Week of December 4-8

Reading

This week will be a little different due to our Social Studies presentations, District Math Benchmark assessment, and our persuasive essays.  We will continue to have our reading groups and reflection time, but most rest of our class time with be spent on our students working on their persuasive essays.  

Homework

Read Works article: Early People in the Central American Land Bridge: students should read article and answer questions by Friday, December 8th @ 8am. 

Vocabulary: Review 4-6: Students should read page 80, complete pages 81, 82, 83 and 87, which will be due Friday, December 8th.  

Please continue to have your child read each evening at home.

Social Studies

Next week, the students will be very busy!  Students will be putting on their finishing touches to their South America projects and preparing to present.  Each student will present their two countries that they researched either with a Google Presentation or a poster.  We look forward to hearing their presentations and all the interesting things they have learned!

Writing

Students will be working on their persuasive essays.  Each student will be writing an essay either persuading their readers to visit one of the South American countries they researched or to buy the product they are creating ads for in their reading classes.   We also look forward to reading these essays and seeing how the kids incorporated their knowledge from other assignments in a persuasive format. 

Week of November 13-17

Reading
This week, we will start our Drama unit.  We will define needed vocabulary to understand, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of drama.  Throughout the week, the students will be completing several activities that will help them be able to analyze the similarities and differences between a dramatic text and a picture book as well as analyze the elements of the plot and character in a work of drama. They will have a common assessment on Friday which will cover our poetry and drama unit.  There is not a study guide.  The test is designed like our district benchmark test.  

Homework
This week's Read Works article is "The Theater Club".  The article is available starting Sunday, November 12th thru Friday, November 17th @ 8am.  The students are to read the article and answer the questions.  Please make sure your child completes this assignment and SUBMITS their answers by Friday morning at 8am.  Since we have the Science benchmark and Reading common assessment, the students will not have Vocabulary homework this week.

Please make sure your child is reading every evening and recording their books on their Reading Log which is due Friday, December 1st.  This is a major grade.

Social Studies

This week in Social Studies, we will continue with our unit over South America.  We will read and discuss topics, such as, the Inca Empire, the Spanish Conquest, Indigenous cultures, and language diversity.  Last Thursday, the students started a South America project that will be a major grade.  Students are to pick two South American countries to research and create either a Google Presentation/Power Point or poster to present their research.  Students were given a rubric containing all the requirements and information they need to complete the project.  The project will be worked on in class.

Homework

Go to Canvas page in Discussions (per your Social Studies teacher), there is a video over South America.  Please have your child watch the video and give a response in discussions.  Students may respond to each other's comments to discuss the video.  Comments will be monitored, and students will have repercussions for any misuse or inappropriateness of the discussion.  

Writing

This week, we will continue to make the final touches on our poetry books.  Supplies were due in class last Tuesday.

On Thursday, we will begin persuasive writing.  Students will be brainstorming topics to persuade.  They will also work on their introductions for their persuasive paper. 

In grammar, we will be discussing demonstrative pronouns and transitive verbs.   

Week of November 6-10

Reading

This week, we will be working on our main idea skills.  We will complete several activities using a magazine article, graphic organizers, and task cards.  The students will determine the difference in main idea and supporting details.  Please ask your child to explain the difference to you during the week.

Homework

Please make sure your child is reading every evening and recording their books on their Reading Log which is due Friday, December 1st.

This week's Vocabulary homework is Unit 6: Draw pictures for words, Synonyms, Antonyms, and Vocabulary in Context

Read Works article: The Dawn of the Mayas

Students must read article and answer questions by Friday, November 10th

Social Studies

On Tuesday, students will be taking a test over North America, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.  Study guides were handed out last Tuesday.  Please be sure your child studies for this test.  

This week, we will begin a unit on South America.  We will learn about South American geography, population, agriculture, economics, etc.  Students will begin a project in which they choose two countries from South America to study.  Students will compile their information in a either an online presentation or a poster.  A rubric with expectations will be handed out on Thursday.  

Homework

Please be sure your child is completing the Read Works homework.  This counts as a social studies grade as well. 

Week of October 30-November 3

Reading

This week, we will continue with our poetry unit of study.  The students will continue to work with finding figurative language embedded in different poems.  They will even work on creating their own.  On Wednesday, the students will practice their poetry skills with a STAAR passage.  Our goal is for the students to be able to make a connection with our class lessons and activities to the STAAR passages and questions.  In class, we are also working with our students in becoming more aware of their reading.  We want our students to be able to visualize their reading.  They should be able to make a movie in their head about what they are reading.  Next time you see your child reading, ask them, "What do you see when you are reading?"  They should be able to give you details about the setting, characters, everything that is happening.  On Friday, we will have our District Writing Benchmark test.  There is not a study guide for this test.  It is created by the district to evaluate where your child is performing in writing at this time. 

Please make sure your child is recording their books on their Reading Log. Their Reading Log will be due on Friday, December 1st for a major grade.

Homework

Vocabulary Unit 6:  Choosing the Right Word & Completing the Sentence

Read Works article:  The Road Not Taken 

Social Studies 

This week, we will continue to learn about Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands.  We will explore the daily life in Mexico, trade across the continents, and the path toward independence.  We will also learn about Caribbean food and music and talk about migration and the Caribbean.  

Homework 

Please make sure your child is completing the Read Works homework.  This counts as homework for SS also.

Writing and Grammar

Last week, students began working in their yellow grammar workbooks.  We will continue to use them this week.  Concepts we will work on are Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns and Indefinite Pronouns.

We will continue to work on our poetry unit.  Students have been exposed to many different types of poetry.  They have been working hard to write their own poems in which will be comprised into their own book.  This week, a notice will go home informing parents what supplies they will need for the cover and binding of the book.  Supplies will be due in class by November 7th.     

Week of October 23-27

Reading
This week, we will begin our Poetry unit of study.  We will review our figurative language vocabulary and make a connection with them using poetry.  On Wednesday, we will use our five senses to create a "more alive" poem.  The students will engage in eating a few different items and writing using their senses to produce a poem that comes alive.  On Friday, we will have a read-in.  Our theme is "Reading in the Dark", so we are asking students to bring a flashlight to class.  

Homework
Vocabulary Unit 5: students should read pgs. 60-61; complete Choosing the Right Word, Synonyms, Antonyms, and Completing the Sentence

Students need to complete Read Works article: Understanding Learning Disabilities; this assignment MUST be completed by 8am on Friday, October 27th.

Students should still be reading each evening and recording their completed books on their Reading Log that is due Friday, December 1, 2017.

Social Studies

 This week, we will will continue to explore the North American continents.  We will learn about Mexico's mountains and plateaus.  We will also discuss the impact of globalization.  Students will read about the physical geography of Central America and the Caribbean including earthquakes and volcanoes.  In Central America and the Caribbean, we will discuss the impact of tourism.  We will also read learn about the history of the Panama Canal.  Students will complete reading notes as they explore these topics

Writing and Grammar

Last week, a poetry project was introduced to the students.  Students will be exposed to 10-15 different types of poetry.  They will be composing their own poems based on examples showed in class.  Students will take their poems and put them together in their own poetry book.  A letter will go home on Thursday explaining what supplies will be needed to put their books together. We are looking forward to seeing the creativity our students possess!  

Students will be working with concrete and abstract nouns and pronouns and their antecedents in grammar this week.

Week of October 16-20

Reading
This week, we will be exploring through Literary Nonfiction.  On Monday and Wednesday, we will discover what a nonfiction reader thinks about while they are reading.  We will read several different types of text using these "thinking" skills.  Be sure to ask your child about what they learned during these lessons.
On Friday,  we will take the skills we worked on at the beginning of the week and apply them to a STAAR-like passage.  This will give our students a way to make a connection between learned skills and STAAR type questions and format.  

Homework
Read Works: A Tricky Move: students will need to read article and answer questions by Friday, October 20th @ 8am.  We remind students everyday to complete this assignment.  If your child's afternoons are "packed", we allow students to have a working lunch and complete their homework, missing assignments, and or makeup work from being absent.  

Vocabulary Homework:  (Unit 4) 1. Draw pictures for vocabulary words 2.  Complete "Choosing the Right Word" and "Synonyms and Antonyms" 
(Please do not let your child complete "Completing the Sentence" and "Vocabulary in Context")

Social Studies

This week, we will continue to learn about the elements of culture.  We will study how geography has influenced cultures around the world, what happens when cultures collide, how culture impacts society, and how religion influences cultures.  Students will be completing various notes and activities while we read and discuss these topics.

Homework
Our Social Studies homework is now combined with our reading homework.  We are combining these two areas to connect between required skills from both subject areas.  

Writing

Last week, students turned in their personal narrative stories.  We were so impressed with the growth they have made.  We will be keeping these stories to send to their next year's teachers.  Our next writing topic will be poetry.  This week, students will be exposed to different types of poetry.  We look forward to seeing what the students will compose using the poetry skills.

   

Week of October 9-13

Reading
I hope everyone enjoyed their Monday Holiday!!  On Wednesday and Friday, we will continue with our Folktale genre unit.  We will explore through the Magic Helper, The Rule of Three, and Moral lessons using Folktale stories.  We will also revisit Figurative Language terms.  There will be a test over these lessons on Friday, October 13th.  The study guide for the test will be in their Reading ISN.

Just a friendly reminder...2nd Quarter Reading Logs were given to the students on Friday, September 29, 2017.  They are due on Friday, December 1st for a major grade.  Our goal for our Reading Logs is for your child to explore through the different types of genres.  The Reading Logs are aligned with our District's Language Arts expectations for each quarter.  There are seven books that need to be completed this quarter, they do have over eight weeks to complete them.  Please make sure your child keeps up with recording their books as they are reading them.

Homework
This week, we will have our first Read Works assignment.  I have explained and demonstrated to all students in our LC how to login and how to complete this assignment.  They must have read and answered the questions by Friday morning.  We are sent a "grade" for each passage and all grades will be collected Friday morning.

Social Studies

This week, we will be learning about the elements of culture.  we will study how geography has influenced cultures around the world, what happens when cultures collide, how culture impacts society, and how religion influences cultures.  Students will be completing various notes and activities while we read and discuss these topics.

Homework will be assigned on Tuesday and due on Thursday.

Writing

Last week, we finished our personal narratives.  They should be turned in at this time.  Our next writing topic will be poetry.  This week, students will be exposed to different types of poetry.  As we read different examples, we analyze their meanings.