Welcome to our weekly newsletter update!Below you will find five sections (math updates, reading/writing updates, science/social studies updates, friendly reminders, and upcoming dates). If you have any questions or concerns, please send us an email.
Math Updates This week in math we finished our division of whole numbers unit. We had a wonderful lesson from the Peirce math coach, Mr. Lerner, about the rules and properties of division. Students will utilize this information in our next unit on dividing decimals. Students took their summative assessment on Thursday. This has been entered into Gradebook and will be returned on Monday. Students will glue their assessment into their notebook next week. As always, if you are interested in seeing your child’s work, please ask them to bring their Bansho notebook home once or twice a week (Thursdays are typically a good day for this). We have started a new fluency routine three days per week. This gives students the chance to practice previously learned skills/math concepts during the first 15 minutes of class time. Students are tracking their own progress on a data graph each day we practice. This stays in their math folder that goes home each day. If you are interested in looking at your student’s progress, please ask them to show you their data chart. Reading/Writing Updates This week in reading we continued our work with making inferences with a focus on historical fiction. We read Richard Wright and the Library Card (Miller) as well as Uncle Jed’s Barbershop (Mitchell) and worked to make inferences about characters’ feelings and the causes for characters’ actions. We compared and contrasted the texts since they address a similar topic. We also considered how the point of view of a story (first- or third-person) impacts how the reader experiences it. Next week we will explore making inferences in expository nonfiction. In writing we wrapped up the unit on personal narrative by participating in author’s chair. Students’ final versions of their personal narratives will be graded over the course of the next week. On Wednesday, we launched a new unit on expository writing. We explored the genre by reading selections from both I Wonder Why Penguins Can’t Fly and other question about polar lands (Jacobs) and I Wonder Why The Sahara is Cold at Night and other questions about deserts (Gaff). Students generated ideas for topics for possible I Wonder books. We also talked about the importance of curiosity and generated questions about topics they are interested in. Next week we will continue exploring the genre and coming up with ideas for their own writing. Science/Social Studies Updates: Science: Animal food webs and chains, owl pellets and skeletal work, and animal migrations have come to an end today. As of Monday we will start our new unit entitled Who We Are. FYI: If a child has failed the skeletal system quiz, they can retake it. They must be able to locate and name 20 bones of the human skeleton. Social Studies: We are still honing our debate skills and getting ready for the big debate on March 19th. Students have shared their claim with two pieces of evidence and reasoning with their opponents. This allows the opponent a sneak peak at what they have to argue against. Having this information is helping us prepare counter-arguments. Some of the students are doing great and have truly impressed me with their debate skills. To practice at home ask your child to state his or her claim and ask them to defend it. Talking Circles - 324: Talking circles are still led by students. This week Esme led a circle and did a great job! Friendly Reminders
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