science topics from volunteers, who come to talk to the children.  It is a very fun event and one that the students look forward to each year!
• Interims will go home this Friday, February 24th.  
• Next week Morrisville will celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday and the fact that March is reading month.  Encourage your child to participate in the Dr. Seuss themed spirit activities below: 

• The Morrisville Science Fair is scheduled for Thursday, March 2nd from 6-8PM.  If your child is interested in presenting a project, they are to fill out the following form https://docs.google.com/a/wcpss.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3Svr_19GV1A3Q6h017SbOgIDc85X24L-QOiN7MME5dYwAjg/viewform?c=0&w=1 to register for this event. 

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

Last Thursday, the students began their second novel study unit that centered around social issues.  Some of the common social issues that we will be discussing are: Growing Up, Courage & Honor, Culture & Diversity, Overcoming Obstacles, Fitting In, Forgiveness, and Abandonment.  The students will study these social issues through a variety of picture books that will be used during the daily mini-lessons and their novel study.

Some specific mini-lesson topics this week will include:

*Good readers reread familiar texts to find and identify the social issues thread throughout the text.

*Good readers evaluate situations or character responses that deal with social issues by responding to prompts.

*Good readers talk about what they know about gender, race, or class before reading a story that has one of these at the core of the story. 

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*What social issue(s) is/are found in the book you are reading?

*What details from the text support it?

*What is fair/unfair in your novel?  Why?

*What pressures does your main character have?

*How does your main character behave?  *What might motivate or influence your character to behave that way?

Writing: 

This week in writing the students will be finishing their conclusions and working on editing and revising their paper independently and then with their writing partner.  This paper will not be taken to final copy.  The students will start another opinion paper at the end of this week.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*How did you begin your introduction?  Does it catch your reader’s attention?

*Do you have topic and concluding sentences for each paragraph?

*Do you have at least three details to support each topic sentence?

*Tell me how your conclusion shows why your claim is significant?

Math: 

This week, in math, the students will learn about different strategies for comparing fractions.  Some of the helpful techniques that we will be focusing on this week are creating visual representations (fraction bars), ordering the fractions on a number line, and by finding common numerators and denominators. The students will take a common assessment on this skill next Monday, February 27th. 

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Show me all of the different ways that you have learned to compare fractions.

*How can you use benchmark fractions like  1/2 to compare fractions?

*Which method of comparing fractions do you feel the most successful using?

Social Studies: 

This week, the students will begin the Earth Materials (Rocks & Minerals) unit.  Students will observe the properties of rocks and minerals and learn the difference between rocks and minerals.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What are some properties of rocks and minerals that you are learning about in class? 
*What is the difference between rocks and minerals? 

Weekly Update 2/6/2017

Updates/Reminders: 

• Our field trip to the North Carolina Legislative Building and the North Carolina History Museum is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, February 7th. Please make sure that your child is at school by 9:15, as the bus will be leaving at 9:30 sharp! 
• Please support your child as our school raises money for the American Heart Association through Jump Rope for Heart!  Forms went home today.  
• Friday, February 10th is another early release day.  School will be dismissed at 1:15PM.  Please fill out this Google form: 
• https://docs.google.com/a/wcpss.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdWLS3jlfNu7K9fw_ykcww_sOqGEabZCgW-RSMIKeiyE081lw/viewform
• Our class will celebrate Valentine's Day briefly at the end of the day on Tuesday, February 14th by exchanging valentines.  They do not have to pass out valentines if they would prefer not to, however, if they choose to do so, they should have a valentine for every student in this class.  We currently have 23 students: Georgia, Saachi, Eva, Abigail B., Ethan, Savannah, Porter, Jack, Chris, Vincent, Vedant, Hrisha, Alex, Kelly, Jada, Brody, Abigail M., Jackson, Evelyn, Ved, Sydney, Holt, Kayla
• Our incredible PTA organizes a Science Go Round every year.  This year's event will be held on Thursday, February 23rd.  For this the classes get to learn about various science topics from volunteers, who come to talk to the children.  It is a very fun event and one that the students look forward to each year!
• Field trip paperwork for our trip to the coast went home with your child last week.  This field trip is scheduled for Thursday, April 27th and is always a favorite fourth grade memory!  We are hoping to have all field trip paperwork and payments received by February 20th.  If you have any questions or concerns about the trip, please feel free to contact me. 
• Our School Improvement Team wants your feedback!  Our school improvement team meets monthly to continuously monitor the progress of our students' achievement and our teachers' instructional practices.  Our school improvement plan goals are written to obtain a high level of student proficiency while meeting or exceeding student growth by focusing on the areas of increasing rigor, improving student's written responses, continuously providing interventions and progress monitor for students who need support, increasing student accountability and improving students' content vocabulary.   Please take a few minutes to take this brief survey and share with us your perspectives as parents.  Your feedback will help us determine areas where we are doing well and areas for improvement.   You can access the survey at http://tinyurl.com/SIPQ2ParentSurvey
• The Morrisville Science Fair is scheduled for Thursday, March 2nd from 6-8PM.  If your child is interested in presenting a project, they are to fill out the following form https://docs.google.com/a/wcpss.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe3Svr_19GV1A3Q6h017SbOgIDc85X24L-QOiN7MME5dYwAjg/viewform?c=0&w=1 to register for this event. 

What We Are Learning This Week:
Reading: 

This week, the students will continue to focus on reading the complex text of historical fiction.  The readers are all enjoying their historical fiction novels and doing a great job discussing them using support from the text. This week the students will finish their novels and focus on pairing them with nonfiction texts to help them deepen their understanding of that historical time period.  The students will take their first reading assessment on Monday, February 13th. 

Some specific mini-lesson topics this week will include:

   •  •Analyzing photographs and firsthand/secondhand accounts to deepen their understanding of historical fiction texts.

       •Determining the importance of parts that make us, as readers, stop and think.

       •Determining who has power, how did they get it, and whether or not power can change.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home:

*What parts of your book make you stop and think?  What makes that part important?

*Who has power?

*How do they get it?

*Does the power change?

Writing: 

This week, the students will continue to work on opinion writing.  They will be working on writing their three body paragraphs that will support their thesis statement.  As the students construct their body it is very important that they include the Fabulous Five in each paragraph. 

Fabulous Five Must Haves in Each Nonfiction Paragraph:

1.Clear topic sentence that tells the main idea of your paragraph

2.At least 3-5 relevant details that will support the topic

3.Different transitional words throughout the paragraph

4.Content specific vocabulary

5.Concluding statement that sums up their paragraph in a new and different way from their topic sentence.

Questions You Can Ask You Child At Home:

*Tell me more about your 3 supporting paragraphs and how you used the Fabulous Five Must Haves

Math: 

This week, in math, the students will continue to focus on patterns.  They will be investigating geometric and numerical patterns in sequences and input/output charts.  The students will be responsible for finding the rule in given pattern sets and listing the features that they discover in that pattern.  On Wednesday, the students will be taking an assessment on creating and extending patterns. For the remainder of the quarter, the students will be working on fractions, with a strong emphasis on being able to draw pictorial representations of fraction/fraction models to show their thinking.  

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*What is the rule for the following pattern: 37, 32, 27, 22?

*What features does this pattern have?

*Can you create your own pattern using the rule divide 4?  What features would this pattern have?

*Can you create an input/output chart with a rule of multiply 3, add 2?

Social Studies: 

This week in social studies the students will learn about positive and negative incentives. They will learn about different types of incentives that are found in their community and how they can influence behavior. The students will also learn about the importance of creating a budget and how financial choices can lead to rewards or consequences. The students will have a quiz on Tuesday (February 14th) that will cover the economics topics that we have learned so far. It would be a good idea for the students to specifically review the following terms for the quiz: goods, services, human resources, capital resources, and natural resources.

Questions You Can Ask Your Child At Home: 

*Give me some examples of a positive and negative incentive.
*Which do you find more effective?
*How can choices that you make about money lead to rewards and consequences?